The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is an effective intervention to reduce disruptive behavior. The GBG typically involves immediate stimulus presentation (e.g., delivery of a token) following disruptions; however, experimenters have also removed tokens contingent upon disruptions. In the present study, we compared the effects of the GBG-stimulus…

We examined the effects of reinforcement magnitude on skill acquisition during discrete-trial training. After conducting a magnitude preference assessment, we compared acquisition during conditions with large and small magnitudes of edible reinforcement to a praise-only condition. Although all participants showed a preference for the…

We used an adapted alternating treatments design to compare skill acquisition during discrete-trial instruction using immediate reinforcement, delayed reinforcement with immediate praise, and delayed reinforcement for 2 children with autism spectrum disorder. Participants acquired the skills taught with immediate reinforcement; however, delayed…

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is a classroom behavior management procedure that has been shown to be effective in reducing disruptive behavior across many settings and populations (Flower, McKenna, Bunuan, Muething, & Vega, 2014). We investigated the effects of the GBG on student and teacher behavior in two classrooms containing fourth- to…

We conducted functional analyses (FA) with 4 typically developing preschool children during ongoing classroom activities and evaluated treatments that were based on FA results. Results of each child's FA suggested social-positive reinforcement functions, and differential reinforcement of alternative behavior plus time-out was effective in…

We conducted a modified paired-choice preference assessment and used a multielement design to examine the effects of noncontingent access to high- and low-preference music on vocal stereotypy exhibited by children with autism. For 3 of the 4 participants, high-preference music (a) produced lower levels of vocal stereotypy than low-preference music…

A functional analysis identified the reinforcer maintaining feces throwing and spitting exhibited by a captive adult chimpanzee ("Pan troglodytes"). The implementation of a function-based treatment combining extinction with differential reinforcement of an alternate behavior decreased levels of inappropriate behavior. These findings further…

Two studies were conducted that examined the preference of a student diagnosed with a brain injury. In Study 1, a preference assessment was followed by a three-choice concurrent operants reinforcer assessment. Two choices resulted in access to preferred activities for completing work, and a third choice resulted in access to nothing (i.e., no…

A functional analysis suggested that rumination exhibited by an adult with autism was maintained by automatic reinforcement. Next, a preference assessment with three flavor sprays (i.e., flavored sprays used by dieters) showed that apple pie spray was most preferred. Finally, the effects of fixed-time delivery of the apple pie spray on levels of…

Bullying behaviors are a growing concern in U.S. schools. We present here a behavioral approach to bully prevention utilizing a schoolwide intervention. Bully prevention in positive behavior support (BP-PBS) teaches students to withhold the social rewards hypothesized to maintain bullying. A single-subject multiple baseline design across 6…

This study evaluated a contingency management (CM) program in a drug court. Gift certificates for compliance were delivered at 4- to 6-week intervals (total value = $390.00). Participants in one condition earned gift certificates that escalated by $5.00 increments. Participants in a second condition began earning higher magnitude gift…

A bicycle helmet program was evaluated in three middle schools using a multiple baseline across schools design. Two of the three schools had histories of enforcement of helmet use. During baseline many students riding their bikes to and from school did not wear their helmets or wore them incorrectly. A program that consisted of peer data…

The efficacy of different schedules of reinforcement (progressive and fixed) for promoting and sustaining cigarette abstinence was compared using 60 cigarette smokers. Results found that the progressive and fixed groups achieved greater levels of abstinence than controls and that the progressive group was less likely to resume smoking. (Author/CR)

A study of three children (ages 3-9) with severe problem behavior investigated alternatives to the typical application of noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) for problem behavior. Instead of using continuous access to reinforcers and extinction, the study found that an NCR schedule based on latency and NCR without extinction were more effective for…

Two functional communication training (FCT) conditions were compared to treat behavior problems of a child with mental retardation. The child was taught to emit a single FCT response to obtain one of six items or multiple FCT responses that specified the exact item. Only the FCT-multiple conditions reduced problem behavior. (Contains four…