Members (behaviors) of a response class are equivalent in that they produce the same functional reinforcer. Oftentimes, some members of a response class occur at higher rates than others. This can be problematic when the members that occur at high rates are socially inappropriate (e.g., self-injury, aggression, or disruption). The participant in…

Demand fading, a schedule thinning procedure for escape-maintained behaviors, typically includes an escape extinction component. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of demand fading with alternative reinforcement utilizing concurrent reinforcement schedules without extinction. During demand fading, aggression and requests…

Problem behavior occurring during public outings can limit children's participation in these activities and can be disruptive for families. The current study included two children referred for the assessment and treatment of problem behaviors occurring during public outings. Clinic-based functional behavior assessments indicated problem behaviors…

Arranging periods in which requests for reinforcement are denied in a multiple schedule may result in increased destructive behavior during these periods for individuals who receive functional communication training (FCT) as treatment for severe destructive behavior. Providing access to competing activities during periods of reinforcer…

This article describes Prevent-Teach-Reinforce for Young Children (PTR-YC), a model based on extensive research that is designed for feasibility and effectiveness for treating challenging behaviors in classroom settings. This model is designed to meet the needs of children with and without disabilities who engage in challenging behavior that…

Functional analyses (FA) have proven useful for identifying contingencies that influence problem behavior. Research has shown that some problem behavior may only occur in specific contexts or be influenced by multiple or idiosyncratic variables. When these contexts or sources of influence are not assessed in an FA, further assessment may be…

This study considers school violence. It was investigated in secondary schools in the governorate of Mafraq. The aim is to identify the forms and causes of the phenomenon; hence to come out with the preventive and remedial measures, accordingly. The study was conducted in one of the secondary schools selected randomly in the city of Mafraq in the…

This study evaluated how children who exhibited functionally equivalent problem and appropriate behavior allocate responding to experimentally arranged reinforcer rates. Relative reinforcer rates were arranged on concurrent variable-interval schedules and effects on relative response rates were interpreted using the generalized matching equation.…

Functional analyses of inappropriate mealtime behavior typically include conditions to determine if the contingent delivery of attention, tangible items, or escape reinforce food refusal. In the current investigation, descriptive analyses were conducted for 25 children who had been admitted to a program for the assessment and treatment of food…

Aggression can present as a significant problem behavior in individuals with a diagnosis of developmental disability. Much research has focused on the prevalence of aggression in individuals with varying degrees of severity of intellectual disability (AD), autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and co-morbidity of ID and ASD. Research has also focused on…

The value of a reinforcer may change based on antecedent events, specifically the behavior of others (Bruzek & Thompson, 2007). In the current study, we examined the effects of manipulating the behavior of the therapist on problem behavior while all dimensions of reinforcement were held constant. Both participants' levels of problem behaviors…

Research has shown that functional analysis results are beneficial for treatment selection because they identify reinforcers for severe behavior that can then be used to reinforce replacement behaviors either differentially or noncontingently. Theoretically then, if a reinforcer is identified in a functional analysis erroneously, a well researched…

Behavioral problems such as disinhibition, irritability, restlessness, distractibility, and aggression are common after acquired brain injury (ABI). The persistence and severity of these problems impair the brain-injured individual's reintegration into family, school, and community life. Since the early 1980s, behavior analysis and therapy have…

Extinction is accepted as a viable intervention for behaviors that are hypothesized to be maintained by contingent attentional reinforcement. However, it is frequently acknowledged that extinction has potential numerous side effects, including the generation of aggressive behavior. This explanation does not provide a behavioral conceptualization…

Functional analysis has been demonstrated to be an effective method to identify environmental variables that maintain problem behavior. However, there are cases when conducting functional analyses of severe problem behavior may be contraindicated. The current study applied functional analysis procedures to a class of behavior that preceded severe…