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Measurement of nontargeted problem behavior during investigations of resurgence
Author(s) -
Sullivan William E.,
Saini Valdeep,
DeRosa Nicole M.,
Craig Andrew R.,
Ringdahl Joel E.,
Roane Henry S.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of applied behavior analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1938-3703
pISSN - 0021-8855
DOI - 10.1002/jaba.589
Subject(s) - psychology , extinction (optical mineralogy) , autism spectrum disorder , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , autism , audiology , medicine , biology , paleontology
Resurgence occurs when a previously extinguished behavior reemerges once a more recently reinforced behavior is placed on extinction. Previous research has suggested that nontargeted responses within the same response class recur alongside target‐response resurgence (e.g., da Silva, Maxwell, & Lattal, 2008; Lieving, Hagopian, Long, & O'Connor, 2004). The purpose of this two‐experiment investigation was to examine target response resurgence while simultaneously measuring the occurrence of nontargeted responses. Three children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder who displayed multiple topographies of problem behavior participated. In Experiment 1, a three‐phase resurgence procedure was conducted and all three participants displayed target‐response resurgence accompanied by the emergence of nontargeted forms of problem behavior. These findings were replicated in Experiment 2 using a 30‐min assessment procedure. The implications of these findings as they pertain to the treatment of severe problem behavior and utility of a brief relapse assessment are discussed.