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Further investigation of differential reinforcement of alternative behavior without extinction for escape‐maintained destructive behavior
Author(s) -
Briggs Adam M.,
Dozier Claudia L.,
Lessor Amber N.,
Kamana Bertilde U.,
Jess Rachel L.
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.648
Subject(s) - reinforcement , extinction (optical mineralogy) , psychology , differential reinforcement , schedule , compliance (psychology) , intervention (counseling) , quality (philosophy) , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , social psychology , computer science , psychiatry , paleontology , philosophy , epistemology , biology , operating system
Previous research indicates that manipulating dimensions of reinforcement during differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) for situations in which extinction cannot be implemented is a potential approach for treating destructive behavior. Therefore, we replicated and extended previous research by determining (a) the conditions under which DRA without extinction decreased and maintained low levels of destructive behavior and (b) whether intervention effects maintained during reinforcement schedule thinning for the alternative response (i.e., compliance). Results showed that effective treatments were developed in the absence of extinction by manipulating the quality of reinforcement for compliance for 2 participants and by combining manipulations of the magnitude and quality of reinforcement for compliance for the other 2 participants. However, maintaining treatment effects during reinforcement schedule thinning required combining the magnitude and quality of reinforcement for 3 of the 4 participants. We discuss the clinical utility of this approach, review limitations of the study, and suggest directions for future research.