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COMBINING NONCONTINGENT REINFORCEMENT AND DIFFERENTIAL REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULES AS TREATMENT FOR ABERRANT BEHAVIOR
Author(s) -
Marcus Bethany A.,
Vollmer Timothy R.
Publication year - 1996
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 - 10.1901/jaba.1996.29-43
Subject(s) - reinforcement , psychology , differential reinforcement , extinction (optical mineralogy) , functional analysis , contingency , contingency management , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , social psychology , intervention (counseling) , psychiatry , paleontology , biochemistry , chemistry , linguistics , philosophy , gene , biology
Research has shown that noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) can be an effective behavior‐reduction procedure when based on a functional analysis. The effects of NCR may be a result of elimination of the contingency between aberrant behavior and reinforcing consequences (extinction) or frequent and free access to reinforcers that may reduce the participant's motivation to engage in aberrant behaviors or mands. If motivation is momentarily reduced, behavior such as mands may not be sensitive to positive reinforcement. In this study, for 3 children with aberrant behavior maintained by tangible positive reinforcement, differential‐reinforcement‐of‐alternative‐behavior schedules were superimposed on NCR schedules to determine if mands could be strengthened. Results for the participants indicated that NCR did not preclude reinforcement of mands.