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THE INFLUENCE OF ACTIVITY CHOICE ON PROBLEM BEHAVIORS MAINTAINED BY ESCAPE VERSUS ATTENTION
Author(s) -
Romaniuk Cathryn,
Miltenberger Raymond,
Conyers Carole,
Jenner Nicole,
Jurgens Mandy,
Ringenberg Crystal
Publication year - 2002
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.2002.35-349
Subject(s) - psychology , intervention (counseling) , functional analysis , function (biology) , developmental psychology , behavior change , cognitive psychology , clinical psychology , social psychology , psychiatry , gene , biochemistry , chemistry , evolutionary biology , biology
This study assessed whether the function of an individual's problem behavior was related to the effectiveness of an intervention involving choice among tasks. Analogue functional analyses were conducted with 7 students with various diagnoses to determine whether problem behaviors were maintained by escape or attention. Following identification of the function of each student's problem behavior, reversal designs were used to assess the effectiveness of an intervention that allowed the students to choose their own instructional tasks. Results showed that students who displayed escape‐maintained problem behavior showed substantial reductions in such behavior when they were provided with opportunities to choose among tasks. On the other hand, students who displayed attention‐maintained problem behavior did not show any effects as a result of the choice intervention. These findings are discussed in terms of the effective use of behavior management programs involving choice and the reduction of problem behavior.