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OBTAINED VERSUS PROGRAMMED REINFORCEMENT: PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN THE TREATMENT OF ESCAPE‐REINFORCED AGGRESSION
Author(s) -
Johnson LeAnne,
McComas Jennifer,
Thompson Andrea,
Symons Frank J.
Publication year - 2004
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.2004.37-239
Subject(s) - aggression , reinforcement , psychology , escape response , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , psychotherapist , social psychology , neuroscience
This investigation provides a preliminary examination of the difference between programmed and obtained reinforcement rates and its potential influence during treatment of aggression in a natural setting. Following a functional analysis that suggested that the aggression of a boy with autism was negatively reinforced, intervention was implemented by the boy's mother. Concurrent fixed‐ratio (FR) 1 FR 1 schedules of escape were arranged for manding and aggression. When mands failed to compete effectively with aggression, obtained reinforcement ratios were calculated; these indicated that obtained reinforcement varied from the programmed schedule for aggression but not for mands. Increasing the rate of prompts for mands resulted in an increase in mands and a decrease in aggression to near‐zero levels.