Fisher, W. W., Piazza, C. C., & Chiang, C. L. (1996).
Effects of equal and unequal reinforcer duration during functional analysis.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
29, 117-120.
In the functional analysis described by Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer,
Bauman, and Richman (1982/1994), reinforcer duration varied
across conditions (e.g., brief attention vs. 30 s of escape);
this may result in unequal exposure to the establishing
operations for aberrant behavior. In this study, we compared the
effects of unequal and equal reinforcer duration during a
functional analysis. The results showed that reinforcer duration
affects the rate of aberrant behavior and may potentially alter
functional analysis interpretation.
DESCRIPTORS: functional analysis, behavioral assessment,
establishing operation, reinforcement duration