Fisher, W. W., Ninness, H. A. C., Piazza, C. C., & Owen-DeSchryver, J. S. (1996).
On the reinforcing effects of the content of verbal attention.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
29, 235-238.
During a functional analysis, a boy with autism and oppositional
defiant disorder displayed destructive behavior that was
maintained by attention in the form of verbal reprimands (e.g.,
"Don't hit me"). In a second analysis, contingent
verbal reprimands produced higher rates of the behavior than
contingent statements that were unrelated to the target response
(e.g., "It is sunny today"), suggesting that some forms
of attention were more reinforcing than others. A treatment based
on these analyses reduced the behavior to near-zero levels.
DESCRIPTORS: functional analysis, behavioral assessment,
developmental disabilities, verbal behavior