Goh, H., Iwata, B. A., & DeLeon, I. G. (2000).
Competition between noncontingent and contingent reinforcement schedules during response acquisition.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
33, 195-205.
We examined the extent to which noncontingent reinforcement
(NCR), when used as treatment to reduce problem behavior, might
interfere with differential reinforcement contingencies designed
to strengthen alternative behavior. After conducting a functional
analysis to identify the reinforcers maintaining 2 participants"
self-injurious behavior (SIB), we delivered those reinforcers
under dense NCR schedules. We delivered the same reinforcers
concurrently under
differential-reinforcement-of-alternative-behavior (DRA)
contingencies in an attempt to strengthen replacement behaviors
(mands). Results showed that the NCR plus DRA intervention was
associated with a decrease in SIB but little or no increase in
appropriate mands. In a subsequent phase, when the NCR schedule
was thinned while the DRA schedule remained unchanged, SIB
remained low and mands increased. These results suggest that
dense NCR schedules may alter establishing operations that result
in not only suppression of problem behavior but also interference
with the acquisition of appropriate behavior. Thus, the
strengthening of socially appropriate behaviors as replacements
for problem behavior during NCR interventions might best be
achieved if the NCR schedule is first thinned.
DESCRIPTORS: functional analysis, noncontingent reinforcement,
differential reinforcement of alternative behavior, functional
communication training, self-injurious behavior, satiation