Klatt, K. P., Sherman, J. A., & Sheldon, J. B. (2000).
Effects of deprivation on engagement in preferred activities by persons with developmental disabilities.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
33, 495-506.
This study examined the effects of deprivation on engagement in
activities for 3 adult men with developmental disabilities.
First, an assessment was conducted to identify a high- and a
low-preference activity for each participant. Second, the
high-preference activity was made available following three
amounts of deprivation of the activity (15 min, 2 hr, and 1 to 4
days); the low-preference activity was made available following
the schedule of deprivation that produced the highest level of
engagement by each participant in the high-preference activity.
The results were that 1 to 4 days of deprivation produced the
highest average amounts of engagement in the high-preference
activity for each participant; this amount of deprivation did not
produce high engagement in the low-preference activities. Third,
the deprivation procedures and results were replicated when high-
preference activities were presented by teachers during the
participants' daily activities when their engagement had been
quite low.
DESCRIPTORS: _establishing operations, deprivation, engagement,
preferences, developmental disabilities