William H. Ahearn, Kathy M. Clark, Nicole C. Gardenier, Bo In Chung, & William V. Dube (2003).
Persistence of Stereotypic Behavior: Examining the Effects of External Reinforcers.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
36, 439-448.
Basic research has shown that behavioral persistence is often positively related to rate of
reinforcement. This relation, expressed in the metaphor of behavioral momentum, has potentially
important implications for clinical application. The current study examined one prediction of the
momentum metaphor for automatically reinforced behavior. Participants were 3 children who
had been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder and who engaged in stereotypic behavior
maintained by automatic reinforcement. Results suggested that stereotypic behavior was more
resistant to disruption following periods of access to preferred stimuli delivered on a variable-
time schedule than following periods without access to preferred stimuli. The implications of
these findings for the treatment of automatically reinforced behavior are discussed.
DESCRIPTORS: behavioral momentum, automatic reinforcement, resistance to change,
stereotypy, autism