Carole Conyers, Raymond Miltenberger, Amber Maki, Rebecca Barenz, Mandy Jurgens, Angela Sailer, Meredith Haugen, & Brandon Kopp (2004).
A comparison of response cost and differential reinforcement of other behavior to reduce disruptive behavior in a preschool classroom.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
37, 411-415.
This study investigated the effectiveness of response cost and differential reinforcement of other
behavior (DRO) in reducing the disruptive behaviors of 25 children in a preschool classroom.
Using an alternating treatments design, disruptive behavior was reduced when the participants
earned tokens for the absence of disruptive behavior (DRO) or lost tokens for the occurrence of
disruptive behavior (response cost). Initially, DRO was more successful in reducing the number
of disruptive behaviors; however, over time, response cost proved to be more effective.
DESCRIPTORS: differential reinforcement, disruptive behavior, preschoolers, response cost