Louis P. Hagopian, Stephanie A. Contrucci Kuhn, Ethan S. Long, & Karena S. Rush (2005).
Schedule thinning following communication training: Using competing stimuli to enhance tolerance to decrements in reiforcer density.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
38, 177-193.
Functional communication training (FCT) is a widely used treatment for
individuals with developmental disabilities who exhibit severe behavior
problems. One inherent challenge of employing FCT as a treatment
in the community is that reinforcement for appropriate communication
cannot always be immediate or even possible in some circumstances.
Of the few studies that have incorporated some form of schedule
thinning for communication, most have reported disruption of
communication or increases in problem behavior when the schedule of
reinforcement is thinned. In the current study, we compared FCT with
extinction to FCT with extinction and access to competing stimuli. After
conducting a functional analysis, a competing stimulus assessment was
performed to identify stimuli that produce reinforcement that ostensibly
competes with reinforcement that maintains problem behavior. It was
hypothesized that FCT with competing stimuli would result in more stable
reductions in problem behavior during schedule thinning, which would
ultimately result in quicker achievement of the treatment goal (low
levels of problem behavior under the terminal reinforcement schedule
for communication) than FCT without competing stimuli. Results
confirmed this hypothesis.
DESCRIPTORS: functional communication training, competing stimuli, extinction, reinforcement schedule thinning