Djimir Gouboth, David A. Wilder, & John Booher. (2007)
The effects of signaling stimulus presentation during noncontingent reinforcement.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
40, 725-730.
The effects of signaling the return of items or attention during treatment
with noncontingent reinforcement were examined. First, functional analyses
showed that the problem behavior exhibited by 2 teenagers with
developmental disabilities was sensitive to social positive reinforcement.
Next, delivery of the stimulus that maintained problem behavior on a fixed-time
(FT) schedule was compared to a condition in which the removal of the stimulus
during the same FT schedule was immediately preceded by a statement indicating
that the stimulus would be returned and the initiation of a digital timer. Results
show that the FT schedule reduced problem behavior, and the addition of an
informative statement and a timer further decreased problem behavior.
DESCRIPTORS: functional analysis, noncontingent reinforcement, delay to reinforcement, signals, fixed-time schedules