Effects of advanced notice in activity transitions

Document Type

Thesis

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree

M.S. Applied Behavior Analysis

Date Completed

2012

First Committee Member

Dickson, Chata

Second Committee Member

Thompson, Rachel

Third Committee Member

Sassi, Jessica

Abstract

"This study served two purposes. The first purpose was to learn what types of activity transitions are difficult for children with autism and the second was to study effects of advanced notice on pausing and challenging behavior during transitions. Three young men who were students at a residential school for children with autism participated in this study. Study 1 was a descriptive assessment of challenging behavior during transitions between daily activities. For each of the three participants, the highest level of challenging behavior occurred during transitions from high-preference to low-preference activities. Study 2 was an analysis of effects of three different strategies for ending high-preference activities and transitioning to low-preference activities (no notice, advanced notice, and intervening activity). Of primary interest was pausing, the time it took for a participant to comply with an instruction to begin a new activity after the end of the prior activity. Pausing durations during transitions from high-preference to low-preference activities were greatest in the no notice condition, somewhat less in the advanced notice condition, and least in the intervening activity condition. Potential treatments for challenging behavior during transitions are discussed."

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