Behavioral persistence during intervention

Document Type

Thesis

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree

M.S. Applied Behavior Analysis

Date Completed

2020

First Committee Member

Ahearn, William

Second Committee Member

Bourret, Jason

Third Committee Member

Pinkston, Jonathan

Abstract

"Research has demonstrated the persistence-building effects of added reinforcers on target behavior when made contingent on alternative response (Nevin, Tota, Torquato, & Shull, 1990), delivered noncontingently (Ahearn, Clark, Gardenier, Chung, & Dube, 2003), and delivered contingently (Drugan-Eppich, Elfont, & Ahearn, Unpublished Master’s Thesis, 2018). The purpose of the present study was to measure the persistence-building effects of preferred stimuli delivered in a single-component and multi-component treatment context using DRO and RIRD and to measure the treatment efficacy of DRO alone and in combination with RIRD. Two male students, ages 18 and 19, diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) participated in this study. With each participant, a momentum analysis was conducted using an ABAB design with alternating treatments in the B phase. In the A phase, baseline sessions in context 1 (C1) were alternated with baseline sessions in context 2 (C2). In the B phase, RIRD + DRO or RIRD sessions in C1 were alternated with DRO sessions in C2. Proportional analyses were conducted using results from the momentum analysis with each participant to measure behavioral persistence and treatment effects. In all contexts, following the removal of treatment, target behavior resurged and persisted at levels higher than in previous baseline phases. DRO+RIRD produced the lowest levels of target behavior and the greatest persistence when removed. RIRD was the most durable treatment."

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