title: Noncontingent reinforcement: a further examination of schedule effects during treatment.
abstract: We conducted 2 studies to determine whether dense and thin NCR schedules exert different influences over behavior and whether these influences change as dense schedules are thinned. In Study 1, we observed that thin as well as dense NCR schedules effectively decreased problem behavior exhibited by 3 individuals. In Study 2, we compared the effects of 2 NCR schedules in multielement designs, one with and the other without an extinction (EXT) component, while both schedules were thinned. Problem behavior remained low as the NCR schedule with EXT was thinned, but either (a) did not decrease initially or (b) subsequently increased as the NCR schedule without EXT was thinned. These results suggest that dense schedules of NCR decrease behavior by altering its motivating operation but that extinction occurs as the NCR schedule is thinned. The benefits and limitations of using dense or thin NCR schedules are discussed.
authors: California State University, Los Angeles, USA. mwallac@calstatela.edu
authors: Michele D
authors: MD
authors: Wallace
authors: Brian A
authors: BA
authors: Iwata
authors: Gregory P
authors: GP
authors: Hanley
authors: Rachel H
authors: RH
authors: Thompson
authors: Eileen M
authors: EM
authors: Roscoe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005108:Extinction, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*
keywords: aggression; extinction; functional analysis; motivating operation; noncontingent reinforcement; schedule effects; self-injurious behavior