title: An examination of within-session responding following access to reinforcing stimuli.
abstract: Previous research has shown tangibly maintained challenging behavior can be temporarily decreased by providing presession access to the relevant tangible. However, the duration of this beneficial effect is unknown. We measured the subsequent duration of behavior reduction effects following presession access during extended classroom observation sessions by analyzing within-session patterns of responding in three children with autism. An alternating treatments design was used to analyze within- and across-session responding following presession access and presession restriction conditions. The cumulative frequency of challenging behavior was higher following the presession restriction condition for all participants and lower following presession access. Within-session analysis revealed the same basic pattern of responding across participants. Specifically, the first half of the sessions contained very little, if any, challenging behavior; however, after 60 min, the rate of challenging behavior began to increase rapidly for two of the three participants. Results are discussed in terms of implications for practitioners, satiation, habituation, and behavioral contrast.
authors.affiliation: Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States. Electronic address: mrispoli@purdue.edu.
authors.forename: Mandy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rispoli
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: O'Reilly
authors.affiliation: Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, United States.
authors.forename: Russell
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.affiliation: University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, United States.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Machalicek
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States.
authors.forename: Soyeon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Baylor University, Waco, TX, United States.
authors.forename: Tonya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States.
authors.forename: Leslie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Neely
mesh_terms: D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D032763:Behavior Control / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D000067289:Behavior Observation Techniques / Q000379:methods; D001526:Behavioral Symptoms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000066553:Problem Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology
keywords: Abolishing operation; Habituation; Satiation; Within-session responding