UMMS Affiliation
Shriver Center; Center for Health Policy and Research
Date
6-1-2011
Document Type
Article
Medical Subject Headings
Child; Child, Preschool; Conditioning, Operant; Developmental Disabilities; Humans; Male; Reinforcement (Psychology); Reproducibility of Results; Schools; Treatment Outcome; Verbal Behavior
Disciplines
Behavioral Disciplines and Activities | Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms | Educational Psychology
Abstract
Substantial experimental evidence indicates that behavior reinforced on a denser schedule is more resistant to disruption than is behavior reinforced on a thinner schedule. The present experiment studied resistance to disruption in a natural educational environment. Responding during familiar activities was reinforced on a multiple variable-interval (VI) 7-s VI 30-s schedule for 6 participants with developmental disabilities. Resistance to disruption was measured by presenting a distracting item. Response rates in the disruption components were compared to within-session response rates in prior baseline components. Results were consistent with the predictions of behavioral momentum theory for 5 of 6 participants.
Rights and Permissions
Citation: J Appl Behav Anal. 2011 Summer;44(2):363-7. doi: 10.1901/jaba.2011.44-363. Link to article on publisher's website
Related Resources
Included in
Behavioral Disciplines and Activities Commons, Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms Commons, Educational Psychology Commons