Evaluating self-control and impulsivity in children with severe behavior disorders.

Area of Science:

• Applied Behavior Analysis
• Developmental Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Impulsivity and self-control are fundamental concepts in behavioral science, involving choices between immediate and delayed rewards.
• These concepts are increasingly recognized as relevant to socially significant behaviors, including those in individuals with developmental disabilities.
• Standard behavioral treatments may be affected by the delay to reinforcement, necessitating further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of reinforcer delay in maintaining impulsive aggression in young children with severe developmental disabilities.
• To examine the effectiveness of a differential reinforcement procedure in modifying impulsive behavior.
• To determine if signaling the delay to reinforcement can promote self-control.

Main Methods:

• Functional analyses were conducted to identify the reinforcers for aggression (food and television access) in two young boys with severe developmental disabilities.
• A differential reinforcement procedure was implemented, reinforcing appropriate requests (mands) with larger, delayed reinforcers.
• Experimental manipulations involved varying the delay to reinforcement and introducing signals (gestures, timers) to indicate the delay.

Main Results:

• Aggression was maintained as impulsive behavior when it resulted in immediate, smaller reinforcers, despite larger, delayed reinforcers being available for appropriate mands.
• Both participants demonstrated self-control by choosing the larger, delayed reinforcer when the delay was signaled.
• The findings highlight the sensitivity of impulsive behavior to the immediacy of reinforcement.

Conclusions:

• Impulsive aggression can be maintained by immediate, small reinforcers in children with developmental disabilities, even when alternative, more valuable delayed reinforcers are available.
• Signaling the delay to reinforcement is a viable strategy to promote self-control and reduce impulsive behavior.
• These findings have implications for designing effective behavioral interventions that account for temporal discounting and reinforcer delay.