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The effects of antecedent interventions and extinction on toddlers' compliance during transitions

Catherine A Cote1, Rachel H Thompson, Paige M McKerchar

  • 1University of Kansas, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Room 4001, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA. rthomps@ku.edu

Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
|July 22, 2005
PubMed

Insights

Combining antecedent strategies like warnings and toy access with extinction effectively increases children's compliance during activity transitions in early childhood education.

Area of Science:

  • Early Childhood Education
  • Behavioral Psychology
  • Applied Behavior Analysis

Background:

  • Activity transitions are critical in early childhood settings.
  • Antecedent strategies are often used to manage behavior during transitions.
  • Previous research shows mixed results for individual antecedent interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare the effectiveness of two antecedent strategies for increasing compliance during activity transitions.
  • To investigate the combined effect of these strategies with extinction.

Main Methods:

  • Two antecedent strategies were compared: a warning condition and toy access during transitions.
  • These strategies were implemented individually and in combination with extinction.
  • Compliance during activity transitions was measured for all children.

Main Results:

  • Neither the warning condition nor toy access alone improved compliance.
  • Combining antecedent strategies with extinction led to significant improvements in compliance.
  • Observed improvements in compliance were consistent across all participating children.

Conclusions:

  • Individual antecedent strategies are insufficient for increasing compliance during transitions.
  • The combination of antecedent strategies with extinction is a highly effective approach.
  • This combined intervention offers a practical solution for improving behavioral management in early childhood settings.

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