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The effects of signaling stimulus presentation during noncontingent reinforcement
Djimir Gouboth1, David A Wilder, John Booher
1Florida Institute of Technology and Devereux Florida, 32901, USA.
Abstract:
The effects of signaling the return of items or attention during treatment with noncontingent reinforcement were examined. First, functional analyses showed that the problem behavior exhibited by 2 teenagers with developmental disabilities was sensitive to social positive reinforcement. Next, delivery of the stimulus that maintained problem behavior on a fixed-time (FT) schedule was compared to a condition in which the removal of the stimulus during the same FT schedule was immediately preceded by a statement indicating that the stimulus would be returned and the initiation of a digital timer. Results show that the FT schedule reduced problem behavior, and the addition of an informative statement and a timer further decreased problem behavior.
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