Related Experiment Videos
Contextual control of problem behavior in students with severe disabilities
1Graduate School of Education, University of California, Santa Barbara 93106.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
|January 1, 1990
Summary
Context matters for interventions with students severe disabilities. Differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) worked during tasks, while time-out was effective during leisure activities for reducing problem behavior.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Psychology
- Special Education
Background:
- Problem behavior in students with severe disabilities can be challenging to manage.
- Intervention effectiveness may vary depending on the context.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how contextual variation (task vs. leisure) affects the efficacy of two interventions.
- To compare the effectiveness of differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) and time-out procedures across different settings.
Main Methods:
- Two students with severe disabilities were observed.
- Problem behavior was analyzed in both task and leisure contexts.
- The impact of DRO and time-out procedures was evaluated in each context.
Main Results:
- In the task context, DRO effectively reduced problem behavior and improved task performance; time-out was ineffective.
- In the leisure context, time-out effectively reduced problem behavior; DRO was ineffective.
- Task performance increased with DRO compared to baseline and time-out.
Conclusions:
- Contextual factors significantly influence the effectiveness of behavioral interventions.
- Intervention strategies, such as DRO, may need to be adapted based on the specific context.
- Further research is needed on designing context-specific DRO procedures.