Renewal during functional communication training.

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Psychology
• Intellectual Disabilities Research
• Applied Behavior Analysis

Background:

• Functional communication training (FCT) is a primary intervention for severe destructive behaviors in individuals with intellectual disabilities.
• FCT can fail to generalize when treatment is moved from clinical settings to the individual's natural environment.
• Renewal is a phenomenon where previously treated behaviors reappear in a different context.

Observation:

• This study investigated operant renewal as a potential cause for FCT treatment relapse.
• Destructive behavior was treated with FCT in a clinic (Context B) after baseline in the home (Context A).
• Treatment was then reintroduced in the home (Context A) with caregivers implementing FCT.

Findings:

• Three out of four participants exhibited a relapse of destructive behavior upon returning to the home context.
• This relapse pattern is consistent with operant renewal, suggesting context-specific treatment efficacy.
• The home context, previously associated with reinforcement for destructive behavior, may have served as a discriminative stimulus for relapse.

Implications:

• Findings highlight the challenge of treatment generalization for FCT in individuals with intellectual disabilities.
• Context-specific treatment effects, or renewal, may undermine the long-term success of FCT.
• Strategies to promote FCT generalization across settings are crucial for sustained behavior change.