Recent developments and future directions for competing stimulus assessments

Area of Science:

• Behavior Analysis
• Applied Behavior Analysis
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Competing Stimulus Assessments (CSAs) identify stimuli that decrease challenging behavior by competing with or substituting for reinforcers.
• Previous research indicates CSAs are effective across different behavior functions and topographies.
• Augmented CSA (A-CSA) procedures have emerged, improving the identification of competing stimuli compared to traditional methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the prevalence, characteristics, efficacy, and predictive validity of CSAs and A-CSAs.
• To analyze the use of high-competition stimuli in treatment packages.
• To examine trends in CSA/A-CSA applications across different behavior functions.

Main Methods:

• Individual participant data from studies employing CSAs and A-CSAs were analyzed.
• Data focused on prevalence, procedural details, efficacy, and predictive validity.
• The review considered applications across various behavior functions and treatment contexts.

Main Results:

• Approximately one-third of reviewed applications utilized augmented CSA procedures.
• There is a notable increase in the application of CSAs for socially reinforced behaviors and subsequent treatment evaluations.
• A-CSAs demonstrated efficacy for automatically maintained behavior, suggesting potential for socially reinforced behaviors.

Conclusions:

• CSAs and A-CSAs are valuable tools for identifying effective competing stimuli in behavior analysis.
• The increasing use of A-CSA procedures highlights their growing importance in clinical practice.
• Further research into augmenting CSAs for socially reinforced behaviors is warranted.