Document Type

Dissertation

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree

PhD in Behavior Analysis

Dissertation Defense Date

2025-09-26

First Committee Member

Roscoe, Eileen M.

Second Committee Member

Ahearn, William H.

Third Committee Member

Thompson, Rachel H.

Abstract

The development of functional communication is an important goal for individuals diagnosed with autism. It is common to begin with dense schedules of reinforcement when establishing mands, however schedule thinning is important for meaningful treatment outcomes. Although multiple schedules can be used to bring behavior under discriminative control and avoid high rates of manding when a reinforcer is unavailable, it is important to extend research to multioperant environments in which several reinforcers may be available simultaneously or at different times. We evaluated a method for establishing discriminative control over multiple distinct mands. Our findings demonstrated discriminative control over several mand topographies and the establishment of SΔ control such that multiple mand topographies were discriminated in the absence of extended exposure to extinction.

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