Examination of Procedural Variations for Presenting Competing Stimuli in the Treatment of Automatically Maintained Behavior
Document Type
Thesis
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Psychology
Degree
M.S. Applied Behavior Analysis
Date Completed
Fall 2023
First Committee Member
Roscoe, Eileen M.
Second Committee Member
Peck, Sara
Abstract
Competing stimulus assessments serve to identify activities to replace or compete with the sensory consequences that maintain the automatically reinforced behavior. The current study evaluated methods for assessing and extending the effectiveness of various procedural modifications in presenting effective competing stimuli (ECS) that were identified through an augmented competing stimulus assessment (A-CSA) on automatically maintained problem behavior (AMPB). Three students that reside in a residential program participated in this study. Levels of AMPB and functional engagement were measured. Items selected for use in the A-CSA were chosen based on a questionnaire completed by the participants’ clinical team and teachers. Results for the first participant demonstrated that free access and prompting engagement were not sufficient to reduce rates of problem behavior. Results for the second and third participants demonstrated that presentation of the leisure items in the free access condition alone was effective in reducing rates in the target response by 80%. A treatment analysis was conducted with the second and third participants to further examine the effectiveness of competing stimuli. Results found that for two participants, both treatment conditions were effective. Rotating items or prompting functional engagement is likely an effective procedure for promoting engagement with competing stimuli for AMPB.
Recommended Citation
Morrison, Kimberly, "Examination of Procedural Variations for Presenting Competing Stimuli in the Treatment of Automatically Maintained Behavior" (2023). Master’s Theses - College of Arts and Sciences. 283.
https://digitalcommons.law.wne.edu/castheses/283
