Previous research on attention-seeking problem behavior has focused on individuals who misbehaved under general conditions of low adult attention. In general, no detailed analyses were conducted to determine whether different situations involving low levels of adult attention (such as familiar vs. unfamiliar adults, setting events, or the presence or absence of peers) exacerbated or attenuated problem behavior. The current case study demonstrates that, for one adolescent, all situations involving low levels of adult attention were not equally discriminative for problem behavior. Two functional analyses concerning different situations involving low levels of adult attention were conducted. The first analysis consisted of systematically manipulating antecedent and consequence conditions related to adult attention and task demands. This analysis indicated that low levels of adult attention evoked problem behavior. The second analysis involved two different conditions presenting low levels of adult attention. In one, the adult spoke to another child; in the second, the adult spoke to another adult. This second analysis revealed that, when the adult spoke to another adult, problem behavior resulted. However, when the adult spoke to another child, problem behavior did not occur. On the basis of these functional analyses, a positive intervention was designed to reduce problem behavior. Theoretical implications related to functional analysis are discussed, and applied issues concerning functionally based treatment selection are explored.
The effectiveness of prompting and positive reinforcement for increasing on-task behavior and social interactions in two deaf-blind severely handicapped young adults was examined. Treatment was conducted in a leisure setting in which subjects participated in games requiring social interchange. On-task behavior was initially targeted and treatment efficacy evaluated with a withdrawal design. After demonstration of experimental control, treatment was then implemented with social interactions in a multiple baseline design. Results showed increased percentages of on-task social interactions for both subjects with introduction of treatment. In addition, rates of non-targeted self-stimulatory responses were observed to decrease concurrently with treatment for target behaviors. Results are discussed in terms of the utility of behavioral strategies with deaf-blind persons and the importance of improved social performance in these individuals.
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