Over the past decade researchers in behavior analysis have begun to consider the role of the matching law in describing choice behavior in sports. To date this has been examined in baseball, basketball, and football. These sports are amenable to the study of matching in that they provide dichotomous responses and have high frequencies of both responses and reinforcement. Shot selection in hockey presents a unique situation in which reinforcement occurs at a much lower rate, in that a minimal number of goals are scored per game, and there are more than 2 alternatives at each opportunity to shoot the puck. The purpose of this study was to examine response allocation for multiple alternatives in professional hockey. Results indicate that (a) the matching law can be used to describe shot selection when there are multiple alternatives, (b) using hitting the net as the reinforcer instead of goals produces better matching, and (c) matching was not related to success at the team or individual level, which is inconsistent with previous findings.
Aggression maintained by access to physical attention was examined using two preparations of a functional analysis, after which additional assessment was carried out to identify stimuli that competed with problem behavior. The participant, Ted, was a 13-year-old boy diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, who attended a private specialized education facility because of underdeveloped communication skills and problem behavior. At the time of the study, his aggression had become more prevalent, unpredictable, and elevated in intensity. Following assessment, a noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) intervention using competing stimuli was implemented to reduce rates of Ted's increasingly unmanageable aggression. Results indicated that implementation of the NCR intervention was followed by decreased rates, more predictable patterns, and diminished intensity of aggressive behavior.
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