The effectiveness of functional communication training as treatment for problem behavior depends on the extent to which treatment can be extended to typical environments that include unavoidable and unpredictable reinforcement delays. Time-based progressive delay (TBPD) often results in the loss of acquired communication responses and the resurgence of problem behavior, whereas contingency-based progressive delay (CBPD) appears to be effective for increasing tolerance for delayed reinforcement. No direct comparison of TBPD and CBPD has, however, been conducted. We used single-subject designs to compare the relative efficacy of TBPD and CBPD. Four individuals who engaged in problem behavior (e.g., aggression, vocal and motor disruptions, self-injury) participated. Results were consistent across all participants, and showed lower rates of problem behavior and collateral responses during CBPD than during TBPD. The generality of CBPD treatment effects, including optimal rates of communication and compliance with demands, was demonstrated across a small but heterogeneous group of participants, reinforcement contingencies, and contexts.
The speed with which a functional analysis (FA) provides a convincing demonstration of the variables that influence problem behavior may be termed efficiency. Multiple FA formats have been developed to improve analytic efficiency while the core components of the Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, and Richman (1982/1994) procedures are maintained. We attempted to illustrate an alternative efficient process for conducting FAs of problem behavior that relied on modifying those core components. In Study 1, we describe 30 applications of the interview-informed synthesized contingency analysis (Hanley, Jin, Vanselow, & Hanratty, 2014), which required an average of 25 min of analysis. The first sessions of these analyses were reanalyzed in Study 2 to determine if contingencies that controlled problem behavior could be identified in only 3 to 5 min. This was the case in 80% of analyses.
It is common to isolate reinforcement contingencies across several test conditions in functional analyses of problem behavior; however, synthesizing all reinforcement contingencies in a single test condition may also have merit and even be necessary in some cases. Following a differentiated functional analysis, which relied on an interview‐informed synthesized test condition, functional communication training (FCT) was applied across the three suspected contingencies of reinforcement, partly in an attempt to understand the relevance of each. Communication responses were acquired for all three reinforcers, and problem behavior ceased only when all contingencies were addressed via FCT, suggesting that problem behavior was controlled by multiple contingencies of reinforcement. These analyses suggest that control by multiple contingencies of reinforcement can be understood during the treatment development process following a highly efficient functional analysis. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Functional communication training (FCT; Carr & Durand, 1985) is a common function‐based treatment in which an alternative form of communication is taught to reduce problem behavior. FCT has been shown to result in substantial reductions of a variety of topographically and functionally different types of problem behavior in children and adults (efficacy). The extent to which these reductions maintain in relevant contexts and result in meaningful changes in the lives of those impacted (effectiveness) is the focus of this paper. This review evaluates the degree to which FCT has been established as an evidence‐based practice in psychology (EBPP) according to the definition set out by the American Psychological Association's 2005 Presidential Task Force on Evidence‐Based Practice. Our review finds overwhelming evidence in support of FCT as an efficacious treatment but highlights significant limitations in support of its effectiveness. In order to also be recognized as an EBPP, future research on FCT will need to focus more closely on issues related to home, school, and community application, feasibility, consumer satisfaction, and more general and global changes for the individual.
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