Assessment and treatment of problem behavior maintained by mand compliance

Abstract

We modified functional analysis procedures to include a condition in which we reinforced problem behavior by complying with a child's mands. After identifying compliance with mands as a reinforcer, we evaluated the efficacy of a token system with a response-cost contingency and incorporated discriminative stimuli to signal when mands would be reinforced. The token system with response cost effectively reduced problem behavior. Similar procedures may be beneficial when continuous adult compliance is not possible, when adults want to control when they will comply with the child's mands, or to build a child's tolerance for adult-directed situations.

Functional analysis and treatment of problem behavior related to mands for rearrangement

“…Based on the results of the FA, we concluded that problem behavior functioned to increase the probability of mand compliance, as was demonstrated in Bowman et al () and Eluri et al (). FCT + EXT decreased the rate of problem behavior and increased the rate of FCRs.…”

“…Beyond systematically replicating the utility of an FA for demonstrating control of problem behavior by mand compliance (Bowman et al, ; Eluri et al, ) and the utility of a chained schedule for making the treatment more practical to implement (Eluri et al, ), our findings extend those studies in multiple ways. First, our findings extend the generality of the test‐control FA method for evaluating mand compliance as a controlling variable for severe problem behavior by applying it to a unique mand, one for rearrangement, and in a participant with less articulate manding.…”

“…In a systematic replication of the Bowman et al (1997) study, Eluri, Andrade, Trevino, andMahmoud (2016) reported a similar functional relation between the problem behavior of a 7-year-old boy with autism and adult compliance with mands. Eluri et al successfully applied FCT and extended the findings of Bowman et al by decreasing the availability of reinforcement via a chained schedule (Ghaemmaghami, Hanley, & Jessel, 2016;Slaton & Hanley, 2016).…”

“…The purpose of the current study was to systematically replicate the FA methods described by Bowman et al (1997) and Eluri et al (2016) for problem behavior reportedly evoked by adult noncompliance with mands. We attempted to extend these procedures to idiosyncratic mands related to environmental rearrangement, a common RRB displayed by individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD; Jiujias, Kelley, & Hall, 2017).…”

A comparison of token and tandem schedules of reinforcement on response patterns for adolescents with autism

“…A common token economy arrangement in applied research and practice, and the token arrangement under investigation in the current study, entails a fixed ratio (FR) token production and FR exchange production with equivalent token exchange schedule components. For example, Eluri, Andrade, Trevino, and Mahmoud () used a token economy with response cost to treat problem behavior reinforced by therapist compliance with mands. The experimenters delivered a token following each occurrence of compliance, a FR 1 token production schedule.…”