The Effects of Using a Conditioned Stimulus to Cue DRO Schedules

Abstract

A reversal design was used to examine the effects of a differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) procedure and the presence of a stimulus (i.e., a bracelet), conditioned via discrimination training, on reducing socially maintained non-contextual vocalizations in an adolescent girl with autism. Initially, a functional analysis determined that non-contextual vocalizations were maintained by social attention. Then, discrimination training was used to establish the presence of the bracelet as a discriminative stimulus for the absence of vocalizations. Specifically, when the bracelet was on, noncontextual vocalizations were interrupted, and edible reinforcement was provided for the absence of vocalizations. When the bracelet was off, vocalizations were not interrupted and the teacher provided social attention to the participant (i.e., reciprocated conversation with the participant about the topic). During intervention, a DRO procedure was used. The participant was presented with the bracelet, a timer set for a specified interval, and the instruction to work quietly. If vocalizations did not occur for the entire duration of the interval, the bracelet was removed and the learner was given the opportunity to engage in vocalizations. The DRO interval was systematically increased throughout the intervention. Results are discussed in terms of discrimination training as an effective addition to differential reinforcement procedure.

Differential Reinforcement of Other Behaviors to Treat Challenging Behaviors Among Children With Autism: A Systematic and Quality Review

“…Only one study in this review satisfactorily addressed all eight quality indicators. The study by Della Rosa, Fellman, DeBiase, DeQuinzio, and Taylor (2015) addressed all features across the quality indicators defined by the CEC (Cook et al, 2014), and as a result was considered to be methodologically sound.…”

Using self‐monitoring and differential reinforcement of low rates of behavior to decrease repetitive behaviors: A case study

“…However, the stimulus control analysis did indicate another type of discrimination: when and when not to engage in the target behavior. This type of discrimination, usually taught via discrimination training and discussed as stimulus control procedures for reducing problem behavior, has been demonstrated to be an effective component of interventions targeting stereotypy or other problem behavior (Della Rosa et al, ; O'Connor et al, ).…”

“…RRBs may interfere with learning, social interactions, and communication and may be stigmatizing to individuals with autism (Troyb et al, ). Behavioral intervention research has addressed the reduction of RRBs using stimulus control procedures (Della Rosa, Fellman, DeBiase, DeQuinzio, & Taylor, ; O'Connor, Prieto, Hoffmann, DeQuinzio, & Taylor, ), response interruption and redirection (Ahearn, Clark, MacDonald, & Chung, ; Ahrens, Lerman, Kodak, Worsdell, & Keegan, ; Cassella, Sidener, Sidener, & Progar, ), differential reinforcement procedures (Taylor, Hoch, & Weissman, ), and combinations of these procedures (see DiGennaro Reed, Hirst, & Hyman, , for review).…”

Recent advances in applied research on DRO procedures

“…Researchers have recently evaluated the effects of adding discriminative stimuli to signal either when the DRO is in place (Della Rosa, Fellman, DeBiase, DeQuinzio, & Taylor, ) or the onset of a specific procedural component within the DRO arrangement (Hammond, Iwata, Fritz, & Dempsey, ). Hammond et al () compared momentary DRO (mDRO) with and without a signal that preceded reinforcer delivery.…”