Advisor(s)
D. Daniel Gould
Contributor(s)
Pamela M. Olsen, Karen E. Gould
Date of Award
2011
Date Accepted
8-2011
Degree Grantor
Northeastern University
Degree Level
M.S.
Degree Name
Master of Applied Behavior Analysis
Department or Academic Unit
Bouvé College of Health Sciences. Department of Counseling and Applied Educational Psychology.
Keywords
psychology, behavioral, autism, preference, social stimuli, reinforcement, reinforcer
Subject Categories
Reinforcement (Psychology), Developmental disabilities - Psychological aspects
Disciplines
Child Psychology | Developmental Psychology
Abstract
Although tokens and other contrived reinforcers are widely used in applied settings, social reinforcement, a more natural form of reinforcement, has been shown to maintain behaviors for developmentally disabled children including those with autism. A better understanding of an individual's preference for certain social consequences may allow for more effective use of social consequences in applied settings. The purpose of the present study, a replication of Smaby, MacDonald, Ahearn, and Dube (2007), was to identify reinforcing forms of social attention for 5 boys who attended a school for children with autism. The results of this study indicate that social consequences produced response rates higher than extinction conditions and, for 4 of the 5 participants, praise functioned as the most preferred reinforcer.
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Rights Holder
Sarah Johnson
Permanent URL
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Sarah, "Assessing relative preference for and reinforcing effectiveness of social consequences" (2011). Applied Behavioral Analysis Master's Theses. Paper 69. http://hdl.handle.net/2047/d20001172
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