Advisor(s)
William H. Ahearn
Contributor(s)
Susan Langer, Richard B. Graff
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 Applied Behavioral Analysis.
Keywords
psychology, behavioral, competing Items, motivating operations
Subject Categories
Stereotyped behavior (Psychiatry), Reinforcement (Psychology), Autistic people
Disciplines
Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms
Abstract
Rapp (2007), suggested that, when treating automatically-reinforced behavior using competing stimuli, whether a stimulus is matched or unmatched is a predictor of whether an AO (for matched stimuli) or EO (for unmatched stimuli) effect will be obtained following response competition. Two young males, with an autism spectrum disorder, who engaged in high levels of stereotypic behavior maintained by automatically reinforcement participated. The effects of competing stimuli on levels of stereotypy were assessed using a three-component multiple schedule (i.e., BL - access to stimuli - BL). During the assessment, the competing item was either a matched or unmatched stimulus identified using a competing items assessment (Piazza et al., 1998; Piazza, Adelinis, Hanley, Goh, &Delia, 2000. For both participants, providing access to the matched stimuli suggested no clear pattern of either establishing or abolishing effect. However, for unmatched stimuli the results suggested a clear pattern of a potential abolishing effect for both participants.
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Rights Holder
Cassie Herman Lynn
Permanent URL
Recommended Citation
Lynn, Cassie Herman, "Multiple schedule assessment of competing items: effect on motivating operations" (2011). Applied Behavioral Analysis Master's Theses. Paper 88. http://iris.lib.neu.edu/app_beh_an_theses/88
Click button above to open, or right-click to save.