Association for Behavior Analysis International

Functional communication training (FCT) is a differential-reinforcement procedure that involves the delivery of the reinforcer maintaining problem behavior contingent on an alternative communication response. Tiger, Hanley, and Bruzek (2008) found FCT to be the most commonly prescribed function-based treatment for problem behavior. As a result, a large portion of the literature on the assessment and treatment of problem behavior surrounds techniques to improve FCT. This symposium was designed to showcase some of the recent advancements in FCT. Kelley and colleagues investigated how noncontingent reinforcement disrupts both response acquisition and maintenance during FCT. Mitteer and colleagues evaluated a pre-assessment that predicts performance under two types of FCT schedule-thinning procedures. Ghaemmaghami and colleagues compared two approaches for programming delays to reinforcement during FCT schedule thinning. Niebauer and colleagues examined the role of stimulus control in mitigating the resurgence of problem behavior during extinction. The overall theme and implications of these studies will be discussed and summarized by Dr. Linda LeBlanc.

Response-independent reinforcer delivery (in the form of noncontingent reinforcement; NCR) is a procedure commonly used to decrease levels of problem behavior. As a primary effect of this intervention, response-independent reinforcer delivery abolishes motivation, abates responding, and weakens the functional relation between behavior and consequences. Secondary effects may be undesirable in some cases. For example, some studies (Goh, Iwata, & DeLeon; 2000; Marcus & Vollmer, 1996) showed that response-independent reinforcer delivery treated problem behavior but also might compete with acquisition of an alternative response. In the current study, we extended previous research by (a) showing that response-independent reinforcer delivery competes with both response acquisition and maintenance and (b) extending the generality of the findings by including both basic and applied arrangements.

Fisher, Greer, Querim, and DeRosa (2014) found that when functional communication training included multiple schedules of reinforcement (mult FCT), individuals who were unable to discriminate between the multiple-schedule components engaged in exceedingly high rates of the functional communication response. Response-restriction (RR) procedures were later shown to prevent this problem while maintaining low rates of problem behavior. In the current investigation, we evaluated three childrens successive- and simultaneous-discrimination abilities prior to evaluating Mult FCT or RR FCT. For one child, we conducted Mult FCT and RR FCT concurrently, albeit in separate contexts, and found the assessment accurately predicted the childs discrimination performance during each treatment. For the other children, we used the discrimination-test results to guide the selection of RR FCT to quickly teach the simultaneous discrimination and reduce problem behavior to near-zero levels. Results are discussed in terms of how selecting treatments matched to each individuals skills may be advantageous when evaluating treatments for problem behavior.

Despite being proven successful as a treatment for reducing problem behavior, functional communication training (FCT) does not address what happens to problem behavior during times in which functional communication responses go unreinforced. Previous research has shown that periods of extinction following FCT produce resurgence of problem behavior (Mace, et al., 2010; Volkert, Lerman, Call, & Trosclair-Lasserre, 2009), and such periods of extinction are likely when caregivers implement FCT. The current study evaluated whether establishing strict discriminative control over the FCR with the use of a multiple schedule mitigates the resurgence of problem behavior. With three children who engaged in problem behavior, the effects of a multiple-schedule FCT intervention was evaluated when discriminative stimuli were present or absent during a rigorous extinction challenge developed from Nevin and Shahans (2011) Equation 7 of behavioral momentum theory. Results for one child are compared to rates of problem behavior predicted by Nevin and Shahans (2011) Equation 7. Results are discussed in terms of how stimulus control can offset resurgence of problem behavior during periods of extinction.