Call Nathan A, Miller Sarah J, Mintz Joslyn Cynkus, Mevers Joanna Lomas, Scheithauer Mindy C, Eshelman Julie E, Beavers Gracie A
Marcus Autism Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, and Emory University School of Medicine.
Marcus Autism Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, and Louisiana State University.
J Appl Behav Anal. 2016 Dec;49(4):900-914. doi: 10.1002/jaba.341. Epub 2016 Jul 29.
Unlike potential tangible positive reinforcers, which are typically identified for inclusion in functional analyses empirically using preference assessments, demands are most often selected arbitrarily or based on caregiver report. The present study evaluated the use of a demand assessment with 12 participants who exhibited escape-maintained problem behavior. Participants were exposed to 10 demands, with aversiveness measured by average latency to the first instance of problem behavior. In subsequent functional analyses, results of a demand condition that included the demand with the shortest latency to problem behavior resulted in identification of an escape function for 11 of the participants. In contrast, a demand condition that included the demand with the longest latency resulted in identification of an escape function for only 5 participants. The implication of these findings is that for the remaining 7 participants, selection of the demand for the functional analysis without using the results of the demand assessment could have produced a false-negative finding.
与潜在的有形正强化物不同，后者通常通过偏好评估以实证方式确定纳入功能分析，而要求最常是任意选择的，或基于照顾者的报告。本研究评估了对12名表现出逃避维持问题行为的参与者进行要求评估的情况。参与者面临10项要求，以问题行为首次出现的平均延迟来衡量厌恶程度。在随后的功能分析中，包含对问题行为延迟最短要求的要求条件的结果，导致11名参与者被确定具有逃避功能。相比之下，包含延迟最长要求的要求条件，仅导致5名参与者被确定具有逃避功能。这些发现的含义是，对于其余7名参与者，如果在功能分析中不使用要求评估的结果来选择要求，可能会产生假阴性结果。
