Manipulating the behavior-altering effect of the motivating operation: examination of the influence on challenging behavior during leisure activities.

Full Abstract

We examined the behavior-altering effect of the motivating operation on challenging behavior during leisure activities for three individuals with severe disabilities. Prior functional analyses indicated that challenging behavior was maintained by positive reinforcement in the form of attention or tangible items for all participants. During leisure sessions, each participant played preferred games (cards, jigsaws) with two individuals without disabilities. The discriminative stimuli for challenging behavior were present during leisure sessions but challenging behavior was never reinforced. Immediately prior to leisure sessions, the participants received either access to the reinforcers that maintained challenging behavior or no access. Access versus no access to reinforcers for challenging behavior prior to leisure sessions was alternated in a multi-element design. Results demonstrated higher levels of challenging behavior during leisure sessions when the participants did not have access to the reinforcers prior to the sessions. Little challenging behavior occurred during leisure sessions when the participants had prior access to the reinforcers. Arguments for further examining the behavior-altering effects of the motivating operation in future applied research are presented.

Author information

Author/s: O'Reilly, Mark F (MF); Sigafoos, Jeff (J); Lancioni, Giulio (G); Rispoli, Mandy (M); Lang, Russell (R); Chan, Jeff (J); Machalicek, Wendy (W); Langthorne, Paul (P);

Affiliation: Department of Special Education, 1 University Station D5300, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, United States. markoreilly(-atsign-)mail.utexas.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Clinical Trial; Journal Article

Journal: Research in developmental disabilities (Res Dev Disabil), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: -2008 Jul-Aug; vol 29 (issue 4) : pp 333-40

Dates: Created 2008/06/09; Completed 2008/09/15;

PMID: 17629672, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

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