Individuals with developmental disabilities often have limited verbal repertoires and may engage in maladaptive behaviors in lieu of appropriate behaviors to access preferred stimuli. Functional Communication Training (FCT), although an efficacious treatment to reduce occurrences of maladaptive behavior, may result in unmanageable rates of the communicative response. Research has shown that gradually introducing a multiple schedule of reinforcement can ameliorate these high rates. To date, no studies have attempted the gradual introduction of a multiple schedule with behavior sensitive to negative reinforcement. Moreover, although evidence exists in the basic literature for the use of auditory stimuli as discriminative stimuli for the components of a multiple schedule, there is a paucity of applied research on multiple schedules with auditory signals. In the current study, two participants with developmental disabilities and intact vision and hearing received FCT to teach a functionally communicative response (e.g., touching a "break" card). Once the participants acquired the response, they were exposed to a multiple schedule condition, in which either auditory or visual signals were arranged to signal the components, and a mixed schedule (control) condition in which neither component was signaled

Of the approximately 3.9 million dogs that enter US animal shelters each year, many exhibit behaviors related to fear, which can affect their likelihood of adoption. Current dog training procedures to treat fear include counterconditioning and desensitization, which can often take months or years to show any behavior change and do not teach specific behaviors aimed to increase the dog's chance of being adopted. The current study used a negative reinforcement shaping procedure to teach fearful dogs to approach and and interact with people. The results showed that constructional fear treatment increased the amount of time the dog spent at the front of the kennel, and increased sniffing, tail wagging, and accepting petting for all 3 participants.

The purpose of the current study is to evaluate a procedure that can be used to introduce horses to clipping. Negative reinforcement was used in a shaping paradigm. Shaping steps were conducted by the handler, starting with touching the horse with the hand, then touching the horse with the clippers while they are off, culminating with touching the horse with the clippers while they are on. When a horse broke contact with either the hand or the clippers, the hand or the clippers were held at that point until the horse emitted an appropriate response. When the horse emitted an appropriate response, the clippers were removed, and the handler stepped away from the horse. For all eight horses, this shaping plan was effective in enabling the clipping of each horse with minimal inappropriate behavior and without additional restraint. The entire process took under an hour for each horse.

Book Summary:: A teacher’s ability to manage the classroom strongly influences the quality of teaching and learning that can be accomplished. Among the most pressing concerns for inexperienced teachers is classroom management, a concern of equal importance to the general public in light of behavior problems and breakdowns in discipline that grab newspaper headlines. But classroom management is not just about problems and what to do when things go wrong and chaos erupts. It’s about how to run a classroom so as to elicit the best from even the most courteous group of students. An array of skills is needed to produce such a learning environment. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Classroom Management raises issues and introduces evidence-based, real-world strategies for creating and maintaining well-managed classrooms where learning thrives. Students studying to become teachers will need to develop their own classroom management strategies consistent with their own philosophies of teaching and learning. It is hoped that this work will help open their eyes to the range of issues and the array of skills they might integrate into their unique teaching styles.

Most horse owners administer oral deworming medication to their horses on a set schedule, often six times per year. The deworming process involves using a plastic syringe to inject a thick paste into the horse's mouth. Most horse owners do not specifically train their horses to accept this procedure. Consequently, many horses resist the procedure and some horses engage in behaviors, such as head shaking, pulling away, or even rearing, that may be dangerous to humans or to themselves. This study used a negative reinforcement shaping procedure to train six horses to accept dewormer medication. The procedure consisted of a food sampling phase followed by three shaping phases that simulated the deworming task, first using only the experimenter's hand, then a small syringe, and finally a large syringe. Once the horse was acclimated to the syringe, the horse's preferred liquid food was delivered through the syringe at the end of each trial. By the end of the study, all participants successfully completed the procedure and were able to stand still with no or minimal head movements while being dewormed.

The Class Pass Intervention (CPI) is designed for students who engage in escape-motivated problem behavior to avoid or escape difficult or aversive academic work and who are not responsive to the system-wide universal supports provided to all students. Research on the CPI is in its initial stages and requires replications to be proven effective in multiple settings and become evidenced-based. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to expand the literature on CPI by targeting elementary school students and assess its impact on decreasing disruptive behavior maintained by attention and on increasing academic engagement. The study involved 4 students with disruptive classroom behavior and low academic engagement and their 2 classroom teachers. A multiple-baseline design across participants was used to demonstrate the intervention outcomes. The intervention was implemented during a targeted routine or academic time period when behavior was most likely to occur. Results indicated that teachers implemented the CPI with high levels of fidelity, and their implementation was effective in increasing academic engagement and decreasing disruptive behavior with all participants. The intervention effects were maintained after undergoing fading for all 4 students and during 2-week follow-up for 2 students. The results of social validity assessments indicated students and teachers found the intervention to be acceptable and effective. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.

We used a combined multi-element, ABCBC reversal design to examine whether qualities of various negative reinforcers can be assessed under progressive-ratio schedules. Two adults with disabilities participated in this study. We assessed five sounds three times using progressive-ratio schedules to obtain mean break points for each stimulus and ranked negative reinforcers according to their mean break points. We called the stimulus with the highest mean break point the high-quality escape (HQE) stimulus and the stimulus with the lowest break point the low-quality escape (LQE) stimulus and examined responding according to different schedules of reinforcement for each stimulus: FR2, FR4, and FR8 for Jenny and FR1 and FR11 for April. We identified preferred and nonpreferred sounds for both participants.We observed differential responding for both participants between preferred and nonpreferred sounds. We observed differential responding between HQE and LQE stimuli for April but not for Jenny; a larger range in break points was observed for April. These results demonstrate a method to identify preferred and nonpreferred sounds and provide support for the possibility of using progressive-ratio schedules to rank negative reinforcers of various qualities.

Escape from instructional demands is one of the most common functions of problem behavior. Some research suggests that a switch from difficult to easy tasks may function as a reinforcer for problem behavior. This is of particular concern for situations in which easy tasks are part of the intervention procedure to reduce problem behavior. This project examined the reinforcing effects of a switch from low-probability (low-p) to high-probability (high-p) tasks for individuals whose problem behavior was maintained by escape from demands. It also provided preliminary evidence as to the quality of reinforcement provided by a switch from low- high-p tasks. Three individuals with disabilities who were referred for treatment of escape-maintained problem behavior participated in this research. We used a multi-element design to compare the effects of two intervention conditions on problem behavior and compliance in relation to control and baseline conditions. During the control condition, no demands were presented, and the participant had continuous access to preferred items and attention. In the baseline condition (break), a break from low-p demands was presented contingent on problem behavior. In the first intervention condition, problem behavior no longer resulted in a break from demands (escape extinction). During the second intervention condition, problem behavior following low-p tasks resulted in a switch to high-p tasks. All participants engaged in elevated levels of problem behavior and decreased compliance when problem behavior resulted in a switch of tasks. These results imply that for individuals whose problem behavior is maintained by escape from demands, a switch from low- to high-p tasks may reinforce problem behavior.

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With a rise in concern for animal welfare, the equine world has started using positive reinforcement (R+); as such, horses often experience a combination of negative reinforcement (R-) and R+. I compared the effects of R- to a combination of positive and negative reinforcement (R-/R+) training. Horses were trained to walk across two visually discriminable liverpools (striped, Experiment 1; colored water, Experiment 2), each associated with either R- or R-/R+, and training type alternating across six days. I measured highest training criteria reached, prevalence of undesirable behaviors, salivary cortisol (pre- and post-training), time spent by the trainer in motionless human tests (pre- and post-training), and horses' preference for the two liverpools using concurrent choice. Across both experiments, I found no significant difference in the proportions of criteria reached between training types; horses engaged in mugging for longer periods of time in R-/R+ than R-; no significant difference between training types for the pre- to post-change of cortisol; a greater proportion of horses increased time spent with R-/R+ trainer than the R- trainer; and no difference between first choice in the preference test or time horses spent in proximity to the liverpool, based on the training type with which the liverpool was associated. Overall, I found few differences between R-/R+ and R-, which could be due to horses only having 30 min total training contact with either training, or my use of relatively low intensities of R- and R+. / Master of Science / The equine world has started using positive reinforcement (R+), such as providing treats. Often horses experience a combination of negative reinforcement (R-) and R+, such as having rein pressure released and being given a treat. I compared effects of R- to a combination of positive and negative reinforcement (R-/R+) training. Horses were trained to walk across two visually distinct liverpools, a 1 m X 2.7 m shallow pool, (striped, Experiment 1; colored water, Experiment 2) each associated with either R- or R-/R+, and training type alternating across six days. I measured highest training level reached, occurrence of undesirable behaviors, salivary cortisol (a measure of stress), time spent by the trainer in motionless human tests, and horses' preference for the two liverpools. Across both experiments, I found no significant difference in the proportions of criteria reached between training types; horses investigated the trainer for treats for longer durations in R-/R+ than R-; no significant difference between training types for the pre- to post-change; a greater proportion of horses increased time spent with R-/R+ trainer than R- trainer; and no difference between first choice in the preference test or time horses spent in proximity to the liverpool, based on the training type with which the liverpool was associated. Overall, I found few differences between R-/R+ and R-, which could be due to horses only having 30 min total training contact with either training, or my use of relatively low intensities of R- and R+.