Functional Communication Training and Most-To-Least Prompting as Treatments for Problem Behavior

Functional communication training (FCT) is a treatment for problem behavior in which the learner is taught a communicative behavior that fulfills the same function as the problem behavior. Although effective, when FCT is used to request breaks from work, limitations include increased time spent in breaks and reduced task-related responding. An alternative treatment is most-to-least prompting (MTL) of a task in which a therapist provides the most helpful prompts for task-related responding (e.g., physical guidance) and gradually reduces the amount of help (e.g., visual prompt and then verbal) until the learner responds independently. We evaluated FCT and MTL in a multiple treatments design with an 11-year-old girl with severe developmental disabilities. Both treatments reduced problem behavior from baseline levels, and academic responding was greater during MTL than during FCT. MTL is an errorless teaching approach conceptualized as an abolishing operation that reduces the aversiveness of a task and makes escape less valuable.

Literacy and Academic Engagement in Learners Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Academic engagement is essential for achievement in literacy. Greater language and literacy gains are achieved when students are actively engaged in activities that intentionally build on the strengths, and strategically address the current limitations, of the individual child. In their early years, students who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) often experience delays in literacy development due to limited or delayed access to a comprehensive language. Despite academic struggles, DHH students are as engaged as their typically hearing peers in the classroom setting. However, they are given fewer opportunities to respond academically and spend less time reading at school in comparison to peers with typical hearing. Consequently, DHH students may be more passively engaged in their learning with fewer opportunities for active engagement in literacy instruction. Through a review of the literature on academic engagement in literacy instruction, this chapter emphasizes the importance of creating a learning environment that encourages active engagement and addresses the individual needs of DHH students. The chapter ends with a discussion of strategies and methods designed to support the engagement and literacy achievement of DHH students in terms of instructional arrangements, teacher behaviors, and academic responding.

Behavior Contracts

In schools, behavior contracts typically specify a contingency of reinforcement that is satisfied if students meet specific behavior goals. Behavior contracts, also called contingency contracts, are supported by over forty years of research documenting their effectiveness in promoting individual behavior change across a variety of educational settings. The use of behavior contracts in schools often focuses on decreasing problem behaviors and increasing academic responding for students in general and special education settings. Contingencies developed within behavior contracts outline an expected behavior or completion of a task contingent upon a reward. This chapter provides information on behavior contract components, supporting behavioral principles, student populations for which contracts might be most effective, how to develop an effective behavior contract, and guidelines and considerations from research on implementing behavior contracts in applied settings.

Increasing Active Engagement

The use of response cards is a research-based strategy to increase active engagement, on-task behavior, and academic responding. With new and affordable mobile technologies, teachers now have access to a host of high-tech digital student response systems to increase engagement. This article describes the logistical, management, and pedagogical considerations for teachers using such systems. This article provides guidelines for teachers when planning, implementing, and monitoring the use of student response systems. A classroom example is provided along with data sheets and a graphing system to use when collecting data and evaluating effectiveness. This article also provides a table of digital student response systems including their descriptions and features.

Further Analysis of the Predictive Effects of a Free-Operant Competing Stimulus Assessment on Stereotypy

We conducted five experiments to evaluate the predictive validity of a free-operant competing stimulus assessment (FOCSA). In Experiment 1, we showed that each participant’s repetitive behavior persisted without social consequences. In Experiment 2, we used the FOCSA to identify high-preference, low-stereotypy (HP-LS) items for 11 participants and high-preference, high-stereotypy (HP-HS) items for nine participants. To validate the results of the FOCSAs (Experiment 3), we used a three-component multiple schedule to evaluate the immediate and subsequent effects of an HP-LS stimulus, an HP-HS stimulus, or both (in separate test sequences) on each participant’s stereotypy. Results of Experiment 3 showed that the FOCSA correctly predicted the immediate effect of the HP-LS stimulus for 10 of 11 participants; however, the FOCSA predictions were less accurate for the HP-HS stimulus. Results of Experiment 4 showed that a differential reinforcement of other behavior procedure in which participants earned access to the HP-LS for omitting vocal stereotypy increased all five participants’ latency to engaging in stereotypy; however, clinically significant omission durations were only achieved for one participant. Experiment 5 showed that differential reinforcement of alternative behavior in which participants earned access to the HP-LS stimulus contingent upon correct responses during discrete-trial training reduced targeted and nontargeted stereotypy and increased correct academic responding for all four participants. The potential utility of the FOCSA is discussed.