Shining a Light on the Challenging Behaviors of Adolescents with Comorbid Diagnoses: Use of Pictorial Concurrent Operant Preference Assessment

Currently, there are no published studies that have used the concurrent operant preference assessment procedure to identify functions of challenging behaviors displayed by individuals with comorbid diagnoses. Four participants (aged 11–16 years) with comorbid diagnoses who displayed multiple challenging behaviors were referred to this study. We modified the standard concurrent operant preference assessment and used the new modified version, the pictorial concurrent operant preference assessment, to identify the functions of the challenging behaviors. Utilizing the triangulation mixed-methods design, we compared the indirect functional behavioral assessment (FBA) and the direct FBA with the pictorial concurrent operant preference assessment. The results obtained successfully demonstrated the concordance among these assessments in identifying the behavioral function for each participant. The results further showed that (1) the preferences served the same functional effects on both the challenging behaviors and the adaptive behaviors and (2) the pictorial concurrent operant preference assessment can be used independently to identify potential behavioral function and to specify the reinforcing potency of each behavioral function. The significance of the study results, limitations of this study, and directions for future research and clinical practice are discussed.

Evaluating acquisition, preference and discrimination in requesting skills between picture exchange and iPad®-based speech generating device across preschoolers

This study compared a picture exchange (PE) system and an iPad®-based speech generating device (SGD) when teaching requesting skills to preschoolers with developmental disabilities and limited functional speech. A multiple baseline design with counterbalancing the order of two instruction conditions across participants was applied to compare the acquisition rate, followed by a concurrent operant arrangement to examine participants’ preference for these two augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems. Discrimination of two picture symbols presented via the priority AAC system was also probed using a concurrent operant arrangement. Results indicated that two of three participants required less sessions to reach mastery for the iPad®-based instruction condition. All participants showed a clear preference for the iPad®-based SGD and were able to discriminate between two picture symbols presented simultaneously on the iPad®-based SGD when making requests. This study highlights practice implications in terms of describing a systematic approach that could be employed when identifying a priority AAC system for learners with developmental disabilities and limited functional speech.

An Initial Evaluation of a Concurrent Operant Analysis Framework to Identify Reinforcers for Work Completion

Although functional analysis is a powerful tool for testing the function of challenging behavior, it is not always feasible or appropriate to include as a component of functional behavior assessment (FBA). Alternative experimental analysis methods are needed to inform individualized interventions in schools, particularly for students who engage in passive forms of problem behavior. We evaluated a concurrent operant analysis (COA) framework to identify reinforcers for appropriate replacement behaviors for four students referred for FBA and reported by teachers to engage in low levels of work completion. After completing two COAs per student (researcher-as-therapist and teacher-as-therapist), we used alternating treatments designs to compare the effects of an intervention matched with COA outcomes to intervention conditions that were not matched to COA outcomes on levels of work completion and task engagement. COA outcomes corresponded across therapists for three of four participants and intervention results validated COA outcomes for two of these participants. Although results of this initial investigation seem promising, more research on COA frameworks is needed to determine their utility to guide reinforcement-based interventions in schools.

An Investigation of a Video-Based Preference Assessment of Social Interactions

We examined the use of a paired-stimulus, video-based preference assessment (VPA) to identify high- and low-preference social interactions for three children with autism spectrum disorder. We conducted two VPAs with each participant: one with access to the interaction contingent on each selection and one without access. We also conducted a concurrent-operant reinforcer assessment to evaluate the accuracy of the VPAs in identifying reinforcers. For two participants, the VPAs corresponded strongly and the results of the reinforcer assessment suggest that the high-preference interaction produced more of the target response than the low-preference interaction. For the other participant, the VPAs identified different high- and low-preference interactions, and the results of the reinforcer assessment suggest that the VPA without access may have been more accurate in identifying a reinforcer.