Ed. S. Anja Jelaska
Center for Autism Split, Croatia
Title: Preference for a reflexive conditioned motivating operation predicting removal of a positive reinforcer
Biography
Biography: Ed. S. Anja Jelaska
Abstract
Countdown timers have been used in several studies to enhance the effectiveness of treatments for problem behavior maintained by socially mediated reinforcers. Countdown timers that predict reinforcer removal or unavailability, or pending task onset can be viewed as conditioned reflexive motivating operations (CMO-R) that signal a worsening situation. However, it is unclear why they would enhance treatment effectiveness. This study replicated a study by Mace, Shapiro and Mace (1998) that used a countdown timer to signal reinforcer removal and task onset. In the present study, a functional analysis conducted with a 5-year-old boy with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) found that his problem behavior was maintained by unsignaled removal of an iPad followed by introduction of a task. A 2-min countdown timer set prior to iPad removal and task onset reduced problem behavior compared to these unsignaled events. A post-treatment preference assessment found that the boy preferred signaled iPad removal and over unsignaled iPad removal.
Keywords: Reflexive conditioned motivating operation, CMO-R, signaled removal of a positive reinforcer, preference for signaled removal of a positive reinforcer, conditioned reinforcement