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Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis logoLink to Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
. 1996 Spring;29(1):117–120. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1996.29-117

Effects of equal and unequal reinforcer duration during functional analysis.

W W Fisher 1, C C Piazza 1, C L Chiang 1
PMCID: PMC1279881  PMID: 8881352

Abstract

In the functional analysis described by Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, and Richman (1982/1994), reinforcer duration varied across conditions (e.g., brief attention vs. 30 s of escape); this may result in unequal exposure to the establishing operations for aberrant behavior. In this study, we compared the effects of unequal and equal reinforcer duration during a functional analysis. The results showed that reinforcer duration affects the rate of aberrant behavior and may potentially alter functional analysis interpretation.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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