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Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis logoLink to Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
. 2003 Fall;36(3):297–307. doi: 10.1901/jaba.2003.36-297

The effects of presession attention on problem behavior maintained by different reinforcers.

Jennifer J McComas 1, Andrea Thompson 1, LeAnne Johnson 1
PMCID: PMC1284444  PMID: 14596571

Abstract

The effect of presession attention on the later occurrence of problem behavior was examined with elementary-school children with a range of disabilities. Results of analogue functional analyses suggested an escape function, an attention function, or both. Following the analogue functional analyses, the effects of two antecedent conditions (10-min ignore vs. 10-min attention) were compared on problem behavior in subsequent test conditions. For participants who displayed attention-maintained problem behavior, the test condition involved contingent attention for problem behavior. For participants who displayed escape-maintained problem behavior, the test condition involved contingent escape for problem behavior. Results indicated that participants who displayed attention-maintained problem behavior displayed less problem behavior following presession exposure to attention than when ignored. No such effect was found for presession attention on escape-maintained problem behavior. We discuss matching antecedent-based interventions to the results of functional analysis.

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Selected References

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