The efficacy of noncontingent reinforcement as treatment for automatically reinforced stereotypy

Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR), in the form of continuous access to preferred leisure items, has recently been reported as a successful treatment for automatically reinforced aberrant behavior. However, previous research has shown that the outcome of such procedures can be compromised under certain circumstances, such as when the response effort required to access leisure items is increased. The purpose of the current study was to assess the efficacy of two variations of NCR as treatment for automatically reinforced stereotypy. In the first phase of the study, functional analyses revealed that the stereotypy of three individuals with developmental disabilities was maintained independent of social consequences. A sensory class assessment was then conducted to identify the specific sensory products that appeared to maintain the behaviors. Finally, we evaluated the effects of NCR (using stimuli identified in the previous assessments) under two conditions. In the first condition, the leisure item was made freely available, by placing it on the table in front of the participant. In the other condition, an experimenter prompted the participant to interact with the leisure item at the beginning of the session. The results indicated that NCR successfully competed with stereotypy only when participants were prompted to interact with the leisure item. These findings are discussed in the context of developing NCR interventions for automatically reinforced aberrant behavior. Copyright (C) 2002 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.