Prior research has shown that bringing functional communication responses under the discriminative control of schedule-correlated stimuli facilitates rapid reinforcement schedule thinning and the transfer of functional communication training (FCT) treatment effects to other therapists and settings. In Experiment 1, we extended this body of research by rapidly transferring FCT treatment effects to a caregiver, despite the caregiver's unique and lengthy history of reinforcement of the child's destructive behavior. In Experiment 2, we evaluated the degree to which FCT treatment effects transferred to another participant's caregivers when the caregivers implemented FCT with and without schedule-correlated stimuli.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe used a biobehavioral treatment consisting of melatonin and a standardized bed and wake time to decrease one girl's head and mouth touches associated with sleep-related trichotillomania and trichophagia. We remotely coached the girl's caregiver to implement all procedures and monitored response to treatment using a DropCam Pro video camera equipped with night-vision capabilities. Head and mouth touches decreased, and her sleep pattern improved with the combination of treatment strategies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe summarize the results of four recent translational studies from our lab that used the predictions of behavioral momentum theory to inform the development of more durable treatments for destructive behavior. Treatments informed by behavioral momentum theory generally showed better suppression of target responding during an extinction challenge than did a comparison treatment. We reanalyze data from each of the four studies to show that this general finding is apparent both at the aggregate (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNoncontingent reinforcement (NCR) and response blocking are 2 common interventions for problem behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement. We implemented NCR and blocking with 1 boy and found this combined intervention to be effective at decreasing high rates of automatically reinforced pica. With another child, we compared the effects of blocking alone to the combined intervention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Psychosom Res
November 2001
Objective: There is increasing evidence that the coexistence of diabetes and eating disorders (ED) leads to poor glycemic control and an increased risk of long-term complications.
Methods: In a questionnaire- and interview-based study, a sample of 36 out of originally 38 (94.7%) diabetic patients with an ED (type-1: n=13, type-2: n=23) was assessed after a period of about 2 years in order to determine the course of EDs, body mass index (BMI), glycemic control, and psychiatric symptomatology.