Educational research single su
Educational research single suEducational Research
Single-Subject Critique
Establishing Discriminative Control of Responding Using Functional and Alternative Reinforcers During Functional Communication Training
Wayne W. Fisher, David E. Kuhn, and Rachel H. Thompson
Appropriateness of research question or purpose:
The purpose of this research was interesting and of value as it focused on problems that often occur when Functional Communication Training (FCT) is in use. This study sought to find effective solutions as desired “. . .response[s] may be weakened and destructive behavior[s] may reemerge . . .” when reinforcements of communication are delayed or denied due to impossibility or inconvenience of the caregiver or instructors ability to provide said reinforcement in a timely manner. “. . .procedures are needed to increase the effectiveness of FCT in situations in which it is impractical or impossible to deliver a given reinforcer.”
Research design and design rationale:
This study was broken up into 4 phases (the fourth phase “. . .was completed with only 1 participant in only one condition because of time limitations on the participants’ hospital admission.”) Phase 1: Functional Analyses and Descriptive Assessments. Alternating treatment with no baseline design. “During this analysis, a test condition . . .and a control condition were compared using a multi-element design.” Phase 2: Communication and Discrimination Training. Phase 3: Treatment Evaluation of FCT with Discriminative Stimuli. Between series, alternating treatment (ABAB) design was used to compare FCT + EXT vs. ACT + EXT in two conditions for one participant (Amy) and in one condition for...
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