Reinforcement schedule thinning following functional communication training: A systematic review
Schedule thinning after FCT works in clinics, but most variants have never been tested in everyday settings with parents or teachers running the show.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Davis et al. (2023) looked at every study that thinned reinforcement after FCT. They found 82 papers covering 401 thinning programs.
The team coded how each program worked, where it happened, and who ran it. Most reports came from clinics, not homes or schools.
What they found
Across all 401 programs, thinning usually kept problem behavior low. Yet no single method was tested in everyday places with parents or teachers.
The papers used nine different thinning tactics. Procedural details varied wildly, so clinicians have little guidance on which tactic to pick.
How this fits with other research
Muething et al. (2021) and Briggs et al. (2018) both counted resurgence spikes during thinning. Their numbers seem to clash: 41% versus 76%. The gap comes from different definitions of a "spike," not true disagreement.
Slaton et al. (2024) answered the review’s main worry. They thinned FCT in public-school classrooms and kept problem behavior near zero for a full year, showing it can work where parents and teachers actually run the show.
Strohmeier et al. (2024) built on the review by testing a quicker probe method. Their terminal probe set tougher but safer thinning steps and cut resurgence, giving clinicians a practical next step.
Why it matters
You now know thinning after FCT works in clinics but needs real-world checks. Expect resurgence in roughly half of steps, plan booster FCT, and use clear signals like colored cards. Try a brief terminal probe before you thin; it may give you a leaner, safer schedule parents will actually accept.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
AbstractFunctional communication training (FCT) is a highly effective intervention to reduce challenging behavior. However, continuous reinforcement of the functional communicative response typically used during FCT cannot be maintained in natural settings. Reinforcement schedule thinning addresses this drawback. In order to better inform practice and future research, we conducted a systematic review of all peer‐reviewed studies published between the years 1985 and 2022 that implemented schedule thinning following FCT. We identified 82 articles with 296 participants and 401 applications of schedule thinning. We summarized each application according to characteristics of the participant, FCT, and schedule thinning procedure. We identified nine unique schedule thinning procedures. The four most prevalent were multiple schedules, chained schedules, delay‐to‐reinforcement, and response restriction with a correlation between the function of challenging behavior and the selected schedule thinning approach. Notably, there was great procedural variability across each procedure. Very few studies were conducted in natural settings or involved natural change agents in selecting the terminal schedule of reinforcement or as schedule thinning implementers. Although there is ample evidence supporting the efficacy of schedule thinning after FCT, more research is needed to determine the most effective procedures necessary to ensure that the benefits of FCT can be maintained via schedule thinning in natural settings.
Behavioral Interventions, 2023 · doi:10.1002/bin.1959