The effects of noncontingent reinforcement on task disengagement following failure of differential reinforcement treatment
When differential reinforcement fails to keep kids with autism engaged, switch to noncontingent delivery of their most highly preferred items.
01Research in Context
What this study did
O’Brien et al. (2023) worked with kids with autism who quit tasks after a basic reward plan failed.
They first tried differential reinforcement—give a treat only when the child stays on task.
When that did not work, they switched to noncontingent reinforcement: give the child the best toy every few minutes no matter what.
The team ran an ABAB reversal to be sure the free toy caused the change.
What they found
Task engagement jumped as soon as the free toy arrived.
The better the child liked the item, the bigger the jump.
When they took the toy away, work time dropped; when they brought it back, work time rose again.
How this fits with other research
Lancioni et al. (2009) already ruled NCR a “well-established” fix for problem behavior in developmental disabilities.
O’Brien’s team now shows the same trick can rescue work engagement after DR fails.
Luis et al. (2021) saw a similar rescue in feeding: NCR calmed mealtime trouble right after DR missed the mark.
Berth et al. (2019) compared NCR and DR head-to-head and found both helped, but O’Brien flips the order—use DR first, then swap to NCR if it flops.
Why it matters
You no longer have to pick between DR and NCR at the start.
Try DR for a few sessions; if the child still drifts away, drop the contingency and hand over the top-ranked item on a fixed-time schedule.
This saves you weeks of tweaking DR and gets the child back to work fast.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
AbstractFollowing the failure of applications of differential reinforcement (DR), the effects of reinforcement delivered noncontingently (NCR) on task disengagement and task completion were evaluated within reversal designs for three children with autism spectrum disorder. In Experiment 1, we compared DR and NCR schedules that combined positive and negative reinforcement. In Experiment 2, we replicated the results of Experiment 1 and then evaluated NCR schedules composed solely of negative reinforcement and NCR schedules that combined negative reinforcement with high‐or low‐preferred stimuli. In Experiment 3, we further analyzed NCR schedules that included different types and qualities of positive reinforcement, but without the inclusion of negative reinforcement. The results showed that NCR schedules using positive reinforcers can be effective as a treatment for task disengagement, but the type and preference of the reinforcer can alter effectiveness. These results are interpreted in terms of the motivating operations associated with task disengagement.
Behavioral Interventions, 2023 · doi:10.1002/bin.1916