Using obsessions as reinforcers with and without mild reductive procedures to decrease inappropriate behaviors of children with autism.
Let kids earn their obsession for 30 seconds and add a mild ‘no’ or time-out to get the biggest cut in problem behavior.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team tested three ways to run a DRO schedule with autistic children who had intense obsessions. Kids could earn 30 seconds with their favorite obsession item, or get the same item plus a mild 'no' or brief time-out, or earn food plus the mild reductive.
They used a multielement design so each child cycled through all four conditions in one session. Baseline was a standard food-based DRO. The goal was to see which package cut inappropriate behavior fastest.
What they found
All three new packages beat the food-only baseline. The clear winner was obsession access plus a mild reductive. Problem behavior dropped the most in that condition.
Obsession access alone still helped, but adding the quick 'no' or 30-second time-out gave the biggest reduction.
How this fits with other research
Two years later Willemsen-Swinkels et al. (1998) ran a conceptual replication. They turned obsession items into tokens instead of direct DRO access. Task accuracy rose and problem behavior fell, showing the idea travels across formats.
Ganz et al. (2009) looked at transition tantrums. They also paired DRO with extinction and beat visual schedules alone. The pattern matches: DRO plus a mild consequence outperforms DRO alone.
Storch et al. (2012) seems to disagree at first glance. They cut covert skin picking with variable momentary DRO and no punishment. The key difference is maintaining source. A’s behavior was automatically reinforced; H’s was socially reinforced. Automatic cases often yield to pure DRO, social cases need the extra punch.
Why it matters
If a child loves trains, letters, or spinning lids, let them earn short spins with those items instead of candy. Add a brief ‘no’ or 30-second sit-out when problem behavior slips. This tiny package can give you the fastest drop in disruptive acts and keeps motivation sky-high because the reinforcer is already inside the child’s world.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
We assessed the effectiveness of using the obsessions of children with autism to reduce their inappropriate behaviors. Baseline consisted of a traditional differential reinforcement of other behaviors (DRO) in which food reinforcers were provided contingent upon a period of nonoccurrence of the inappropriate behaviors. Then, three treatment conditions were assessed using a multielement design. One condition provided objects of obsession as reinforcers for periods of nonoccurrence of the inappropriate behaviors. A second condition also provided the obsessions as reinforcers, but in conjunction with mild reductive procedures (verbal "no", time-out). A final condition used the food reinforcers of baseline, but with mild reductive procedures. Results indicated that all three treatment conditions were more effective than the traditional food DRO of baseline. The most effective condition was the obsessions plus mild reductive procedures. Results are discussed in terms of recommendations for effective treatment planning.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 1996 · doi:10.1007/BF02172274