Multicomponent intervention for agitated behavior in a person with Alzheimer's disease.

Matson et al. (1994) worked with one older adult who had probable Alzheimer's disease. The person showed agitated behavior during a simple workshop job.

The team ran tiny five-minute tests called brief probes. They tried different tasks and rewards to see what helped and what bothered the client.

The probes showed which parts of the job felt good and which felt bad. The staff then built a plan that kept the good parts and fixed the bad ones.

Agitated behavior dropped. Work speed stayed the same. The plan worked without any drugs or restraints.

Khokhar et al. (2025) pooled 42 adult studies and found that packages with several ABA parts beat single plans. L et al. is one of the earliest cases in that pool.

Meier et al. (2012) later used picture cues on a tablet to help adults with dementia finish daily tasks. They kept the dignity of the 1994 idea but swapped probes for tech.

Cameron et al. (1996) tried a drug plus behavior plan for kids with ID. Behavior alone worked as well as the pill. The 1994 dementia case mirrors this: behavior first, meds later.

You can copy the brief-probe trick in any setting. Spend five minutes testing likes and dislikes before you write a behavior plan. One quick test can save weeks of guess-work and cut problem behavior without side effects.