Fading after FCT with competing items

Efficiency and preference for alternative activities during schedule thinning with functional communication training

Findings

With one of the largest evidence bases in behavior analysis, functional communication training is something that is used daily by most behavior analysts. However, once you use functional communication training, there is still more to do. Fading the reinforcement schedule following FCT is not commonly talked about but is essential to creating a generalizable treatment. However, fading out the reinforcement schedule can be a difficult process and sometimes can occasion resurgence. It is common to see problem behavior when previously reinforced mands are put on extinction. To address this limitation, these authors programmed different preferred stimuli or tasks to do when the communicative response was on extinction. By including other preferred items during the period of extinction there were little instances of problem behavior and the therapists successfully faded to the terminal goal.

Research to Practice

The practitioner can take away at least two key points. The first is that avoiding punishment-based procedures is possible! It is not always easy, and there are times when more intrusive procedures are need, that is true. But I would argue that what these authors demonstrated is a creative method to avoid attaching punishment to schedule fading. That mindset can be taken into multiple different protocols. The other takeaway is this… If you are thinning a schedule with a multiple schedule, consider what in the natural environment is occurring. Do they have a 1-1 staff with them in the home setting? Consider NCR attention. 1-1 para? Differential reinforcement. Plenty of toys at home? NCA to tangibles. Stay creative and naturalistic in your programming, and that will lead to longer maintenance and easier generalization.

Citation

Simmons, C. A., Salvatore, G. L., & Zangrillo, A. N. (2022). Efficiency and preference for alternative activities during schedule thinning with functional communication training. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 55(1), 101-120. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.886