Objectives: The purpose of the current study was to address ritualistic behavior by manipulating the pay rate of tasks and the cost of preferred reinforcers.
Methods: Using an MSWO preference assessment procedure, highly preferred and non-preferred tasks and reinforcers were established for a 36 year-old male diagnosed with Autistic Disorder. Four tasks and four reinforcers were introduced into an economy, and two distinct cost structures were implemented. Under Cost structure 1, or the baseline assessment, all tasks payed $1 and all reinforcers cost $1. Under Cost structure 2, the most highly preferred reinforcer cost $10 and the least preferred task payed $10. In all four phases, percent of selections were recorded for tasks and for reinforcers.
Results: Under Baseline/ Cost structure 1, the learner established ritualistic choosing patterns for both tasks and reinforcers. Each task was selected between 24-27% of the time and reinforcer selection alternated between two highly preferred edibles; pretzels (49%) and Nutrigrain Bar (51%). When Cost structure 2 was introduced, task selection became varied, and the learner began to choose the low-cost edible (Nutrigrain Bar) more frequently (67%). Additionally, selection of the high pay-out task (33%) occurred as often as the high-cost reinforcer (33%). A reversal back to Cost structure 1 showed a reemergence of ritualistic behavior for both tasks and preferences. The second implementation of Cost Structure 2 induced the same treatment effect; tasks became varied, and reinforcer selection reflected a preference toward the lower cost reinforcer.
Conclusions: The results of this investigation show that ritualistic behavior can be addressed with economic manipulations. The participant was sensitive to the price of reinforcers and reinforcer selection changed significantly as price increased. These results suggest that the manipulation of price helped to broaden the task and reinforcer repertoire for the student. This has broader implications for the treatment of stereotyped behavior and restricted interests in academic and work environments.
See more of: Treatments: A: Social Skills; School, Teachers
See more of: Prevalence, Risk factors & Intervention