Abstract
As educators who provide support to individuals with ASD, our primary goal should be to teach the skills necessary to live as independently as possible. As critically important as these skills are, teaching independent living skills can sometimes be challenging when motivation is low. These issues become even more complicated as individuals get older, and practical and ethical issues may preclude the use of physical prompting. The purpose of the current investigation was to use economic manipulations to encourage three adolescents and adults with ASD and intellectual disabilities to complete nonpreferred activities without using physical prompting and/or escape extinction. Specifically, we adapted the basic concepts of behavioral economics (altering the “pay rate” for certain tasks and the “cost” of certain reinforcers) to influence choices made when offered several work tasks and rewards. With the implementation of economic manipulations, the three participants started to voluntarily complete nonpreferred tasks in the absence of staff prompting. In addition, one of the participants selected alternative rewards following the manipulations. The results are important as they represent a way to incorporate choice into programming while limiting the need for intrusive prompting.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bannerman, D. J., Sheldon, J. B., Sherman, I. A., & Harchik, A. E. (1990). Balancing the rights to habilitation with the right to personal liberties: The rights of people with developmental disabilities to eat too many doughnuts and take a nap. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 23, 79–89.
Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (2020). Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts. https://bacb.com/wp-content/ethics-code-for-behavior-analysts/
Cividini-Motta, C., & Ahearn, W. H. (2013). Effects of two variations of differential reinforcement on prompt dependency. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 46(3), 640–650.
Clark, K. M., & Green, G. (2004). Comparison of two procedures for teaching dictated word/symbol relations to learners with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 37, 503–507.
Cole, C. L., & Levinson, T. R. (2002). Effects of within-activity choices on the challenging behavior of children with severe developmental disabilities. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 4(1), 29–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/109830070200400106
DeLeon, I. G., & Iwata, B. A. (1996). Evaluation of a multiple-stimulus presentation format for assessing reinforcer preferences. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 29, 519–532.
Dyer, K., Dunlap, G., & Winterling, V. (1990). Effects of choice making on the serious problem behaviors of students with severe handicaps. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 23(4), 515–524. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1990.23-515.
Gerhardt, P. F., & Lainer, I. (2011). Addressing the needs of adolescents and adults with autism: A crisis on the horizon. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 41(1), 37–45.
Humenik, A. L., Curran, J., Luiselli, J. K., & Child, S. N. (2008). Intervention for self-injury in a child with autism: Effects of choice and continuous access to preferred stimuli. Behavioral Development Bulletin, 14(1), 17.
Lane, K. L., Royer, D. J., Messenger, M. L., Common, E. A., Ennis, R. P., & Swogger, E. D. (2015). Empowering teachers with low-intensity strategies to support academic engagement: Implementation and effects of instructional choice for elementary students in inclusive settings. Education and Treatment of Children, 38(4), 473–504.
LaRue, R. H., Manente, C., Dashow, E., & Sloman, K., (2016). Functional Skills Training. In Singh, N. (ed.). Clinical Handbook of Evidence-Based Practices for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities: Evidence-Based Practice in Behavioral Health Series. Springer Publishing.
Lory, C., Rispoli, M., Gregori, E., Kim, S. Y., & David, M. (2020). Reducing escape-maintained challenging behavior in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder through visual activity schedule and instructional choice. Education and Treatment of Children, 43, 201–217. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43494-020-00019-x
Newman, B., Needelman, M., Reinecke, D. R., & Robek, A. (2002). The effect of providing choices on skill acquisition and competing behavior of children with autism during discrete trial instruction. Behavioral Interventions, 17(1), 31–41. https://doi.org/10.1002/bin.99.
Reed, D. D., Niileksela, C. R., & Kaplan, B. A. (2013). Behavioral economics: A tutorial for behavior analysis in practice. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 6, 34–54. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03391790.
Richman, D. M., Barnard-Brak, L., Bosch, A., Thompson, S., Grubb, L., & Abby, L. (2013). Predictors of self-injurious behaviour exhibited by individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 57(5), 429–439.
Rispoli, M., Lang, R., Neely, L., Camargo, S., Hutchins, N., Davenport, K., & Goodwyn, F. (2013). A comparison of within-and across-activity choices for reducing challenging behavior in children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Behavioral Education, 22(1), 66–83. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10864-012-9164-y
Shattuck, P. T., Roux, A. M., Hudson, L. E., Taylor, J. L., Maenner, M. J., & Trani, J. F. (2012). Services for adults with an autism spectrum disorder. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 57(5), 284–291.
Toussaint, K. A., Kodak, T., & Vladescu, J. C. (2016). An evaluation of choice on instructional efficacy and individual preferences among children with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 49(1), 170–175.
Vladescu, J. C., & Kodak, T. (2010). A review of recent studies on differential reinforcement during skill acquisition in early intervention. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 43, 351–355.
Wehmeyer, M. L. (1992). Self-determination and the education of students with mental retardation. Education and Training of the Mentally Retarded, 27, 302–314.
Funding
Implementation of the current investigation was supported by a grant from the Organization for Autism Research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
We have no known conflict of interest to disclose.
Human or Animal Participants
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
LaRue, R.H., Manente, C.J., Pepa, L. et al. The Use of Economic Manipulations to Influence Choice in Adolescents and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Behav Educ (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10864-023-09534-4
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10864-023-09534-4