The effects of manipulating motivating operations on the outcome of extinction

Thesis (M.A., Psychology)--California State University, Sacramento, 2012.This study examined the effect of manipulation of motivating operations prior to intervention on the outcome of the extinction procedure for two children with developmental disabilities who displayed problem behavior maintained by access to attention. Following replication of previous studies which showed that problem behavior occurred at a lower rate during extinction sessions following pre-session non-contingent access to attention, participants were repeatedly exposed to pre-session non-contingent attention followed by extinction over many sessions. Results showed that responding for both participants remained below baseline levels when pre-session attention was no longer provided. This suggests that the extinction procedure remained effective when combined with pre-session exposure to the maintaining reinforcer. Implications for addressing potentially injurious or severe problem behaviors are discussed.Psycholog