Functional communication training (FCT) has been an effective strategy for replacing challenging behavior with more socially acceptable behavior that serves the same communicative function. In this study, the application of FCT was extended to replacing behavior that was communicative, but not identified as challenging. A within-subject multiple baseline design was used to teach a young girl with severe disabilities six target signs that were functionally equivalent to existing behavior (e.g., leading, reaching). The use of the existing forms served as behavioral indication of motivation for determining appropriate occasions for teaching the new forms, and teaching occurred only in the presence of behavioral indication by the participant. Results showed successful acquisition and discriminated use of the six signs. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Baer, D. M., Wolf, M. M., & Risley, T. R. (1968). Some current dimensions of applied behavior analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1, 91–97.
2.
Billingsley, F. F., & Neel, R. S. (1985). Competing behaviors and their effects on skill generalization and maintenance. Analysis and Intervention in Developmental Disabilities, 5, 357–372.
3.
Bird, F., Dores, P. A., Moniz, D., & Robinson, J. (1989). Reducing severe aggressive and self-injurious behaviors with functional communication training: Direct, collateral, and generalized results. American Journal of Mental Retardation, 94, 37–48.
4.
Brady, N. C., Saunders, K. J., & Spradlin, J. E. (1995). A conceptual analysis of request teaching procedures for individuals with severely limited verbal repertoires. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 12, 43–52.
5.
Bryen, D. N., & Joyce, D. G. (1985). Language intervention with the severely handicapped: A decade of research. The Journal of Special Education, 19, 7–39.
6.
Bzoch, K. R., & League, R. (1970). Receptive-expressive emergent language scale. Baltimore: University Park Press.
7.
Carr, E. G. (1988). Functional equivalence as a mechanism of response generalization. In R. H. Horner, G. Dunlap, & R. L. Koegel (Eds.), Generalization and maintenance: Life-style changes in applied settings (pp. 221–241). Baltimore: Brookes.
8.
Carr, E. G., Binkoff, J. A., Kologinsky, E., & Eddy, M. (1978). Acquisition of sign language by autistic children. I: Expressive labelling. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 11, 489–501.
9.
Carr, E. G., & Durand, V. M. (1985). Reducing behavior problems through functional communication training. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 18, 111–126.
10.
Carr, E. G., & Kemp, D. C. (1989). Functional equivalence of autistic leading and communicative pointing: Analysis and treatment. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 19, 561–578.
11.
Chadsey-Rusch, J., & Halle, J. W. (1992). The application of general-case instruction to the requesting repertoires of learners with severe disabilities. The Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 17, 121–132.
12.
Drasgow, E., & Halle, J. W. (1995). Teaching social communication to young children with severe disabilities. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 15, 164–186.
13.
Durand, V. M., & Carr, E. G. (1991). Functional communication training to reduce challenging behavior: Maintenance and application in new settings. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 24, 251–264.
14.
Egel, A. L. (1981). Reinforcer variation: Implications for motivating developmentally disabled children. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 14, 345–350.
15.
Goetz, L., Gee, K., & Sailor, W. (1985). Using a behavior chain interruption strategy to teach communication skills to students with severe disabilities. The Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 10, 21–30.
16.
Hall, G., & Sundberg, M. L. (1987). Teaching mands by manipulating conditioned establishing operations. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 5, 41–53.
17.
Halle, J. W., Chadsey-Rusch, J., Collet-Klingenberg, L., & Reinoehl, R. B. (1992). Assessment manual (Product of U.S. Department of Education Grant No. H086P90024).
18.
Halle, J. W., & Holt, B. (1991). Assessing stimulus control in natural settings: An analysis of stimuli that acquire control during training. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 24, 579–589.
19.
Harlow, H. F. (1949). The formation of learning sets. Psychological Review, 56, 51–65.
20.
Hart, B., & Risley, T. (1968). Establishing use of descriptive adjectives in the spontaneous speech of disadvantaged preschool children. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1, 109–120.
21.
Hart, B., & Rogers-Warren, A. K. (1978). A milieu approach to teaching language. In R. L. Schiefelbusch (Ed.), Language intervention strategies (pp. 193–230). Baltimore: University Park Press.
22.
Hedrick, D., Prather, E., & Tobin, A. (1975). Sequenced inventory of communication development. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
23.
Horner, R. H., & Billingsley, F. F. (1988). The effect of competing behavior on the generalization and maintenance of adaptive behavior in applied settings. In R. H. Horner, G. Dunlap, & R. L. Koegel (Eds.), Generalization and maintenance: Life-style changes in applied settings (pp. 197–220). Baltimore: Brookes.
24.
Horner, R. H., & Budd, C. M. (1985). Acquisition of manual sign use: Collateral reduction of maladaptive behavior, and factors limiting generalization. Education and Training of the Mentally Retarded, 20, 39–47.
25.
Horner, R. H., & Day, H. M. (1991). The effects of response efficiency on functionally equivalent competing behaviors. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 24, 719–732.
26.
Horner, R. H., Sprague, J. R., O'Brien, M. M., & Heathfield, L. T. (1990). The role of response efficiency in the reduction of problem behaviors through functional equivalence training: A case study. The Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 15, 91–97.
27.
Horner, R. H., Sprague, J., & Wilcox, B. (1982). General case programming for community activities. In M. E. Lamb & G. T. Bellamy (Eds.), Design of high school programs for severely handicapped students (pp. 61–98). Baltimore: Brookes.
28.
Hunt, P., Goetz, L., Alwell, M., & Sailor, W. (1986). Using an interrupted behavior chain to teach generalized communication responses. The Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 11, 196–204.
29.
Kaczmarek, L. A. (1990). Teaching spontaneous language to individuals with severe handicaps: A matrix model. The Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 15, 160–169.
30.
Mason, S. A., McGee, G. G., Farmer-Dougan, V., & Risley, T. R. (1989). A practical strategy for ongoing reinforcer assessment. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 22, 171–179.
31.
Michael, J. (1982). Distinguishing between the discriminative and motivational functions of stimuli. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 37, 149–155.
32.
Michael, J. (1988). Establishing operations and the mand. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 6, 3–9.
33.
Michael, J. (1993). Establishing operations. The Behavior Analyst, 16, 191–206.
34.
Newborg, J., Stock, J. R., Wnek, L., Guidubaldi, J., & Svinicki, J. (1984). Battelle developmental inventory. Allen, TX: DLM Teaching Resources.
35.
O'Neill, R. E., Horner, R. H., Albin, R. W., Storey, K., & Sprague, J. R. (1990). Functional analysis: A practical assessment guide. Sycamore, IL: Sycamore Press.
36.
Shafer, E. (1995). A review of interventions to teach a mand repertoire. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 12, 53–66.
37.
Stokes, T. F., & Baer, D. M. (1977). An implicit technology of generalization. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 10, 349–367.
38.
Warren, S. F., Rogers-Warren, A. K., Baer, D. M., & Guess, D. (1980). Assessment and facilitation of language generalization. In W. Sailor, B. Wilcox, & L. Brown (Eds.), Methods of instruction for severely handicapped students (pp. 227–258). Baltimore: Brookes.
39.
Yoder, D. E. (1988). Forward to M. E. Lamb & J. L. Bedrosian (Eds.), Communication and intervention for adults with mental retardation (pp. ix-x). Boston: College-Hill.
