Abstract:
The current study aimed to identify specific stimuli associated with music that served as an establishing operation (EO) for the problem behavior of a 6 year old child with a diagnosis of autism. Assessment results demonstrated that specific EOs for problem behavior evoked by auditory stimulation could be identified. A differential negative reinforcement procedure was implemented for specific conditions that evoked problem behavior. Using a changing criterion and a differential negative reinforcement of other behavior, exposure to specific stimuli associated with music was gradually increased, and resulted in reductions in problem behavior to near zero levels.
