Effects of Presession Satiation on Challenging Behavior and Academic Engagement for Children with Autism during Classroom Instruction

We evaluated the effects of presession satiation on challenging behavior and academic engagement during subsequent classroom activities for three 5–6 year-old children with autism. The percentage of 10-s intervals with challenging behavior and academic engagement during 20-min classroom activity sessions was observed under two conditions. One condition involved presession satiation, in which participants were given unrestricted access to tangible items that maintained their challenging behavior prior to the classroom sessions. This presession satiation continued until the children rejected the tangible item three times. The second condition did not entail presession satiation prior to the beginning of classroom sessions. Effects of the two conditions on challenging behavior and academic engagement were evaluated using individual participant alternating treatments designs. Results demonstrated that the presession satiation condition was associated with consistently lower percentages of intervals with challenging behavior and consistently higher percentages of intervals with academic engagement. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often engage in challenging behaviors, which can lead to social isolation and decreased time spent in instruction (Horner, Albin, Sprague, & Todd, 2000). Antecedent interventions have been successfully used to decrease challenging behavior (Kern, Choutka, & Sokol, 2002). Antecedent interventions involve altering the environment to eliminate variables that set the occasion for challenging behavior (Luiselli, 2006). Recently, a subcategory of antecedent interventions for challenging behavior has gained attention. This category focuses on addressing an individual’s motivation to engage in a specific behavior and is referred to as the manipulation of motivating operations (MO) (Laraway, Snycerski, Michael, & Poling, 2003). An MO is an event that alters the value of reinforcement and the frequency of behavior previously correlated with such reinforcement (Laraway, et al. 2003). In some cases, biological events, such as hunger, lack of sleep, or illness can function as MOs by altering an individual’s motivation to engage in a specific behavior (e.g. Carr & Smith, 1995; O’Reilly, 1995; O’Reilly, 1997). For example, Kennedy and Meyer (1996) conducted a functional analysis of three individual’s challenging behavior across several weeks. They found that when the participants had less sleep (two participants) or were experiCorrespondence concerning this article should be addressed to Mandy J. Rispoli, Texas A & M University, 4225 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843. Email: [email protected] Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 2011, 46(4), 607-618 © Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities Effects of Presession Satiation / 607 encing allergy symptoms (one participant), they engaged in higher levels of challenging behavior in relation to instructional demands. Thus, these biological-setting events appeared to make demands more aversive, thereby increasing the participant’s motivation to escape or avoid those tasks. This change in motivation resulted in an increase in challenging behavior, which had in the past enabled the individuals to escape from or avoid the tasks. Previous access to reinforcement can also impact an individual’s motivation to engage in challenging behavior. For example, McComas, Thompson, and Johnson (2003) examined the effects of prior attention on levels of challenging behavior. Participants were exposed to a functional analysis procedure similar to that described by Iwata and colleagues (1982/1994), following 10-min of presession attention or following 10-min of no attention. Results showed that the functional analysis that followed presession access to attention was associated with lower levels of challenging behavior than the functional analysis following presession periods without attention. Presession attention may have functioned as an abolishing operation (i.e., satiation) thus reducing levels of attention-seeking behavior while no presession attention may have functioned as an establishing operation (i.e., deprivation) and thus subsequently increasing the value of attention and the frequency of attention-maintained challenging behavior. A core diagnostic feature for autism spectrum disorder according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) is engagement in compulsive or repetitive behaviors (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Previous research has demonstrated that individuals with autism can engage in these repetitive interactions with tangible items. For example, Reese and colleagues (2003) conducted a functional assessment interview with caregivers of 100 young children with ASD. They found that 85% of participants engaged in perseverative behavior with 30% of the children engaging in challenging behavior in order to access perseverative activities. Based on these findings, it may be important to consider interventions that can successfully decrease the motivation to engage in such perseverative activities among individuals with ASD. Over the course of several studies, we have developed a methodology to evaluate and treat challenging behavior by altering the individual’s motivation to engage in such behavior (O’Reilly, et al. 2008; O’Reilly et al. 2009; Lang, et al. 2009; Lang, et al. in press; Rispoli et al. in press). This methodology involves conducting an analogue functional analysis to determine the maintaining consequence for the individual’s challenging behavior. Next, we evaluate the child’s mands to determine when they have reached a level of satiation. Communication of satiation was defined as the individual’s rejection of the maintaining consequence (e.g., a highly preferred toy) of their challenging behavior. Satiation was believed to be achieved once the participant rejected the toy three times. Following the third rejection, the child enters into the problematic situation that was previously associated with challenging behavior. Results from these studies demonstrated that the participants engaged in lower levels of challenging behavior following the satiation condition when compared to a no presession access condition. The purpose of this study was to replicate and extend these procedures to classroom settings. Specifically, we evaluated the influence of presession satiation on levels of challenging behavior and academic engagement for three boys with autism in their classrooms during group instruction.