Effects of reinforcer type on the durability of treatment for escape-maintained behavior

In the absence of escape extinction, evidence suggests that positive reinforcement may decrease escape-maintained behavior. A variety of reinforcers (e.g., food, tokens, and escape) have been used to strengthen alternative behavior in prior research. But, the differential effects of these reinforcers on an intervention's capacity to maintain low rates of problem behavior in the absence of escape extinction during schedule thinning remains unknown. The current study evaluated whether interventions incorporating the use of tokens would equal the effects (in terms of the intervention's capacity to maintain low rates of problem behavior during schedule thinning) of interventions that incorporated escape or food. Results showed that for two of three participants diagnosed with intellectual and developmental disabilities, token reinforcement produced therapeutic effects during schedule thinning. For all participants, the intervention involving negative reinforcement for compliance was either ineffective or deteriorated as the schedule of reinforcement was thinned.