Refinements of Functional Communication Training

Conditions

• Aggression
• Self-injurious Behavior

Eligibility Criteria

Sex

ALL

Age

3 Years - 17 Years

Healthy Volunteers

Not accepted

Interventions

• Trad FCT — BEHAVIORAL
  This intervention emulates a traditional reinforcement schedule-thinning method during FCT in which clinicians program delays to reinforcement without discriminative stimuli (e.g., the child learns that some FCRs result in reinforcement and some do not). By programming reinforcement approximately every 15 s, the rate of reinforcement will be equivalent to mult FCT. During Period 1 of this project, trad FCT served as an appropriate control condition to which mult FCT could be compared.
• Mult FCT — BEHAVIORAL
  This intervention involves correlating discriminative stimuli (e.g., purple and yellow index cards) with times in which reinforcement for the functional communication response (FCR) is and is not available. During Period 1 of this project, this procedure resulted in rapid reduction of destructive behavior and mitigated resurgence and renewal when the discriminative stimuli were used as programmed.
• Mult FCT + Stimulus Fading — BEHAVIORAL
  This condition is similar to mult FCT except that the experimenters will gradually incorporate natural stimuli (e.g., rugs, tables, lamps) into sessions to approximate target settings that may occasion relapse typically without such gradual stimulus fading.

Study Details

Although treatments for problem behavior, like functional communication training (FCT), can be highly effective in the clinic, changes in the way the FCT is implemented (e.g., when transferring treatment to the home, when teachers implement treatment with poor fidelity) can result in treatment relapse. The goal of this study is to evaluate whether using treatment signals and gradually introducing materials from natural contexts can help mitigate treatment relapse during context changes and poor treatment-integrity scenarios.

Key Dates

Start date

May 3, 2021

Status verified

Jun 2026

Primary completion

Dec 31, 2026

Completion

Dec 31, 2026

Study Design

Enrollment

24 participants (estimated)

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Arms

• Experimental: Mult FCT/Trad FCT
  Participants assigned to this condition will receive both traditional FCT (trad FCT) and FCT with multiple schedules (mult FCT) to evaluate the effects of mult FCT on renewal, super-resurgence, and reinstatement.
• Experimental: Mult FCT + Stimulus Fading/Trad FCT
  Participants assigned to this condition will receive both traditional FCT (trad FCT) and FCT with multiple schedules and stimulus fading (mult FCT + stimulus fading) to evaluate the effects of mult FCT and gradual fading of contextual stimuli on renewal, super-resurgence, and reinstatement.

Primary Outcome Measure

Rate of Destructive Behavior in Renewal Test [ Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 3 weeks. ]

Central Contacts

• Wayne W Fisher, PhD
  8488008503
  [email protected]
• Serena Claiborne
  8488008504
  [email protected]

Locations (1)

Find similar trials in Somerset, NJ

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