An Initial Evaluation of a Concurrent Operant Analysis Framework to Identify Reinforcers for Work Completion

Although functional analysis is a powerful tool for testing the function of challenging behavior, it is not always feasible or appropriate to include as a component of functional behavior assessment (FBA). Alternative experimental analysis methods are needed to inform individualized interventions in schools, particularly for students who engage in passive forms of problem behavior. We evaluated a concurrent operant analysis (COA) framework to identify reinforcers for appropriate replacement behaviors for four students referred for FBA and reported by teachers to engage in low levels of work completion. After completing two COAs per student (researcher-as-therapist and teacher-as-therapist), we used alternating treatments designs to compare the effects of an intervention matched with COA outcomes to intervention conditions that were not matched to COA outcomes on levels of work completion and task engagement. COA outcomes corresponded across therapists for three of four participants and intervention results validated COA outcomes for two of these participants. Although results of this initial investigation seem promising, more research on COA frameworks is needed to determine their utility to guide reinforcement-based interventions in schools.