Chapter 14 – Differential Reinforcement Procedures to Decrease Behavior

Tommy, an 11-year-old boy with a developmental disability, was judged by his teacher to be the most disruptive student in his classroom. He frequently engaged in inappropriate talking and other vocalizations during class. The undesirable behavior, talking out, was given the following precise behavioral definition: talking to the teacher or classmates without the teacher’s permission; talking, singing, or humming to himself; and making statements not related to the ongoing class discussion. In other words, instances of a specific behavior must be spaced out over time. Spaced-responding DRL is useful when the behavior to be reduced is actually desirable provided that it does not occur at too high a rate. Technically, when Gerry received reinforcement on DRO 30 minutes, he would have received a token for doing anything other than scratching.