Lean Schedule Case Study

Researchers Louis P. Hagopian, Wayne w. Fisher and Steven Legacy ask the question is it necessary to begin with a dense schedule before fading to a lean schedule, or would treatment be as effective using a lean schedule at the start. In the study, they attempted to replicate the findings of Vollmer. Vollmer’s findings were using noncontingent reinforcement(NCR) to treat self-injury and used attention to maintaining the correct behaviors. The thought is that if NCR could be applied to self-harm maybe this method could be applied to other problem behaviors, by reinforcing other events. Using the schedule effects of NCR they tested out these questions by using four identical quadruplets as a baseline(B/L) for the experiment. The five-year-old
Their destructive behavior’s are disruption, aggression, and self-injury. These are defined as kicking, punching biting themselves or others, and defacing objects. The display of these behaviors were identical in all four quadruplets who have a slight difference in their mental functionality. Laurie functioned in the mild range, Lynn and Wanda moderate range, and Glenda’s was severe. To gather data on how the girl’s behavior could be shaped, they used observers to record the actions of each child. The data was recorded behind a one-way mirror on a laptop. This sequence of social attention sessions were used as the NCR B/L. Following B/L that varied in interval length. These two NCR conditions dense and lean schedules were compared using a multielement design. The experiment was conducted to assess
The dense and lean schedules suggest that a dense schedule is necessary at the outset of treatment and that with fading, but the effectiveness of a lean schedule can be enhanced. Although this investigation establishes the importance of beginning treatment with a relatively dense schedule of NCR, it’s not clear that continuous or semi-continuous reinforcement schedules are essential. If it is possible to decrease destructive behavior with a less dense schedule, fewer fading steps would be necessary and it would be more proficient to implement for parents or teachers. Future researchers may want to consider minimizing the schedule of reinforcement to reduce destructive behavior. One potential limitation of NCR is that response-independent reinforcement that’s delivered immediately following a target response and provide accidental reinforcement. The subject will then receive reinforcement more often in the absence of destructive behavior than in the its