Psychology ABA504 - Assignment 1

Please read the following case study and use it to answer the questions for the assignment.

John is a 12-year-old boy who has been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

(ADHD). Sometimes when in class at school, John engages in disruptive behavior, particularly

when the teacher is asking questions that John does not know how to answer. This can happen

several times during the day (typically 4-5 times on average), and occurs in three of his classes

(math, language arts, and science).

John’s disruptive behaviors specifically include yelling profanities, kicking over his desk or the

desk of another student, and tipping over his chair such that it falls to the floor with him in it. All

of his classes are general education classes, and other students complain when John has one of

his outbursts. At times he has injured himself or another student as well.

After John engages in a disruptive behavior (as described above), his teachers typically tell him

to go sit in the “calm corner” where there are books to read. He is allowed to stay there for 5-10

minutes before he is required to resume working on his tasks.

A behavior analyst conducts a functional behavior assessment and determines that the function

of the disruptive behavior is escape from task demands. She collects baseline data on the

dependent variable and then implements an intervention that involves John being given access to

the calm corner based on requesting a break from his schoolwork (and NOT based on engaging

in disruptive behavior). At first, John is allowed to ask for a break up to 5 times a day in the class

where the intervention is introduced (Classroom 1). (Later this will be faded down to one time

per day.)

After collecting data for several sessions while the intervention is in place, the intervention is

removed such that John does not get access to the calm corner based on requesting a break, but

instead gains access as a result of his disruptive behavior (as in baseline). In the fourth phase of

the study, the intervention is reinstated and the effect on disruptive behavior is again measured.