Establishing Operations
- Current research on the influence of establishing operations on behavior in applied settings
Abstract: This article provides commentary on research published in the special section of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis devoted to establishing operations (EOs). Three major themes are highlighted: (a) identification of the influence of EOs on behavior in applied settings, (b) the use of EO manipulation as an assessment tool, and (c) the development of interventions based on the alteration of EO influences. Methodological issues pertaining to research on EOs are addressed, and suggestions for future investigation are provided. - Distinguishing between discriminative and motivational functions of stimuli
Abstract: A discriminative stimulus is a stimulus condition which, (1) given the momentary effectiveness of some particular type of reinforcement (2) increases the frequency of a particular type of response (3) because that stimulus condition has been correlated with an increase in the frequency with which that type of response has been followed by that type of reinforcement. Operations such as deprivation have two different effects on behavior. One is to increase the effectiveness of some object or event as reinforcement, and the other is to evoke the behavior that has in the past been followed by that object or event. - Experimental analysis and extinction ofself injurious escape behavior
Abstract: Three studies are presented in which environmental correlates of self-injurious behavior were systematically examined and later used as the basis for treatment.
