Enhancing Tolerance to a Delayed Reinforce in a Child with Developmental Disabilities: The Comparison between Non-Signaled and Signaled Delayed Reinforcement Procedures
Seungyeon Lee, Ph.D.; Robert G. Harrington, Ph.D.; Hyowon Ban, Ph.D.

Abstract
Enhancing tolerance to a delayed reinforce is a significant challenge for young children with developmental disabilities, even for the ones with occasional temper tantrums. Parents, teachers, and mental health professionals seek behavioral management strategies for those children that are effective across settings. This pilot study compared two delayed reinforcement procedures using an alternating treatment design across two settings for teaching a 3-year old child with language delays to wait until a requested reinforce is delivered, without engaging in tangible-maintained problem behavior. Delayed reinforcement was taught by manipulating two conditions: (a) a 50-second time delay with no signal and (b) a 50-second time delay with signals. The result suggested that the 50-second time delay with signals was most effective for increasing tolerance to a delayed reinforce for the participant. Implications for further research are discussed.

Full Text: PDF