Date of Award

7-2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Behavioral Analysis

First Advisor

Michael Kelley

Second Advisor

Sherry Jensen

Third Advisor

David Wilder

Fourth Advisor

Lisa Steelman

Abstract

Individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often engage in automatically reinforced stereotypic behaviors. These behaviors are often repetitive in nature, lack variability, and persist over time with no identifiable social function. This research used an adapted subtyping procedure to categorize stereotypy based on behavioral patterns in a pairwise functional analysis. Following subtyping, experimenters exposed participants to up to two treatment procedures to determine whether the subtyping procedure is predictive of the efficacy of different treatments. Results from this research showed that stereotypy can be categorized into different subtypes and that those with behaviors categorized into Subtype 1 were responsive to reinforcement based treatment. This information may be used to determine treatment procedures for individuals diagnosed with ASD who engage in stereotypy.

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