Vollmer, Timothy R.Borrero, John C.Wright, Carrie S.Camp, Carole VanLalli, Joseph S.2020-04-152020-04-152001-08Vollmer, Timothy R.; Borrero, John C.; Wright, Carrie S.; Camp, Carole Van; Lalli, Joseph S.; Identifying possible contingencies during descriptive analyses of severe behavior disorders; Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 34(3): 269–287 (2001); https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1284322/https://dx.doi.org/10.1901%2Fjaba.2001.34-269http://hdl.handle.net/11603/18058Contingencies of reinforcement involve, in part, relations between behavior and subsequent environmental events. In this study we observed 11 individuals with developmental disabilities and severe behavior problems while they interacted with their primary care providers in simulated environments (hospital therapy rooms). We compared the probability of obtaining attention, escape from instructional demands, or access to materials following instances of problem behavior with the background probability of those events. However, the focus of our analysis was the evaluation of comparative probabilities ("contingency values") in the context of relevant establishing operations such as diverted attention, instructional demands, and restricted access to materials. Results showed that the method was useful in identifying relations between behavior and subsequent environmental events. Implications for linking descriptive and functional analyses are discussed, and difficulties in identifying naturally occurring contingencies are considered.19 pagesen-USThis item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.developmental disabilitiesdescriptive analysissevere behavior disorderscontingencyText