Experimental analysis of differing levels of treatment integrity and treatment agent competence on differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) for problem behaviors

The present study analyzed the effects of differing levels of treatment integrity (i.e., Low, Moderate, and High integrity) and treatment agent competence on Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior (DRO) intervention success. Nine participants were included in the study. Two different behavioral challenges were targeted (i.e., tantrum and aggression). The experimental design employed was a single-subject, multi-element design where each subject received exposure to all three of the treatment integrity levels. Treatment agent competence was assessed on a seven-point Likert scale throughout the experimental conditions. Results showed that high levels of integrity were superior to moderate and low levels of integrity for all participants. Second, for three of the subjects, low and moderate levels of integrity had a deleterious effect of problem behavior. For three subjects low and moderate levels of treatment integrity reduced problem behavior to frequencies lower than baseline. No effect was found for treatment agent competence. Therefore, no interaction effect was found between treatment integrity and treatment agent competence. Interpretation of the results, limitations of the present study, implications for current practice in applied behavior analysis, and suggestions for future research are discussed.