Concurrent Operant Analysis Validation: A Brief Report

A concurrent operant analysis (COA) employs a simultaneous-treatment design, which arranges simultaneously available reinforcers and measures choice allocation for determinations about the relative reinforcing efficacy between various stimuli. Although many studies have used concurrent operant arrangements to ascertain preferences for interventions, few studies have used this technology to identify functional reinforcers for challenging behavior. We replicated and extended previous research by conducting a COA to identify functional reinforcers maintaining challenging behavior by conducting consecutive comparisons to allow for replication of responding to emerge for an autistic 10-year-old female in a university-affiliated program. We subsequently validated COA results via a reinforcer assessment using an ABAB reversal design. Results indicated escape was a reinforcer for Amelia’s choice allocation in the COA and confirmed as a reinforcer for target responding in the COA validation. This brief report describes the flexibility and use for applying single-case research designs to identify functional reinforcers.