An Investigation into the Provision of Choice in Tangible Conditions of a Functional Analysis

An experimental investigation of choice was conducted within the tangible condition of a functional analysis for an adolescent male who engaged in self-injury and property destruction. Results indicated that problem behavior was maintained by access to tangibles during sessions which were preceded by the student choosing the item to be used during the session. Access to equally preferred stimuli that were chosen by the teacher (i.e., no-choice) did not evoke the target behavior to the same degree. Procedural variations accounting for possible reinforcing effects of the tangible condition are discussed.