The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Mallory Garrett

for the degree of Doctor of Education

October 23, 2017 at 1:00 pm in 405 Ball Hall

Major Advisor: Neal Miller, PhD

THE EFFECTS OF DELAYED TIME-OUT, DELAYED TIME-OUT WITH RULE, AND IMMEDIATE TIME-OUT ON SHAPE CHOOSING BEHAVIORS

ABSTRACT: The possibility of using a delayed consequence has great potential for anyone looking for effective methods to reduce problem behavior. In some situations, it may be difficult or even impossible for caregivers to administer time-out immediately following an instance of problem behavior due to practical constraints (e.g., being in a public place or not having sufficient staffing). In such cases, a delayed time-out procedure could have some advantages. However, very little research has been done previously on this procedure, and the concept remains largely untested with human subjects.  One concern about delayed consequences is that rather than reducing the intended behavior, it may unintentionally reduce behaviors that occur in closer temporal contiguity to the time-out. This might be addressed by the addition of rules along with the delayed consequence, which state the nature of the contingency. Research has yet to explicitly examine the question of how to arrange time-out to optimize its efficiency and effectiveness when the delivery is delayed. This study focused on the effects of delayed time-out, delayed time-out with a rule, and immediate time-out on an arbitrary behavior of adults. Due to the novelty of this procedure and the translational nature of the question being asked, an analog situation with adults was used to study the parameters of the procedure instead of implementing it with children in a classroom or home. This way of studying delayed consequences is consistent with prior research on the topic, and is intended to extend our conceptual understanding of how this type of learning occurs, in hopes of informing future applied work. The effects of the procedures on the target behavior differed across participants, though in general the delayed time-out plus rule appeared to be the most effective of the three. The implications of these results were discussed along with directions for future research on the topic.