Date of Award
5-1-2019
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Behavior Analysis and Therapy
First Advisor
Dixon, Mark
Abstract
The purpose of the current study is to apply delay and probability discounting in areas of treatment options, problem behaviors, and restraint usage with staff members. There was a total of 31 participants that completed three probability and delay discounting surveys either on the computer or by paper/pencil. Before the three surveys, they completed a demographic questionnaire. Participants had to choose from two choice, one that was immediate and the other had a delay in time. Survey one gave a scenario for treatment options, survey two had a scenario for problem behavior management, and then survey three’s scenario was about engaging in restraints. For each of the surveys, the results showed that staff did not engage in discounting. Survey one the AUC scores ranged from 0 to 0.99 (M= 0.77, SD=0.31) with R² value of 0.4156, survey two’s AUC score ranged from 0 to 0.99 (M= 0.54, SD=0.38) with R² value of 0.4356 and survey three’s AUC scores ranged from 0 to 0.99 (M= 0.53, SD=0.40) and R² value of 0.3498. Three different functions were used to show the best fit for the discounting curve, exponential, logarithmic, and polynomial. Overall, the three surveys showed that the participants had a lower level of impulsivity.
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