Delayed Reinforcement and Self-Control: Increasing Tolerance for Delay with Children and Adults with Autism

Abstract

Impulsivity, behavior analytically defined as a tendency to allocate responding to sooner, smaller reinforcers rather than waiting for larger, delayed reinforcers, is a frequent problem in the autism population. Negative effects of delays, such as teaching difficulties, problem behavior, and diminished receipt of reinforcement may result if a client has not learned to tolerate delays through a specific history of reinforcement. Self-control, or choosing the more advantageous delayed reinforcer, is affected by features of the choice context such as the quality and magnitude of the reinforcer, the length and consistency of the delay, and discriminability of the contingencies. Effective self-control training techniques often seek to control these factors to increase tolerance for delay and may include components such as progressive schedules to fade in delays to larger reinforcement, activities during the delay, choice and the illusion of control, or group contingencies to decrease the amount with which a time delay affects choice making. Recommendations and future directions are discussed.