Programming for Maintenance: An Investigation of Delayed Intermittent Reinforcement and Common Stimuli to Create Indiscriminable Contingencies

Generalization across time or maintenance of behavior change is a fundamental concern for behavior analysts and educators that remains insufficiently understood. This study examined the maintenance of mathematics responding during and following delayed intermittent reinforcement when common stimuli were programmed across the treatment and maintenance phases. Two third-grade girls who were referred by their classroom teacher due to concerns in the area of mathematics participated. Students were exposed to baseline, contingent reinforcement, delayed intermittent reinforcement, and a maintenance condition. The maintenance condition followed exposure to delayed intermittent reinforcement and included common stimuli from the reinforcement condition, but did not include a contingency for correct responding. Both students exhibited substantial prolonged maintenance during this condition. Implications of these results for future research examining maintenance and applied programming for maintenance are discussed.