The effects of response cost in the treatment of aberrant behavior maintained by negative reinforcement

Positive reinforcement contingencies can sometimes be used to decrease prob lem behavior maintained by negative reinforcement (e.g., escape). In the cu rrent study we evaluated the extent to which response cost (i.e., contingen t removal of a preferred stimulus) would compete with the negative reinforc er maintaining destructive behavior. The response cost contingency reduced destructive behavior by 87% from baseline levels even though the negative r einforcement contingency (i.e., escape) remained in place.