Autism learner

Escape Contingency

Autism learner
Escape Contingency is one of the three negative reinforcement contingencies. An escape contingency can be defined as when performing a specific behavior stops an ongoing event.

Some examples are:

  • for a child dropping onto the floor followed by the child crying stops the event of the child having to enter the classroom.
  • for a student “ending” a math fluency exercise on the computer after finishing three exercises.
  • to spit out food to get rid of a bad taste.
  • to turn down the volume on the radio to lessen the loud music.
  • to put up an umbrella when it is raining to stay dry.

Other Negative Reinforcement Contingencies

Children who are on the spectrum tend to participate more in escape behaviors because they tend to get overwhelmed during transitions and interactions in non-preferred activity situations which brings on the feeling of astounding demands in their eyes.

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