Prevalence of error types of synthesized contingency assessments
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2026
Department/School
Psychology
Publication Title
Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice
Abstract
The comparability of synthesized contingency assessments to isolated functional analyses has been questioned because it is assumed that synthesized contingency assessments alone can identify interactive effects. Interactive effects occur when individual contingencies combine to produce a reinforcing effect greater than the sum of their individual effects. McCabe et al. (2025) investigated these effects by comparing within-participant responding during and after synthesized contingency assessments. They found that interactive effects are rare, suggesting that synthesized contingency assessments and isolated functional analyses are comparable in most cases. Therefore, we used binary receiver-operating-characteristic plots to quantify true- and false-positive rates of synthesized contingency assessments relative to functional analyses. Implications for assessment and treatment practices are discussed.
Link to Published Version
Recommended Citation
Irwin Helvey, C., McCabe, L. H., Greer, B. D., & Briggs, A. M. (2026). Prevalence of error types of synthesized contingency assessments. Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice, 26(3), 125–137. https://doi.org/10.1037/bar0000338
Comments
A. M. Briggs is a faculty member in EMU's Department of Psychology.