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Elizabeth Parthum, Griffin Rooker, Kwadwo Britwum, Billie Retzlaff
(2025).
Application of Abductive Reasoning in Synthesized Contingency Assessments.
Behavioral Interventions, 40(4), e70046.
Wiley.
- Publication date
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6 Oct 2025
- Identifier
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10.1002/bin.70046
- Authors
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Elizabeth Parthum,
Griffin Rooker,
Kwadwo Britwum,
Billie Retzlaff
- Source
- Behavioral Interventions
- Details
- 40(4), e70046
- Reference type
- article
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Metadata source
- crossref
Abstract
ABSTRACT In a synthesized contingency analysis (SCA), contingencies hypothesized to maintain problem behavior are combined into a single test condition; if the behavior occurs at a higher rate in that condition relative to the control, it is assumed to be maintained by a synthesized contingency. This study evaluated whether a single maintaining function could be determined using a SCA. Putative reinforcers were divided into three synthesized test contingencies in which target behavior was measured and compared to a single control condition. Next, abductive reasoning was applied to ascertain if a single maintaining function could be determined as a proof‐of‐concept demonstration. This procedure identified a single function for one of three participants, consistent with the results of a single contingency analysis (i.e., standard functional analysis). The utility of including more than one synthesized condition, when competing hypotheses about synthesized, multiply maintained, or singly maintained behavior, is discussed from these results.
Study authors in this cited reference