Method
Participant
The participant in the study was a 38-year-old female diagnosed with moderate Rheumatoid Arthritis. The participant reported her diagnoses was established at age 32 and the progression of the disorder was being treated by a biologic and a pain management regimen. Prior to her diagnoses, the participant maintained a consistent physical activity routine, which has since ceased.
Apparatus and Materials Using a cell phone with a stopwatch application, the duration of each physical activity session was measured. A data sheet was created to keep a daily log of the date, activity, and duration. A behavioral contract, which indicated contingencies for returning personal items to the participant upon achieving criteria, was …show more content…
During the first baseline phase, the participant was encouraged to engage in physical activity in the form of power walking, jogging, and or running for an unspecified amount of time. She was instructed to keep a daily log of the amount time she engaged in physical activity as well as the type of activity or activities chosen. No further instructions were given. On day five, intervention was introduced, a behavioral contract similar to the one used by Wysocki, Hall, Iwata, & Riordan (1979) was reviewed, signed and put into effect. The participant opted to complete a session lasting 30-minutes or longer in duration in order to have one personal item she deposited, returned after one completed physical activity session lasting 30-minutes or longer in duration. Failure to complete minimum duration required resulted in the loss of opportunity to retrieve item, two consecutive failed attempts resulted in the permanent loss of one item selected by the observer. On day 10 there was a return to baseline and the participant was informed contract contingencies were not in effect and she was free to engage in physical activity as desired. She was asked to continue logging physical activity if it took place. The intervention was once again reintroduced on day 15 and the participant was informed contract contingencies were again in effect. The second treatment ended at the end of day …show more content…
This lends to the assumption that in the absence of treatment the participant would remain displaying minimal physical activity and therefore increase medical risk factors associated with RA. The implementation of the behavioral contract produced an immediate and robust increase in the duration of physical activity. In addition, a gradual increase in duration of physical activity was consistently maintained during treatment phase. The return to baseline produced a drastic decline with rates returning to those observed in the initial baseline. Such dynamic change was helpful in illustrating that behavioral contract may have been the result of an increase in duration of physical activity. The reintroduction of the treatment successfully displayed a substantial change as well as clearly establishes the intervention was directly responsible for the increase duration of physical
Participant
The participant in the study was a 38-year-old female diagnosed with moderate Rheumatoid Arthritis. The participant reported her diagnoses was established at age 32 and the progression of the disorder was being treated by a biologic and a pain management regimen. Prior to her diagnoses, the participant maintained a consistent physical activity routine, which has since ceased.
Apparatus and Materials Using a cell phone with a stopwatch application, the duration of each physical activity session was measured. A data sheet was created to keep a daily log of the date, activity, and duration. A behavioral contract, which indicated contingencies for returning personal items to the participant upon achieving criteria, was …show more content…
During the first baseline phase, the participant was encouraged to engage in physical activity in the form of power walking, jogging, and or running for an unspecified amount of time. She was instructed to keep a daily log of the amount time she engaged in physical activity as well as the type of activity or activities chosen. No further instructions were given. On day five, intervention was introduced, a behavioral contract similar to the one used by Wysocki, Hall, Iwata, & Riordan (1979) was reviewed, signed and put into effect. The participant opted to complete a session lasting 30-minutes or longer in duration in order to have one personal item she deposited, returned after one completed physical activity session lasting 30-minutes or longer in duration. Failure to complete minimum duration required resulted in the loss of opportunity to retrieve item, two consecutive failed attempts resulted in the permanent loss of one item selected by the observer. On day 10 there was a return to baseline and the participant was informed contract contingencies were not in effect and she was free to engage in physical activity as desired. She was asked to continue logging physical activity if it took place. The intervention was once again reintroduced on day 15 and the participant was informed contract contingencies were again in effect. The second treatment ended at the end of day …show more content…
This lends to the assumption that in the absence of treatment the participant would remain displaying minimal physical activity and therefore increase medical risk factors associated with RA. The implementation of the behavioral contract produced an immediate and robust increase in the duration of physical activity. In addition, a gradual increase in duration of physical activity was consistently maintained during treatment phase. The return to baseline produced a drastic decline with rates returning to those observed in the initial baseline. Such dynamic change was helpful in illustrating that behavioral contract may have been the result of an increase in duration of physical activity. The reintroduction of the treatment successfully displayed a substantial change as well as clearly establishes the intervention was directly responsible for the increase duration of physical