Functional Communication Training, DRA, DRI

Understanding DRA and DRI

In behavior reduction, differential reinforcement procedures are used to decrease challenging behavior while building up helpful replacement behaviors. Two common procedures are Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior (DRA) and Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behavior (DRI). In both DRA and DRI, the Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) reinforces a specified alternative or incompatible behavior and follows the written plan for responding to challenging behavior. Both DRA and DRI aim to increase a selected behavior while reducing challenging behavior, but they differ in the physical relationship between the replacement response and the challenging response.

DRA stands for Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior. In DRA, the replacement behavior provides a socially appropriate alternative to the challenging behavior. Physical incompatibility is not required in DRA, meaning that the alternative behavior and the challenging behavior may be able to occur at the same time. If the replacement behavior and problem behavior can co-occur, the procedure is DRA rather than DRI. A clear example of DRA is reinforcing raising a hand to speak instead of shouting out in class. A learner can physically raise a hand and shout out simultaneously, but raising a hand is taught as the socially appropriate alternative.

DRI stands for Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behavior, which is a specialized variation of DRA that requires physical incompatibility. In DRI, the replacement behavior cannot physically occur at the same time as the challenging behavior. If the replacement behavior makes it physically impossible to emit the problem behavior, the procedure is DRI. Examples of DRI include reinforcing keeping both hands resting on a desk instead of hitting someone with a hand, reinforcing clapping both hands to music instead of biting fingernails, or sitting down on a chair because sitting is physically incompatible with running out of the classroom. When implementing DRI, the prescribed incompatible response must always be within the client's current physical and motor abilities.

Another key distinction involves the function of the behavior. Function-based DRA typically selects an alternative behavior that accesses the same type of reinforcer as the challenging behavior, though this is not required in every DRA procedure. By contrast, a DRI behavior does not necessarily serve the same function as the challenging behavior; its defining characteristic is strictly that the two responses cannot physically happen together.