Satiety, or the state of being completely satisfied with something to the point that your desire for it is gone or greatly diminished, can be a problem with ABA-style instruction. It can also be challenging because instructors may not identify the resulting behavior of the learner as due to satiety. This situation is frustrating, especially when working with a non-verbal student or one who shows challenges with expressive language. Being aware of these five variables that can indicate satiety could help teachers to identify them and introduce new and more reinforcing elements / activities.

1) An increase in a student’s challenging behavior

While this is not necessarily due to satiety issues, students can often become frustrated when reinforcement levels are lowered or eliminated. Although there is a reinforcer present, the student does not want it and it will not be helpful in producing appropriate behavior.

2) A student’s high interest in other items / activities.

Here again, it can be easy for teachers to dismiss a student’s interest in something else during instruction as “noncompliance.” In reality, it is possible that he is telling you that the video game that he was winning now is not the preferred one and that he is interested in winning that football. A simple contingency statement, such as “When you win all your chips, you can get the ball,” could redirect your attention.

3) Lack of choice in the enforcers of the student’s DRO or Token Board

The easiest and most effective way to reduce the chance of satiety is to provide a good range of potential novel enhancers in the first place. This can be done by including multiple pictures or item / activity names on the student’s Flashcard (commonly called DRO or Differential Reinforcement of Other Behaviors). An imaginative variety of options will benefit the student the most and may surprise you with their options!

4) Non-compliance or excessive delay in responding

Not responding or not complying with a request could indicate a lack of interest due to the lack of a viable reinforcer.

5) Total time spent obtaining a specific enhancer

Lastly, the total time the student has spent earning a particular reinforcer will generally indicate when to rotate it into something new. Ideally, this should be done before full satiety and therefore the student may still be motivated by the item / activity. This is fine because you can always insert it back into the list of options to allow the student to choose it in the future.

It should also be noted that the use of an effective booster is also a booster for the teacher as well as. If the fact that your student wins a certain movie has motivated him a lot in the past, it is very tempting to continue using this element to produce the same results. A solid and often changing list of options is the best way to avoid satiety problems.