Expanding the Utility of Behavioral Momentum with Young Children

To provide for young children and their individual needs it is necessary for researchers to continue to develop and expand new strategies for practitioners in the field. Influenced by an extensive research base and evolving values and commitment toward integration, researchers have begun to expand on the various antecedent-based, nonaversive procedures already prevalent in the literature. One such intervention, behavioral momentum or interspersed requesting, has been quite effective; however, the outcomes of this research are limited to increases in compliance and decreases in excess behaviors. This paper proposes expanding the utility of behavioral momentum to incorporate a variety of outcomes that better fit the overall needs of young children, including young children with disabilities. Traditional procedures and instructional strategies used with young children with behavioral disorders are reviewed, and the emerging technology of behavioral momentum is presented. A research agenda expanding momentum to a variety of other behavioral outcomes is proposed.