Descriptive assessment of inappropriate vocalizations emitted by persons diagnosed with dementia

Abstract

Individuals diagnosed with dementia often emit disruptive inappropriate vocalizations, and functional analyses of inappropriate vocalizations in this population have produced inconclusive results. One reason may be that researchers have not presented the relevant antecedents or delivered consequences that were qualitatively similar to those typically delivered in the individual's environment. The purpose of this study was to identify environmental events that may be related to inappropriate vocalizations emitted by individuals with dementia. A 2-part descriptive assessment was conducted (narrative and structured). Conditional and unconditional probabilities were calculated to determine antecedent and consequent events that were correlated with inappropriate vocalizations. Results showed that at least 1 antecedent event was correlated with inappropriate vocalizations, and attention was likely to follow the occurrence of inappropriate vocalizations for all participants.

Preliminary investigation of two functional assessment methods for people with dementia: Effectiveness and acceptability

“…Conditional probability analyses are also less intrusive to conduct than experimental functional analyses. Conditional probability analyses have been used with adults with Down syndrome and dementia to identify potential reinforcing contingencies for inappropriate verbal behavior (Millichap et al, 2003), and more recently with adults with dementia to determine the function of disruptive vocalizations (Leon, Gregory, Flynn‐Privett, & Ribeiro, 2018).…”