Jose Martinez-Diaz, Ph.D

Motivating Operations and Treating Challenging Behavior without Coercion

I will explore the role of motivating operations (MO’s) in the assessment and treatment of challenging behaviors. My paper begins with defining and giving examples of various types of MO’s. I will review the difference between MO’s, discriminative variables, and function-altering variables. I will emphasize the relationship between motivating operations and escape/avoidance contingencies, and how reflexive establishing operations may evoke challenging behavior. I will conclude with examples of how MO’s can be manipulated, in conjunction with reinforcement, to provide non-coercive/non-aversive treatment. Case studies provide examples of the conceptual and treatment framework.

Dr. Jose Martinez-Diaz, BCBA is associate professor and chair of Behavior Analysis Programs at Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne and Orlando.  He also coordinates the FL Tech ABA professional development programs and is the president of ABA Technologies, Inc. In addition, he is on the adjunct faculty at the University of Central Florida and Penn State University’s Distance Learning Center. Dr. Martinez-Diaz started conducting workshops to prepare persons for certification in behavior analysis in 1989. He has conducted these workshops in Florida, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. His mock certification examinations are administered in several states.  Dr. Martinez-Diaz is a member of the executive council of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board serving as its treasurer. He is a member of the Florida Behavior Analysis Certification Committee and the Florida Behavior Analysis Peer Review Committee. He is past president of the Florida Association for Behavior Analysis, which awarded him the Charles H. Cox Award for Outstanding Service and Advancement of Behavior Analysis in Florida in 2005.  Dr. Martinez-Diaz’s main interests are professional and legal issues, practitioner training and supervision, management and administration, conceptual and philosophical issues, verbal behavior, and the role of motivating operations in behavioral treatment. He has worked as an ABA practitioner and administrator since the 1970s, focusing on persons with diagnoses of autism spectrum disorders, mental retardation, disruptive behavior disorders, schizophrenia, and traumatic brain injury. He completed his doctorate at West Virginia University.