What is DRO?
Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior (DRO) is reinforcing the absence of the problem behavior.
Also called "Omission Training." You get a reward for NOT doing it.
How it Works
1. Set a timer (e.g., 5 minutes).
2. If the problem behavior does NOT occur for 5 minutes, give reinforcement.
3. If it DOES occur, reset the timer.
Key: It doesn't matter what else they are doing (sleeping, walking, humming), as long as they aren't doing the bad thing.
RBT Practice Exam Scenario
Question: "A child hits others. The RBT gives a sticker every 10 minutes that the child does NOT hit. What is this?"
Answer: DRO.
Frequently Asked Questions About DRO
What if they do another bad behavior?
Technically, in a pure DRO, you only track the Target Behavior. However, clinically, we usually don't reinforce if they are doing something else dangerous.
Is it hard to do?
Yes, because you have to watch them 100% of the time to make sure they didn't do it.