Functional analysis and treatment of human-directed undesirable behaviors in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Abstract

Functional analysis techniques traditionally used in the assessment of problem behaviors in humans were used to identify the reinforcing consequences for undesirable, human-directed behaviors such as feces throwing and spitting in two captive adult chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). The first subject's problem behaviors were maintained by both positive and negative reinforcement contingencies, with rates being highest when the display of inappropriate behaviors resulted in access to social attention and juice. The implementation of a function-based treatment plan combining functional communication training with extinction resulted in a 90% reduction in the chimpanzee's inappropriate behaviors. No function was identified for the second subject's inappropriate behaviors. This project represents one of the first attempts to apply these function-based behavioral techniques to a non-human subject.