Analysis of rocking behavior.
Operant conditioning techniques were applied to the study of stereotyped body-rocking movements. Six mentally retarded children were tested individually in a fully automated situation under the following conditions: (a) free operant baseline; (b) intense auditory stimulation; (c) variable-interval (VI) and fixed-ratio (FR) reinforcement schedules; (d) differential reinforcement of low rate (DRL); (e) differential reinforcement of other behaviors (DRO); and (f) noncontingent reinforcement. The results indicated: (a) intense auditory stimulation increased the rate of rocking movements in four of six subjects; (b) VI and FR schedules generated curves that are representative of these schedules; (c) DRL schedules decelerated high-rate rocking; (d) DRO schedules eliminated high-rate rocking; (e) noncontigent reinforcement increased variability and resulted in decreased rate of responding. In conclusion, the data support the hypothesis that body-rocking movements in the mentally retarded are an operant and reflect the established characteristics of reinforcement schedules and operant controls.
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D001519:Behavior; D002648:Child; D002746:Chlorpromazine / Q000494:pharmacology; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D003913:Dextroamphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D005508:Food Deprivation; D006801:Humans; D007326:Institutionalization; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008426:Maternal Deprivation; D002679:Pan troglodytes; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D013239:Stereotyped Behavior
D003913:Dextroamphetamine; D002746:Chlorpromazine