Assessment of stimulus generalization gradients in the treatment of self-injurious behavior.
Descriptive and experimental analyses suggested that the self-injurious behavior (SIB) of a 10-year-old girl with severe mental retardation was maintained by attention. Additional analyses identified physical contact as the type of attention maintaining SIB; therefore, we hypothesized that physical proximity of an adult was a discriminative stimulus for SIB. Based on these findings, we systematically varied the distance between the participant and a therapist to assess stimulus generalization. Results showed that rates of SIB varied relative to the distance between the participant and therapist; the highest percentage of SIB occurred with the therapist positioned less than 0.5 m from the participant. Treatment consisted of placing the therapist at a specified distance (9.0 m) from the participant (during low-attention situations), noncontingent reinforcement, and extinction.
University of Pennsylvania, USA.
J S
JS
Lalli
F C
FC
Mace
K
K
Livezey
K
K
Kates
D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D005108:Extinction, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D012932:Social Facilitation