Effectiveness of hand overcorrection for topographically similar and dissimilar self-stimulatory behavior

Response contingent hand overcorrection was used to reduce the frequency of self-stimulatory behaviors in four retarded adult males. For two of the subjects, the treated behaviors (hand shaking and nose touching) involved hand movements which were topographically similar to the hand overcorrection procedure. For the other two subjects, behaviors topographically dissimilar to the treatment procedure were treated (inappropriate laughing and head weaving). All four behaviors were decreased in frequency during treatment. However, the hand overcorrection procedure was more effective with the topographically similar behaviors.     

STIMULUS VARIATION AS A MEANS OF ENHANCING PUNISHMENT EFFECTS

We compared the effects of varied punishers (presentation of one of three available punishers) with the single presentation of one of the punishers on the occurrence of inappropriate behaviors with three developmentally delayed children. Two children were presented with varied-punisher conditions in which either overcorrection, time-out, or a verbal “no” was presented contingent upon inappropiate behavior. A loud noise was substituted for overcorrection for a third child. Results of the multielement with reversal design indicated that both punishment formats produced a decrease in the target behaviors with the varied-punisher format slightly more effective than the single presentations of the punishers. The results suggest the use of varied punishers as a means of enhancing the effects of less intrusive procedures to effectively reduce inappropriate behaviors.     

Oral overcorrection: side effects and extended applications.

Experiment 1: In a specialized daycare program the use of oral overcorrection (contingent toothbrushing with an oral antiseptic) to suppress one child's thumbsucking at Language Time was found to suppress the behavior of another child who was not treated but who witnessed the target child's treatment. Experiment 2: The main effects of oral overcorrection were replicated. Contingent overcorrection threats (warnings), used independently, were then shown to suppress thumbsucking behavior that had returned to its baseline level. These effects were maintained one month after the threats were discontinued, but they did not generalize to other activity periods, particularly Nap Time. Experiment 3: Contingent threats were found to suppress the persistent nap-time thumbsucking of the child from Expt 2. Increments in certain other (nonoral) inappropriate behaviors were correlated with the suppression of thumbsucking. Threats to use oral overcorrection contingent upon nonoral misbehaviors at Nap Time were not effective. However, the actual use of oral overcorrection for these categories of nonoral misbehavior served to suppress these behaviors. Experimental controls combined treatment reversal and multiple baseline single-subject designs.     

CONTINGENT EXERCISE: A MILD BUT POWERFUL PROCEDURE FOR SUPPRESSING INAPPROPRIATE VERBAL AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR

Two single-subject experiments were conducted in public school classrooms for severely emotionally disturbed children. Both experiments investigated the effects of a treatment requiring a child to exhibit a simple exercise task after a verbal or aggressive response, using reversal and multiple-baseline designs. The independent variable, contingent exercise, required standing up and sitting on the floor five to ten times contingent on an inappropriate behavior. It was found that contingent exercise was easy to carry out, and following it, the child quickly returned to the learning task that had been interrupted by the inappropriate behavior. The contingent exercise procedure required a minimum of prompting or manual guidance. Although contingent exercise was not topographically related to the inappropriate response, it decreased those responses dramatically. The results suggested that contingent exercise was not only more powerful than DRO but also could be administered independently. It was concluded that contingent exercise may constitute an alternative procedure that can be used by therapists confronted with severely abnormal behaviors. It would appear to be particularly relevant in settings where procedures such as timeout and painful consequences find restricted use. Finally, a number of guidelines have been proposed as a safeguard against the misuse of this mild but powerful procedure.     

IDENTIFYING THE EDUCATIVE AND SUPPRESSIVE EFFECTS OF POSITIVE PRACTICE AND RESTITUTIONAL OVERCORRECTION

Two major features of the overcorrection procedure, restitution and positive practice, were analyzed for their educative and suppressive properties in the treatment of profoundly retarded adults. Positive practice techniques that were topographically similar and dissimilar to the target behavior were studied. Eating behavior and puzzle performance were observed. Restitutional overcorrection and both forms of positive practice were effective for suppressing inappropriate behaviors. Even when appropriate behaviors had been acquired by positive practice, restitution and dissimilar positive practice were generally ineffective for increasing their rate of occurrence. However, topographically similar positive practice was successful as a means of teaching new appropriate behaviors.     

Management and Prevention of Hyperactivity and Conduct Disorders in 8-10 Year Old Boys Through Correspondence Training Procedures

This study investigated the clinical effects of correspondence training in a group of boys aged 8 to 10. Four children were intervened with the “reinforcement set up on promises” technique: the reinforcer was set up (or displayed) contingent upon the patient's promised to inhibit instances of hyperactivity and conduct disorders, and delivered later contingent upon fulfillment of the promised. Three children received the “reinforcement of corresponding reports” technique: true reports about the inhibition of target behaviors in the past were reinforced. One subject was intervened with the “reinforcement of fulfillment of promises”: the reinforcer was presented and delivered contingent upon the fulfillment of the promises. A series of single-case experimental designs was employed to evaluate the clinical effects of each procedure upon target behaviors. Consistently low levels of hyperactivity and conduct disorders were noted relative to baseline observations. Academic performance was also improved during the introduction of correspondence training with some children     

Behavior modification with culturally deprived school children: two case studies

Techniques of behavior modification were employed with two second-grade Negro girls in a demonstration school for culturally deprived children to increase the girls' appropriate classroom behaviors. A classification system that provided for continuous categorization of behavior was used to code the children's behavior in two classroom situations. Data were also taken on the type, duration, and frequency of the teachers' verbal interactions. The study included four conditions: Baseline, Modification I, Postmodification, and Modification II. The treatment variable was positive social reinforcement-attention and approval contingent upon desirable classroom behaviors-which was presented, withheld, or withdrawn (timeout from social reinforcement). Withholding of social reinforcement was contingent upon inappropriate attention-getting behaviors. Timeout from social reinforcement was contingent upon behaviors classified as aggressive and resistive. After 25 days of Modification I, desirable behavior increased markedly for each girl. The teachers were then asked to return to their Baseline level of performance. The resultant behaviors demonstrated that for one girl, behavior was still primarily under the control of the treatment contingencies. For the second child, many desirable behaviors that had increased in frequency during Modification I remained high, but inappropriate behaviors increased. When treatment was reinstated, the amount of time spent in desirable behaviors increased and remained high for both girls. Three checks during the three months following data collection showed that these behaviors continued to remain high.     

THE APPLICATION OF GENERALIZED CORRECT SOCIAL CONTINGENCIES: AN EVALUATION OF A TRAINING PROGRAM1

Two aides operating a kindergarten-style program for institutionalized mental retardates were trained, using observer feedback, to apply generalized “correct” social contingencies to 10 defined classes of appropriate and inappropriate child behaviors. A multiple baseline design was used to demonstrate, sequentially, the effects of the training procedure upon the attending behavior of each teacher. After withdrawal of feedback, a posttraining follow-up served to assess the durability of training. For both aides, the effect of training was to increase the proportion of appropriate child behaviors attended to, compared with baseline data, and a follow-up over a number of weeks indicated that the effects of training were apparently durable.     

EFFECTS OF A PROCEDURE DERIVED FROM THE OVERCORRECTION PRINCIPLE ON MANIPULATED AND NONMANIPULATED BEHAVIORS

Positive practice overcorrection has been shown to be effective in reducing stereotypic self-stimulatory behaviors displayed by retarded and autistic individuals. In addition, the procedure also may increase the occurrence of appropriate behavior through intensive practice. In the present study, several stereotypic and one appropriate behavior (appropriate toy play) displayed by two autistic children were measured before and during treatment by a positive practice in appropriate toy play overcorrection procedure. Overcorrection was introduced for each of the targeted inappropriate behaviors in succession for both children. Results showed that overcorrection reduced all stereotypic behaviors displayed by both children. In addition, one subject displayed marked increases in the behavior practised during overcorrection, appropriate toy play, relative to its baseline rate of occurrence. The results indicate that for some individuals, overcorrection may be effective in teaching and motivating appropriate forms of behavior as well as in reducing stereotypy.     

REDUCING AGGRESSIVE AND SELF-INJURIOUS BEHAVIOR OF INSTITUTIONALIZED RETARDED CHILDREN THROUGH REINFORCEMENT OF OTHER BEHAVIORS1

Aggressive and self-injurious behaviors of four retarded children were reduced by combining various techniques with the differential reinforcement of other behaviors (DRO). In one study, aggressive responses of a severely retarded child were reduced when DRO was combined with a 30-sec timeout. In a second study, various aggressive classroom behaviors were reduced when the child was told “no” for an inappropriate response but earned puzzle pieces for periods of time when inappropriate responses did not occur. Exchangeable tokens were given to a third subject for every 15 min in which aggressive responding did not occur, while each inappropriate response resulted in the loss of all tokens accrued. Responding was decreased to a level far below baseline. For a fourth child, self-injurious responses were followed by “no”, and intervals of time in which no self-injurious responding occurred earned candy. The rate of this behavior reduced significantly. In each case, the DRO procedure combined with the other techniques proved to be manageable for the teacher and successful in reducing the inappropriate behavior.     

Management of hyperactive children through correspondence training procedures: A preliminary study

This study examined the clinical effects of correspondence training procedures in the management of three hyperactive boys between the ages of seven and 10 years. Two subjects were intervened with the “reinforcement of corresponding reports” procedure: reports about the inhibition of hyperactivity (inattention and overactivity) were reinforced only if they corresponded with the actual inhibition of hyperactivity. The “reinforcement set up contingent upon promises” procedure was used with the third subject: the reinforcer was set up (or displayed) contingent on the patient's promises about the inhibition of hyperactivity in the immediate future, and delivered contingent upon fulfillment of the promise (actual inhibition of hyperactivity). These interventions were programmed in a multipie baseline design across two subjects and a multiple baseline design across two behaviors. A changing-criterion design was also used with all subjects: the nonoccurrence of hyperactivity had to be observed across a pre-established criterion level for the actual delivery of the reinforcer. Consistently higher levels of correspondence occurred during treatment, relative to baseline observations. The results also demonstrated the generalization and maintenance of treatment effects. The use of correspondence training as a potential alternative in the development of hyperactive children's self-control is discussed.     

Abatement of intractable vocal stereotypy using an overcorrection procedure

We conducted a series of reversals to compare the effects of four different treatments on vocal stereotypy emitted by a 7‐year‐old boy with autism. The results showed that (1) the level of vocal stereotypy decreased during exposure to matched stimulation but returned to high levels immediately upon its removal; (2) stereotypy did not significantly decrease during differential reinforcement of other behavior; and (3) contingent withdrawal of movies and music (i.e., response cost) was only moderately effective. However, positive practice overcorrection decreased vocal stereotypy by clinically significant levels. Further, when differential reinforcement of engagement in a Lego^® building task was implemented, the level of engagement was significantly higher when positive practice overcorrection was in place than when overcorrection was withdrawn. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A procedure for fading from experimenter-school-based to parent-home-based control of classroom behavior

A procedure was developed to establish control of three target classroom behaviors by making point reinforcers backed up by hard goods contingent upon working behavior in both math and reading classes. During Condition 1, points were immediately awarded on a variable-interval schedule. After control was demonstrated by an ABAB design, fading was introduced to encourage generalization. In Condition 2, points were given at the end of each 15-minute session. The teacher substracted points for inappropriate behavior in Condition 3, while the period of time points could be earned was extended in Condition 4. The procedure used in Condition 5 involved making the subject's weekly allowance contingent upon the teacher's report of the subject's behavior for the week. Behavior frequencies experimentally established were maintained during the fading procedures in both math and reading classes.     

MOVEMENT SUPPRESSION TIME-OUT FOR UNDESIRABLE BEHAVIOR IN PSYCHOTIC AND SEVERELY DEVELOP MENTALLY DELAYED CHILDREN

The effects of a movement suppression time-out, which involved punishing any movement or verbalization while a client is in the time-out area, were evaluated in four experiments. The first experiment examined the effects of a DRO procedure and movement suppression plus DRO in suppressing self-injurious behavior in a psychotic child in three different situations. In Experiment 2, the results of the previous experiment were replicated with two dangerous behaviors in a second psychotic child. In a third experiment, movement suppression plus DRO was compared with contingent restraint in reducing inappropriate poking behavior in two settings. The movement suppression procedure eliminated poking whereas contingent restraint had little effect. In the final experiment, movement suppression time-out alone was compared with exclusionary time-out alone and simple corner time-out alone. Self-stimulation occurred at high levels during the exclusionary and simple corner time-out procedures. Self-stimulation was either suppressed or reduced during movement suppression time-out. The movement suppression time-out procedure produced a larger reduction in the target behavior in all three children. The effectiveness of the movement suppression procedure was explained in terms of the suppression of self-stimulation while the time-out procedure was being applied.     

The effects of punishment of repetitions and the acquisition of “stutter-like” behaviors in normal speakers

The purpose of this study was to determine if a punishing stimulus, presented contingent upon repetitions, would cause normal speakers to develop behaviors that are “stutter-like,” resembling the secondary reactions often observed in stutterers. Ten normal-speaking adult males spoke spontaneously during a 15 minute A-B-A (base rate-punishment-withdrawl) single subject experiment. Repetitions decreased when the stimulus “you repeated” was made contingent upon their occurrence, but several other behaviors, “stutter-like” in nature, surfaced. As a less spontaneous speaking style was adopted, speech rate decreased significantly. Within a few minutes, the subjects developed some avoidant behaviors that may be characteristic of stuttering. The results were interpreted as having at least one therapeutic implication that could be particularly troublesome. The data seem to indicate that when clinicians focus solely on the reduction of repetitions in stuttering therapy, they may be generating avoidance behaviors that facilitate the development of stuttering.     

Effects of a verbal warning and overcorrection on stereotyped and appropriate behaviors

In Experiment I, the effects of a verbal warning, such as is used in Overcorrection, delivered contingently on the stereotyped mouthing behavior of two autistic/retarded children were examined. A multiple baseline design across subjects was used. The results indicated that the mouthing of one child was reduced to a nearzero level and mouthing of the second child was moderately reduced. Appropriate toy play and inappropriate object manipulation failed to show systematic changes in occurrence when mouthing was decelerated. In Experiment II, the same subjects and experimental design were used to assess the effects of a positive practice Overcorrection procedure delivered contingent on mouthing behavior. Overcorrection reduced the mouthing of both subjects. There were no systematic changes in inappropriate object manipulation but one subject did demonstrate an increased occurrence of appropriate toy play. In addition, this subject often engaged in aggressive/escape behaviors during Overcorrection, suggesting that the procedure was aversive to him.     

Training elementary aged peer behavior managers to control small group programmed mathematics

The effects of a training procedure and two maintenance contingencies on consequence-dispensing behavior were investigated. Four peer behavior managers were trained to supervise small groups of subjects (four to six per group) working in programmed math materials and were compared with a teacher skilled in the use of social and point reinforcement and response cost. Manager training was differentially effective in accelerating manager's rates of appropriate social and point dispensing. Having manager reinforcement contingent upon manager consequence-dispensing resulted in moderately higher rates of appropriate social and point dispensing for three of four subjects than did having manager reinforcement contingent upon group study behavior. Two managers exposed to the group performance contingency before the manager performance contingency increased inappropriate social and point-dispensing behaviors to pretraining baseline levels. Subsequent change to the manager performance contingency was effective in reducing the inappropriate dispensing behavior of only one of the two managers.     

Grooming movements as operants in the rat

Two experiments investigated the effect of contingent food deliveries on grooming movements in rats. The grooming sequence was divided into three topographically distinct behaviors: paw washing, face washing, and body washing. The first experiment found that rates of paw washing and body washing increased reliably under a food contingency, but face washing did not. A second experiment replicated these findings, and, in addition, showed that the average duration of paw washing and body washing decreased in length when followed by food. Placing a contingency on face washing, however, produced an increase in the rate of paw washing but no increase in face washing. It was concluded that, on the one hand, paw washing and body washing may be influenced by operant contingencies in the same way as behaviors such as lever pressing. On the other hand, increases in paw washing under the face washing contingency suggested that increases in the rate of grooming movements may occur by means other than operant relations.     

TREATMENT OF SELF-INJURIOUS BEHAVIOR USING A WATER MIST: INITIAL RESPONSE SUPPRESSION AND GENERALIZATION

This study evaluated the effects of a fine mist of water applied to the face contingent upon self-injurious behavior (SIB) exhibited by profoundly retarded persons. In Experiment 1, results of individual reversal designs showed substantial reductions in a variety of SIB's (mouthing, hand biting, skin tearing, and head banging) for seven participants. In Experiment 2, two participants who frequently bit their hands were each observed in two different settings. Following initial baselines in each setting, a series of manipulations was undertaken to compare the effects of mild verbal punishment (“No”) with those of a combined treatment (“No” plus mist procedure). Results in one setting indicated that “No” suppressed SIB only after it was first paired with the water mist. Data also suggested that, once acquired, the punishing properties of “No” could be extended to a second setting in which the mist was never applied, and that these effects could be generalized across therapists. Results of these experiments indicate that the water mist procedure may be an effective alternative to traditional punishment techniques. Although conclusions regarding generalization are limited due to the brevity of the maintenance conditions, the data suggest that treatment gains may be transferred to more acceptable forms of social punishment and reinforcement.