Noncompliance is a common behavior problem exhibited by typically developing children, as well as individuals with intellectual disabilities, and is correlated with a number of psychiatric diagnoses later in life. We begin this manuscript by describing the definition and prevalence of noncompliance. We then review the assessment procedures that…

Three types of student misbehavior, varying in severity, were measured in self-report surveys completed by excluded students: distracting others, resisting teachers' attempts to ensure engagement with work, and aggressive behavior. Results show that excluded students exhibiting less severe misbehavior are more amenable to the logic of teacher…

During the past two decades, scholars, educators, and special interest organizations, including advocacy groups, have critically examined and debated the ethical and legal use of aversive interventions with individuals with disabilities. These interventions comprise a broad spectrum of behavior management techniques including but not at all…

Few studies have evaluated ways to thin punishment schedules. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of using variable ratio (VR) schedules to thin the time-out schedule gradually. Warnings were used in some conditions to assist potentially with schedule thinning, but this analysis was limited. Participants were 3 young students who…

Results of a functional analysis indicated that a man diagnosed with autism engaged in bizarre sexual behavior in the presence of women wearing sandals. Several treatments proved to be ineffective or impractical. By contrast, a response-interruption/time-out procedure quickly eliminated the problem behavior in multiple settings. (Contains 1…

A common recommendation for implementing time-out procedures is to include a release contingency such that the individual is not allowed to leave time-out until no problem behavior has occurred for a specific amount of time (e.g, 30 s). We compared a fixed duration time-out procedure to a release contingency time-out procedure with 4 young…

African-American and Anglo-American children's assessments of four disciplinary methods (spanking, reasoning, withdrawing privileges, and time-out) were investigated with 108 children ages 6-10 years old and one of their parents. Children watched videos depicting a child being disciplined and then rated each discipline method. Reasoning was rated…

The use of restitution (requiring the child to compensate for damage he/she causes) and timeout for destructive behavior was investigated with 21 emotionally disturbed children (9 to 13 years old) in a residential school and treatment program. Staff were instructed to interrupt destructive behavior as quickly as possible and use the restitution…

Two developmentally disabled children were held in seated position during application of timeout procedure. For autistic-like girl procedure produced dramatic reduction in tantrums and aggressive behavior and for mentally retarded boy reduced aggression. For both, immobilization timeout proved more effective than reinforcement methods alone. (CMG)

A procedure involving the intermittent presentation of timeout, restraint, and blindfolding produced complete suppression of self-slapping in a profoundly retarded adolescent. A variable ratio two schedule of time-out and physical restraint contingencies was effective in reducing and maintaining a low level of self-abusive behavior. (Author)

A firm physical restraint procedure (physically holding the child from behind until all verbal and physical aggressions had ceased for 30 seconds) was effective in significantly reducing the aggressive responses of a 6-year-old severely emotionally disturbed male in a self-contained special education class. (Author/CL)

This study evaluated the effectiveness of high probability requests and time-out as treatments for noncompliance which appeared to be maintained by contingent attention in two developmentally normal children. The introduction of high-probability requests increased compliance for one child but not the other. Time-out was effective with both…

Staff members (N=72) of 12 community residential facilities for the retarded rated the acceptability of four behavior modification procedures. Treatments were rated according to their restrictiveness with differential reinforcement of other behavior the most acceptable, followed by time-out, overcorrection, and shock. (Author/DB)

Presents a case study of one two-year-old examining strategies for dealing with aggressive behavior. Time-out, and time-out coupled with differential reinforcement of alternative behaviors, were successful in weakening the target behavior of aggression. Whether behaviors can be sustained without further intervention is worthy of further study.…

A differential schedule of time-out was effective in reducing target maladaptive behaviors in three mentally retarded students (ages 5-9). In addition, by permitting one behavior to occur within an interval which occasioned only a warning, students were allowed to develop self-control within a structured setting. (Author)