Treatment with two setting condition manipulations and use of a visual occlusion helmet was found to decelerate intense screaming by a 16-year-old girl with developmental disabilities. Cranial pressure was found to be the critical element in self-control, and replacing the helmet with a headband was found to be effective in maintaining behavior…

Four autistic and severely handicapped children (ages 9-13) were taught to recruit or set the occasion for praise from an adult. After the structured instruction, the children used these behaviors in all generalization settings and were frequently successful in recruiting praise. (Author/DB)

The effects of two levels of exercise (walking versus jogging) in suppressing the self-stimulatory behavior during academic programming of a 5-year-old boy with autism were examined. Decreased physical self-stimulation and "out of seat" behavior were found only for the jogging condition. Sharp reductions in these behaviors did not return…

The 10-year followup study of a severely retarded man treated for self-injurious behavior with a multiphased behavioral and vocational program found the incidence of self injurious behavior remained infrequent and rarely resulted in tissue damage. (Author/DB)

A study compared the effectiveness of two extinction interventions, extinction by omission and noncontingent delivery of reinforcement, to treat aggressive behavior with a 10-year-old boy. Analysis revealed that aggression was maintained by positive reinforcement in the form of attention. Noncontingent reinforcement of attention produced a more…

Comparison of eight individuals with mental retardation and severe, life-threatening, self-injurious behavior who received electrical aversive treatment with eight similar individuals who did not receive this treatment found that, over a 3-year period, electrical aversion treatment significantly reduced the degree of imposed mechanical restraints.…

This study evaluated use of the interpolation of reinforcement effect, which combines intermittent (INT) and continuous reinforcement (CRF) schedules, with four young children with autism using a free-operant preparation. Results suggest that responding may be less resistant to extinction following interpolated CRF reinforcement than following INT…

A study of an adolescent with severe mental retardation, who demonstrated self-injurious behavior (SIB) when given attention, evaluated the extent to which providing attention only to appropriate communication would reduce SIB. The client's SIB was reduced significantly only when the therapist left the room when he engaged in SIB. (CR)

A study of a 15-year-old girl with autism who engaged in self-injury and aggression, found that gradually increasing the delay to reinforcement (access or escape), mand training, and extinction were effective for decreasing self-injury. Only when the gradual delay procedure was eliminated, however, was there a reduction in aggression. (Author/CR)

Level of spontaneous social initiating by three adult caregivers toward a youth with autism was studied during a program to increase the youth's level of social initiating. The youth's social initiations toward each adult were systematically reinforced. Frequency of spontaneous initiating toward the youth increased for each adult as the youth's…

A brief negative-reinforcement assessment was conducted with five children (ages 4 to 14) with developmental disabilities with severe destructive behavior. Children were trained to engage in an escape response and were presented with a variety of stimuli. For each child, several stimuli were identified that may serve as effective negative…

A study investigated the validity of the Questions about Behavioral Function, a checklist designed to assess antecedent behavior, using a sample of 398 persons with mental retardation and self-injurious behavior, aggression, or stereotypies. The checklist was used successfully to derive clear behavioral functions across all three target behaviors.…

A cognitive treatment intervention was used with four men with learning disabilities who had been convicted of indecent exposure. Treatment dealt with the issues of accepting that the offense took place, taking responsibility, accepting the intention of the offending behavior, and victim awareness. All the men responded to treatment. (Author/CR)

A brief functional analysis indicated that the object mouthing of a young girl diagnosed with autism was maintained independent of social consequences. Separate and combined effects of response blocking and non-contingent reinforcement were then evaluated as treatments. Although both interventions were unsuccessful when implemented separately,…

A study examined the effects of progressive relaxation training on the disruptive behaviors of a 12-year-old boy with autism. The participant acquired progressive relaxation skills, displayed more relaxed behavior after performing the procedures, and showed a decrease in the duration of his disruptive behavior upon completing progressive…