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 literature on the use of physical restraint with adults and children with mental retardation is reviewed, including person-to-person restraint, mechanical devices, and voluntary self-restraint. Conclusions regarding outcomes of contingent and noncontingent restraint, maintenance, reinforcing effects of restraint, and risk of injury are…

Ratings on the acceptability, intrusiveness, restrictiveness, and efficacy of 18 commonly used interventions for decelerating behaviors were obtained from 58 special educators of severely handicapped students. Results suggested a lack of confidence in intervention efficacy and a lack of discriminant validity for the constructs of restrictiveness…

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.…

In this preliminary study, three parents who requested outpatient services for treatment of developmentally disabled children's problem behavior were taught to implement multiple treatment components. Therapists employed the most cost-efficient method first (i.e., written and verbal instructions) to teach prescribed behavior management strategies.…

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…

Analysis of 117 research articles reporting use of behavioral interventions with single subjects with autism concluded that behavioral treatments are effective in reducing problematic behaviors. Type of target behavior and type of treatment did not moderate average treatment effect. Reliability of observation, number of treatment data points, and…

Forty-one special education professionals and classroom aides, 47 residential care staff, and 74 high school students rated the treatment acceptability of three forms of physical restraint. A chair method of restraint was rated as more acceptable than other floor restraint methods by all three groups. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Identifies four treatment techniques that may be applied when problem behavior is maintained by negative reinforcement: (1) functional communication training; (2) behavioral momentum; (3) differential reinforcement or an alternative escape behavior; and (4) errorless learning. Each of the techniques is defined, and applications and guidelines for…

A study tested whether four students with mental retardation would substitute task-related behaviors for stereotypic behaviors when opportunity for active responding did or did not match level of motoric responding in a free-operant baseline. Students did substitute behaviors, with stereotypic behaviors occurring 1.5-14 times as much in the…

This study evaluates parental use of differential reinforcement of other and/or incompatible behavior to treat high-rate disruptive behavior in a severely retarded four-year-old boy. A withdrawal experimental design was used. Intervention effectively reduced instances of toy chewing and throwing, while appropriate toy play and ability to remain…

Three severely mentally retarded adolescents who exhibited repetitive hand movements were assessed during baseline (reinforcement for on-task behavior) and sensory change (rings on fingers of both hands, rings and reinforcement, and faded rings) conditions. Sensory change effectively reduced the target responses for up to four hours. (Author/JDD)

The study evaluated the indirect effects on stereotypic behavior frequency of several fixed-interval reinforcement schedules on behaviors of three profoundly retarded adults. Stereotypic behavior increased in direct relation to the interval length suggesting such behaviors may be partially controlled by reinforcement frequency for adaptive…