This response to a paper by Guess and Carr (EC 602 212) on stereotypy and self-injurious behavior in the disabled focuses on (1) potentially misleading statements that may discourage practitioners from operant approaches to stereotypy and self-injury, and (2) strengths and weaknesses of the model compared to existing operant models. (DB)

A model of conditional discrimination performance (Davison & Nevin, 1999) is combined with the notion that unmeasured attending to the sample and comparison stimuli, in the steady state and during disruption, depends on reinforcement in the same way as predicted for overt free-operant responding by behavioral momentum theory (Nevin & Grace, 2000).…

Seventy-five children (mean age of 7.3 years) were referred for evaluation of learning or behavioral deficits. Each child was administered the Reitan Indiana Neuropsychological Test Battery or the Halstead Neuropsychological Test Battery for Children, depending upon age. Intellectual, academic, developmental and social assessments were performed.…