The conflict between viewing aversive therapeutic interventions with mentally retarded persons from either an ideological or scientific perspective is examined. It is concluded that some of those who reject aversive therapeutic interventions do so out of a poor understanding of behavioral science and a primarily ideological frame of reference.…

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…

Seven parents conducted assessments in an outpatient clinic using a prescribed hierarchy of antecedent and consequence treatment components for their children's problem behavior. Brief assessment of potential treatment components identified variables controlling children's appropriate behavior. Experimental control was achieved for six of the…

This commentary summarizes methodological and conceptual issues in functional analysis methodologies and offers some suggestions for their resolution. Considered are increasing complexity, absence of contingencies during assessment, use of subtle manipulations, alternative assessment strategies, analysis of antecedent influences on behavior,…

This study examined how 3 students (ages 14-18, with emotional or behavioral disorders) allocated their responding across 2 concurrently available tasks associated with unequal rates and equal versus unequal qualities of reinforcement. It found that time allocated to concurrent response alternatives was approximately proportional to obtained…

This paper reviews the functional properties and procedural variations of differential reinforcement for the reduction of behavior disorders in individuals with developmental disabilities. The paper proposes that limited success may be a result of the arbitrary relationship that exists between reinforcers and target behaviors when behavioral…

The field of behavior analysis has not learned how to develop interventions that rely on positive reinforcement for all participants, including the normal adults who implement them. Thus, the field has not learned how to avoid evoking countercontrol. Establishment of collaborative relationships with the people targeted for help is suggested. (JDD)

Analysis of the reinforcement and extinction components of differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) of three women with developmental disabilities and self-injurious behavior (SIB) found that DRO was only effective in combination with the relevant extinction component (withholding of attention for SIB). (Author/DB)

The history of the terms "punishment" and "aversive" is traced, and the influence of inconsistent usage and negative association associated with these terms is analyzed. A conceptual framework is presented to guide the choice of an alternative terminology for behavior reduction. (Author/JDD)

Reviews studies involving noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) for the treatment of challenging behavior such as aggression, self-injury, and extreme tantrums in persons with developmental disabilities. A clinical guide for implementation is delineated. Among the advantages of NCR is ease of implementation. NCR appears particularly relevant for…

Three experiments involving four children (ages 3-7) with mental retardation found participants preferred unreliable reinforcements under certain conditions. Findings are discussed regarding the role of specific stimuli as conditioned reinforcers and how they influence preference for a response that produces reinforcement on a leaner schedule than…

The initial purpose of the present study was to replicate procedures for teaching preschool children to recruit attention at appropriate times by having an experimenter signal the availability and unavailability of attention (i.e., arrange a multiple schedule involving reinforcement and extinction; Tiger & Hanley, 2004). Following the development…

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…

LaBlanc, Hagopian, Malieri, and Poling (2002) proposed a model for decreasing reinforcement intensity in clinical practice. This paper applies that model to the fading of a point system for a nine-year-old boy who displayed escape behavior around nightly homework assignments. Using a hanging criterion design, the author was able to track the…

Bedtime resistance, a common pediatric problem, that was displayed by 4 unrelated 3-year-old children was treated with the bedtime pass (i.e., provision of a small notecard exchangeable for one trip out of the bedroom after bedtime) plus extinction. Bedtime resistance was eliminated for all participants. Further, treatment did not produce…