Social influences on "self-stimulatory" behavior: Analysis and treatment application.

V. Mark Durand, Edward G. Carr

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We tested the hypothesis that the "self-stimulatory" behaviors exhibited by some individuals may be socially mediated. Four developmentally disabled children who exhibited hand flapping and body rocking participated in a series of three experiments conducted to assess the influence of social variables on stereotyped behavior and to develop a treatment based on the assessment. Experiment 1 used an assessment procedure to determine the relative influences of social attention and task demands on stereotyped behavior. For all four children, hand flapping and body rocking increased when difficult academic tasks were introduced. Experiment 2 involved the use of a procedural timeout and demonstrated that removing task demands contingent on stereotyped behavior resulted in increased rates of hand flapping and body rocking. In Experiment 3, these results were used to develop a communication treatment that consisted of teaching the children to request assistance on the difficult tasks. This treatment resulted in significant reductions in self-stimulatory behavior. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that some forms of repetitive stereotyped behavior may come to serve social functions (e.g., escape from aversive situations). Teaching a functionally equivalent communicative alternative to escape-motivated stereotyped behavior can be an effective form of intervention for this problem.

Original languageAmerican English
JournalDefault journal
StatePublished - Jan 1 1987

Keywords

  • Self-stimulatory behavior
  • Communication
  • Developmentally disabled children
  • Negative reinforcement
  • Stereotyped behavior

Disciplines

  • Psychology

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