Brief report: Non-intrusive operant analysis of aggressive behavior in persons with mental retardation
✍ Scribed by Timothy J. H. Paisey; Robert B. Whitney; Pamela M. Hislop
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1991
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 843 KB
- Volume
- 6
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1072-0847
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
A procedure for operant analysis of aggressive behavior was derived from multi-element assessment methods that have been previously applied to both self-injurious and stereotypic responding. Analog sessions included No Interaction Raseline, Social Disapproval, Demand, Social Reinforcement, and Discriminated Extinction conditions, repeatedly presented within a multi-element design. Three men with differing severity of mental retardation, communicative deficits and aggressive behavior were exposed to multiple brief analog sessions embedded within their normal meal-time routines in group home settings. Mean frequencies of aggressive behavior and concurrent eating indicate that, while aggressive behavior was negatively reinforced in all three participants, both social and non-social Contingencies were also prominent. The same contingencies which have been demonstrated to maintain self-injury and stereotypic behavior can therefore also maintain aggression. Results suggest the feasibility of conducting relatively non-intrusive analog assessments in community residences, and support the, extension of functional analysis across differing classes of aberrant behavior.