Self-restraint and self-injury: a demonstration of separate functions and response classes

✍ Scribed by John T. Rapp; Raymond G. Miltenberger

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 143 KB
• Volume: 15
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1072-0847
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-078x(200001/03)15:1<37::aid-bin40>3.0.co;2-5

✦ Synopsis

We evaluated the self-injurious behavior (SIB) and self-restraint (SR) of an 11-year-old boy with severe mental retardation that were suspected to be functionally unrelated. A functional analysis (consequences provided for SIB) resulted in near-zero levels of SIB across experimental conditions and did not indicate a speci®c function of SIB. In contrast, high, undierentiated levels of SR were observed during the attention, control, alone, and demand conditions. Further analysis of a possible tangible function of SIB using pairwise comparisons resulted in a high rate of SIB during the contingent tangible condition, no SIB in the noncontingent tangible condition, and comparable levels of SR in both conditions. A subsequent analysis using restraint blocking during play and no-play contexts suggested that SR produced automatic reinforcement under conditions of low ambient stimulation. Thus, SIB and SR were shown to be functionally independent and maintained by distinct consequences. The results are brie¯y discussed and suggestions for future research are provided.