RESUMEN
Twenty-two individuals with developmental disabilities participated in two leisure-item preference assessments, spaced approximately 16 months apart. Results showed (a) an overall increase in item contact across assessments for 13 participants and (b) at least some overlap across assessments in the five most highly ranked items for every participant. These results highlight individual differences in the stability of preference over time and suggest the need for research to identify the determinants of temporal shifts in preference.
Asunto(s)
Conducta de Elección , Actividades Recreativas , Adulto , Humanos , Discapacidad Intelectual/psicología , Estudios Longitudinales , Distribución Aleatoria , Refuerzo en Psicología , Factores de TiempoRESUMEN
UNLABELLED: We evaluated the effects of a response-effort intervention on the occurrence of self-injurious hand mouthing and a competing response (object manipulation) with 4 individuals who had profound developmental disabilities. During Phase 1, results of functional analyses showed that all participants engaged in high levels of hand mouthing in the absence of social contingencies, suggesting that the behavior was maintained by automatic reinforcement. In Phase 2, preferred leisure items were identified for participants during assessments in which duration of leisure item manipulation was used as the index of preference. In Phase 3, participants were observed to engage in high levels of hand mouthing and in varying levels of object manipulation when they had free access to their most preferred leisure items during baseline. The effects of increased response effort on hand mouthing and object manipulation were then evaluated in mixed multiple baseline and reversal designs. The response-effort condition was identical to baseline, except that participants wore soft, flexible sleeves that increased resistance for elbow flexion but still enabled participants to engage in hand mouthing. Results showed consistent decreases in SIB and increases in object manipulation during the response-effort condition for all participants. These results suggested that a less preferred reinforcer (produced by object manipulation) may substitute for a more highly preferred reinforcer (produced by hand mouthing) when response effort for hand mouthing was increased. DESCRIPTORS: self-injurious behavior, automatic reinforcement, reinforcer substitutability, response effort
Asunto(s)
Atención , Motivación , Esfuerzo Físico , Conducta Autodestructiva/prevención & control , Conducta Estereotipada , Adulto , Terapia Conductista , Extinción Psicológica , Femenino , Humanos , Discapacidad Intelectual/psicología , Persona de Mediana Edad , Refuerzo en Psicología , Restricción Física , Conducta Autodestructiva/psicologíaRESUMEN
We evaluated the effects of restraint on occurrences of self-injurious behavior (SIB) and adaptive responses exhibited by 2 individuals across eight response-effort conditions: baseline (no restraints); restraint sleeves without stays; restraints with 5, 10, 15, 20, or 25 thin metal stays; and restraints with five thick metal stays. From this analysis, we identified a restraint level for each participant that reduced SIB but did not inhibit adaptive responding.
Asunto(s)
Discapacidad Intelectual/terapia , Restricción Física/psicología , Conducta Autodestructiva/prevención & control , Adaptación Psicológica , Adulto , Femenino , Humanos , Discapacidad Intelectual/psicología , Motivación , Conducta Autodestructiva/psicología , Resultado del TratamientoRESUMEN
Fourteen categories of communicable diseases reported on a weekly basis to state public health officials were considered. Mentally retarded persons living in a three-county area were compared with the counties' general population over a 4-year period. Results indicated that retarded persons had a significantly higher prevalence rate of 6 of the 14 communicable diseases and a higher probability rate for 3 of the diseases studied than did the general population. The few illnesses that the retarded population did contract, however, occurred at a much higher rate than that of the nonretarded population.