Abstract
Although the use of punishment often raises ethical issues, such procedures may be needed when the reinforcers that maintain behavior cannot be identified or controlled, or when competing reinforcers cannot be found. Results of several studies on the effects of intermittent schedules of punishment suggest that therapists must use fairly rich schedules of punishment to suppress problem behavior. However, residential caretakers, teachers, and parents often have difficulty implementing programs that require constant monitoring of the client's behavior. In this study, we examined the feasibility of gradually thinning the delivery of punishment from a continuous schedule to an intermittent schedule during the course of treatment for self-injurious behavior (SIB). Results of functional analyses for 5 individuals who had been diagnosed with profound mental retardation indicated that their SIB was not maintained by social consequences. Treatment with continuous schedules of time-out (for 1 participant) or contingent restraint (for the other 4 participants) produced substantial reductions in SIB. When they were exposed to intermittent schedules of punishment (fixed-interval [FI] 120 s or FI 300 s), SIB for all but 1 of the participants increased to levels similar to those observed during baseline. For these 4 participants, the schedule of punishment was gradually thinned from continuous to FI 120 s or FI 300 s. For 2 participants, SIB remained low across the schedule changes, demonstrating the utility of thinning from continuous to intermittent schedules of punishment. Results for the other 2 participants showed that intermittent punishment was ineffective, despite repeated attempts to thin the schedule.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (229.7 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- AZRIN N. H., HOLZ W. C. Punishment during fixed-interval reinforcement. J Exp Anal Behav. 1961 Oct;4:343–347. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1961.4-343. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Barton L. E., Brulle A. R., Repp A. C. Effects of differential scheduling of timeout to reduce maladaptive responding. Except Child. 1987 Jan;53(4):351–356. doi: 10.1177/001440298705300410. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bradshaw C. M., Szabadi E., Bevan P. The effect of punishment on free-operant choice behavior in humans. J Exp Anal Behav. 1979 Jan;31(1):71–81. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1979.31-71. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Clark H. B., Rowbury T., Baer A. M., Baer D. M. Timeout as a punishing stimulus in continuous and intermittent schedules. J Appl Behav Anal. 1973 Fall;6(3):443–455. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1973.6-443. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Galbicka G., Branch M. N. Selective punishment of interresponse times. J Exp Anal Behav. 1981 May;35(3):311–322. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1981.35-311. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Iwata B. A., Dorsey M. F., Slifer K. J., Bauman K. E., Richman G. S. Toward a functional analysis of self-injury. J Appl Behav Anal. 1994 Summer;27(2):197–209. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1994.27-197. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Iwata B. A., Pace G. M., Cowdery G. E., Miltenberger R. G. What makes extinction work: an analysis of procedural form and function. J Appl Behav Anal. 1994 Spring;27(1):131–144. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1994.27-131. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kircher A. S., Pear J. J., Martin G. L. Shock as punishment in a picture-naming task with retarded children. J Appl Behav Anal. 1971 Fall;4(3):227–233. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1971.4-227. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Pace G. M., Ivancic M. T., Edwards G. L., Iwata B. A., Page T. J. Assessment of stimulus preference and reinforcer value with profoundly retarded individuals. J Appl Behav Anal. 1985 Fall;18(3):249–255. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1985.18-249. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Romanczyk R. G. Intermittent punishment of self-stimulation: effectiveness during application and extinction. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1977 Feb;45(1):53–60. doi: 10.1037//0022-006x.45.1.53. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Scobie S. R., Kaufman A. Intermittent punishment of human responding maintained by intermittent reinforcement. J Exp Anal Behav. 1969 Jan;12(1):137–147. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1969.12-137. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- ZIMMERMAN J., FERSTER C. B. Intermittent punishment of Sdelta responding in matching to sample. J Exp Anal Behav. 1963 Jul;6:349–356. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1963.6-349. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]