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Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis logoLink to Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
. 1998 Summer;31(2):165–189. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1998.31-165

Treatment of pica through multiple analyses of its reinforcing functions.

C C Piazza 1, W W Fisher 1, G P Hanley 1, L A LeBlanc 1, A S Worsdell 1, S E Lindauer 1, K M Keeney 1
PMCID: PMC1284110  PMID: 9652098

Abstract

We conducted functional analyses of the pica of 3 participants. The pica of 1 participant appeared to be maintained by automatic reinforcement; that of the other 2 participants appeared to be multiply controlled by social and automatic reinforcement. Subsequent preference and treatment analyses were used to identify stimuli that would complete with the automatic function of pica for the 3 participants. These analyses also identified the specific aspect of oral stimulation that served as automatic reinforcement for 2 of the participants. In addition, functional analysis-based treatments were used to address the socially motivated components of 2 of the participants' pica. Results are discussed in terms of (a) the importance of using the results of functional analyses to develop treatments for pica and (b) the advantages of developing indirect analyses to identify specific sources of reinforcement for automatically reinforced behavior.

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Selected References

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