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. 1990 Winter;23(4):459–467. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1990.23-459

Use of negative reinforcement in the treatment of self-injurious behavior.

M W Steege 1, D P Wacker 1, K C Cigrand 1, W K Berg 1, C G Novak 1, T M Reimers 1, G M Sasso 1, A DeRaad 1
PMCID: PMC1286261  PMID: 2150070

Abstract

Behavioral assessment procedures were used to determine the maintaining conditions of self-injury exhibited by 2 children with severe multiple handicaps. For both children, negative reinforcement (escape from grooming activities) was determined to be the maintaining reinforcer for self-injury (hand/arm biting) within an alternating treatments design. The treatment packages involved the use of negative reinforcement (brief escape from grooming activities) contingent upon a behavior that was incompatible with self-injury (reaching and pressing a microswitch that activated a pre-recorded message of "stop"). Treatment was evaluated with a reversal design for 1 child and with a multiple baseline across grooming activities for the 2nd child. The treatment led to a marked decrease in self-injury for both children. At follow-up, high rates of self-injury were reported for the 1st child, but low rates of self-injury and an increase in task-related appropriate behavior were observed for the 2nd child.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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