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Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis logoLink to Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
. 1994 Summer;27(2):197–209. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1994.27-197

Toward a functional analysis of self-injury.

B A Iwata 1, M F Dorsey 1, K J Slifer 1, K E Bauman 1, G S Richman 1
PMCID: PMC1297798  PMID: 8063622

Abstract

This study describes the use of an operant methodology to assess functional relationships between self-injury and specific environmental events. The self-injurious behaviors of nine developmentally disabled subjects were observed during periods of brief, repeated exposure to a series of analogue conditions. Each condition differed along one or more of the following dimensions: (1) play materials (present vs absent), (2) experimenter demands (high vs low), and (3) social attention (absent vs noncontingent vs contingent). Results showed a great deal of both between and within-subject variability. However, in six of the nine subjects, higher levels of self-injury were consistently associated with a specific stimulus condition, suggesting that within-subject variability was a function of distinct features of the social and/or physical environment. These data are discussed in light of previously suggested hypotheses for the motivation of self-injury, with particular emphasis on their implications for the selection of suitable treatments.

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Selected References

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