Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis logoLink to Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
. 1994 Summer;27(2):345–355. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1994.27-345

Protective equipment as treatment for stereotypic hand mouthing: sensory extinction or punishment effects?

J L Mazaleski 1, B A Iwata 1, T A Rodgers 1, T R Vollmer 1, J R Zarcone 1
PMCID: PMC1297811  PMID: 8063633

Abstract

We examined the effects of noncontingent and contingent protective equipment as treatment for self-injurious hand mouthing exhibited by 2 individuals with profound mental retardation. Results of a functional analysis assessment revealed that neither subject's self-injury was maintained by social reinforcement: One subject's self-injury was cyclical in nature; the other's occurred during all assessment conditions but most frequently when left alone. In the noncontingent-equipment condition, oven mitts were placed on the individual's hands at the beginning of a session and remained on throughout. In the contingent-equipment condition, the mitts were briefly placed on the individual's hands following occurrences of hand mouthing. For 1 subject, noncontingent mitts produced a large decrease in the rate of hand mouthing and contingent mitts produced similar results following a return to baseline. Hand mouthing was also reduced in the 2nd subject, but this individual was exposed only to the contingent-equipment condition (i.e., there was no prior history with the noncontingent-equipment condition). These results suggest either a punishment or a time-out interpretation rather than an extinction interpretation to account for the behavior-reducing effects of contingent protective equipment on self-injury.

Full text

PDF
345

Selected References

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

  1. Aiken J. M., Salzberg C. L. The effects of a sensory extinction procedure on stereotypic sounds of two autistic children. J Autism Dev Disord. 1984 Sep;14(3):291–299. doi: 10.1007/BF02409580. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. BERKSON G., MASON W. A. STEREOTYPED MOVEMENTS OF MENTAL DEFECTIVES. IV. THE EFFECTS OF TOYS AND THE CHARACTER OF THE ACTS. Am J Ment Defic. 1964 Jan;68:511–524. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Baer D. M., Wolf M. M., Risley T. R. Some current dimensions of applied behavior analysis. J Appl Behav Anal. 1968 Spring;1(1):91–97. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1968.1-91. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Dorsey M. F., Iwata B. A., Reid D. H., Davis P. A. Protective equipment: continuous and contingent application in the treatment of self-injurious behavior. J Appl Behav Anal. 1982 Summer;15(2):217–230. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1982.15-217. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Guess D., Carr E. Emergence and maintenance of stereotypy and self-injury. Am J Ment Retard. 1991 Nov;96(3):299–344. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. 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]
  7. Lerman D. C., Iwata B. A. Descriptive and experimental analyses of variables maintaining self-injurious behavior. J Appl Behav Anal. 1993 Fall;26(3):293–319. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1993.26-293. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Lovaas I., Newsom C., Hickman C. Self-stimulatory behavior and perceptual reinforcement. J Appl Behav Anal. 1987 Spring;20(1):45–68. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1987.20-45. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Luiselli J. K. Contingent glove wearing for the treatment of self-excoriating behavior in a sensory-impaired adolescent. Behav Modif. 1989 Jan;13(1):65–73. doi: 10.1177/01454455890131004. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Luiselli J. K. Modification of self-injurious behavior. An analysis of the use of contingently applied protective equipment. Behav Modif. 1986 Apr;10(2):191–204. doi: 10.1177/01454455860102003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Mason S. A., Iwata B. A. Artifactual effects of sensory-integrative therapy on self-injurious behavior. J Appl Behav Anal. 1990 Fall;23(3):361–370. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1990.23-361. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Parrish J. M., Iwata B. A., Dorsey M. F., Bunck T. J., Slifer K. J. Behavior analysis, program development, and transfer of control in the treatment of self-injury. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 1985 Jun;16(2):159–167. doi: 10.1016/0005-7916(85)90052-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Reid D. H., Parsons M. B., Phillips J. F., Green C. W. Reduction of self-injurious hand mouthing using response blocking. J Appl Behav Anal. 1993 Spring;26(1):139–140. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1993.26-139. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Rincover A., Cook R., Peoples A., Packard D. Sensory extinction and sensory reinforcement principles for programming multiple adaptive behavior change. J Appl Behav Anal. 1979 Summer;12(2):221–233. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1979.12-221. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Rincover A., Newsom C. D., Carr E. G. Using sensory extinction procedures in the treatment of compulsivelike behavior of developmentally disabled children. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1979 Aug;47(4):695–701. doi: 10.1037//0022-006x.47.4.695. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Rincover A. Sensory extinction: a procedure form eliminating self-stimulatory behavior in developmentally disabled children. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 1978 Sep;6(3):299–310. doi: 10.1007/BF00924733. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Van Houten R. The use of wrist weights to reduce self-injury maintained by sensory reinforcement. J Appl Behav Anal. 1993 Summer;26(2):197–203. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1993.26-197. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis are provided here courtesy of Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

RESOURCES