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. 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.

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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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