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Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis logoLink to Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
. 1973 Spring;6(1):101–104. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1973.6-101

Control of an obscene “verbal tic” through timeout in an elementary school classroom1

Benjamin B Lahey 1,2, M Patrick McNees 1,2, Margaret C McNees 1,2
PMCID: PMC1310811  PMID: 16795381

Abstract

A classroom teacher modified the behavior of a 10-yr-old student who had a high rate of obscene vocalizations accompanied by facial twitches. In the first phase, the subject was instructed to repeat rapidly the most frequent obscene word in four daily 15-min sessions. This procedure reduced the frequency of obscene vocalizations, but not to an acceptable level. Subsequently, the teacher was able effectively to control the target behavior using a timeout procedure.

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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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