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. 1978 Summer;11(2):225–241. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1978.11-225

The use of physical restraint in the treatment of self-injury and as positive reinforcement.

J E Favell, J F McGimsey, M L Jones
PMCID: PMC1311295  PMID: 670112

Abstract

Two experiments investigated the effects of a treatment package on the self-injurious behavior of three profoundly retarded persons who appeared to enjoy the physical restraints used to prevent their self-injury. The treatment package included physically restraining subjects contingent on increasing periods of time during which no self-injury occurred, and providing them with toys and attention during intervals between restraints. A reversal and multiple-baseline analysis documented that the rapid and complete reduction in self-injury by all subjects was due to this treatment package. Because these results suggested that physical restraint might function as a positive reinforcer, in a third experiment physical restraint was applied contingent on a marble placement response with one subject. A reversal design demonstrated that toy play systematically increased when each response resulted in restraint. The experiments have implications for the nonaversive remediation of self-injury in individuals who are restrained, as well as for the development and maintenance of self-injury in natural settings.

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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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