STEREOTYPED BEHAVIOUR, ALTERNATIVE BEHAVIOUR AND COLLATERAL EFFECTS: A COMPARISON OF FOUR INTERVENTION PROCEDURES

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Abstract
The effects of 4 procedures (i.e., a mild slap to the forearm, differential reinforcement of an alternative behavior (DRA), overcorrection plus DRA, and a mild slap plus DRA), on a stereotyped behavior, an alternative behavior, and collateral selfinjurious behaviors of a profoundly retarded 5 yr old girl were assessed in a modified multiple baseline, reversal design. A mild slap resulted in rapid suppression of target and nontarget behaviors. During DRA, a slight increase was achieved in the target behavior. No suppression of the other behaviors was evidenced. Overcorrection plus DRA proved relatively ineffective in suppressing the target stereotyped behavior and in accelerating the alternative behavior. The most effective procedure was a mild slap plus DRA. Near zero suppression of the stereotyped behavior was attained on the 1st day of implementation, collateral self-injurious behaviors were virtually eliminated, and alternative behavior increased dramatically. There was some evidence for generalization across trainers, settings and time.