THE RELATIONSHIP OF SELF‐STIMULATION TO LEARNING IN AUTISTIC CHILDREN1

Abstract
The acquisition of discriminative behavior was studied in three autistic children with high‐frequency self‐stimulatory behavior. It was found that: (a) the children did not acquire the discrimination while engaged in self‐stimulation; (b) suppression of self‐stimulation produced an increase in correct responding, with eventual acquisition of the discrimination; (c) successful discrimination learning was always associated with a reduction in self‐stimulatory behavior, even when aversive stimuli were not used for suppression.