Wacker, D. P., Harding, J., Cooper, L. J., Derby, K. M., Peck, S., Asmus, J., Berg, W. K., & Brown, K. A. (1996).
The effects of meal schedule and quantity on problematic behavior.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
29, 79-87.
We present 2 case examples that illustrate the effects of meal
schedule and quantity on displays of problematic behavior. In the
first example, self-injury displayed by a toddler with severe
developmental delays was maintained by parent attention, but only
when he was satiated for food. When he was food deprived,
self-injury decreased but did not appear to be differentiated
across low or high social conditions. In the second example,
crying and self-injury displayed by an elementary-aged girl with
severe disabilities were correlated: Both behaviors were
associated with food quantity, and neither behavior was
responsive to social stimuli. These results replicate and extend
previous findings demonstrating that meal schedule or food
quantity can affect problematic behavior. In the present studies,
brief functional analyses of aberrant behavior provided useful
information for interpreting distinct patterns of behavior
displayed by each child. We discuss these results in terms of the
concept of establishing operations.
DESCRIPTORS: meal schedule, food quantity, functional analysis,
self-injurious behavior, establishing operations