McEntee, J. E., & Saunders, R. R. (1997).
A response-restriction analysis of stereotypy in adolescents with mental retardation: Implications for applied behavior analysis.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
30, 485-506.
The behavior of 4 adolescents with severe or profound mental
retardation was evaluated in the presence of four sets of
materials during periods of unstructured leisure activity.
Functional engagement with the materials, stereotypic engagement
with the materials, stereotypy without interaction with the
materials, and other aberrant behaviors were recorded. Across a
series of experimental conditions, the number of sets of
materials was reduced from four to one by eliminating the set
most frequently manipulated in each preceding condition. In the
final condition, four sets of materials were again made available
for manipulation. The procedures replicated Green and Striefel's
(1988) response-restriction analysis of the activity preferences
and play behaviors of children with autism. In general, the
results of the present experiment replicate those of Green and
Striefel in that reallocation of responding was idiosyncratic and
unpredictable as sets of materials were removed. Nevertheless,
the results provided insight into how responding might be
reallocated if it were restricted through behavioral
interventions rather than by restriction of access. Thus, the
results are discussed with respect to how response-restriction
analyses may be useful in identifying topographies of behavior
that could be included in differential reinforcement
contingencies that are designed to affect stereotypic behavior
and in the selection and arrangement of environmental stimuli to
minimize the presence of evokers of stereotypy.
DESCRIPTORS: mental retardation, stereotypy, response deprivation,
response restriction, functional analysis, evoker analysis