Lalli, J. S., Mace, F. C., Livezey, K., & Kates, K. (1998).
Assessment of stimulus generalization gradients in the treatment of self-injurious behavior.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
31, 479-483.
Descriptive and experimental analyses suggested that the
self-injurious behavior (SIB) of a 10-year-old girl with severe
mental retardation was maintained by attention. Additional
analyses identified physical contact as the type of attention
maintaining SIB; therefore, we hypothesized that physical
proximity of an adult was a discriminative stimulus for SIB.
Based on these findings, we systematically varied the distance
between the participant and a therapist to assess stimulus
generalization. Results showed that rates of SIB varied relative
to the distance between the participant and therapist; the
highest percentage of SIB occurred with the therapist positioned
less than 0.5 m from the participant. Treatment consisted of
placing the therapist at a specified distance (9.0 m) from the
participant (during low- attention situations), noncontingent
reinforcement, and extinction.
DESCRIPTORS: noncontingent reinforcement, self-injury,stimulus
generalization gradients