Thompson, R. H., Iwata, B. A., Conners, J., & Roscoe, E. M. (1999).
Effects of reinforcement for alternative behavior during punishment of self-injury.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
32, 317-328.
A number of variables influence the effectiveness of punishment
and may determine the extent to which less intrusive forms of
punishment may be used as alternatives to more intrusive
interventions. For example, it has been suggested that response
suppression during punishment may be facilitated if reinforcement
is concurrently available for an alternative response. However,
results of basic research demonstrating this finding have not
been replicated with interventions more commonly prescribed as
treatments for problem behavior. We evaluated the effects of
relatively benign punishment procedures (reprimands or brief
manual restraint) on the self-injurious behavior of 4 individuals
who had been diagnosed with mental retardation, when access to
reinforcement for alternative behavior (manipulation of leisure
materials) was and was not available. In all cases, punishment
produced greater response suppression when reinforcement for an
alternative response was available.
DESCRIPTORS: _punishment, reinforcement, self injurious behavior