This case report concerns a woman with intellectual disability, schizoaffective disorder, and avoidance and refusal of having her blood drawn. She required but refused blood draws to properly monitor the therapeutic dose of a necessary psychotropic medication. During intervention at a community-based habilitation setting and under simulated…

In the current investigation, a functional analysis suggested that positive reinforcement in the form of physical contact maintained the self-injurious behavior of a girl with developmental and physical disabilities. We used the information obtained from the functional analysis to develop a treatment for noncompliance with walking in which a…

This study focused on a population of 36 female patients, aged 25 to 65, who were diagnosed with intellectual disabilities, all of whom had long-standing patterns of inappropriate behaviors. In an attempt to increase more appropriate behaviors in these patients, a set of standardized contingency rules were established. These rules were implemented…

A social and academic change program was designed for an 11-year-old educable mentally retarded female with Downs Syndrome. Noncompliant behavior was modified through systematic and consecutive manipulations of two reinforcement systems. Responding to teacher requests within 5 seconds was reinforced within the context of math instruction in order…

Discusses the successful treatment of echolalia in a 15-year-old girl with Rubinstein-Tabyi syndrome, a congenital anomaly characterized by mental and growth retardation. Intervention included a functional assessment of varied echolalic conditions, provision of a therapeutic environment that minimized echolalic responses, and reinforcement of…

Teaching procedures involving differential reinforcement, modeling, and physical priming were used to train a severely retarded woman (30-years-old) to assemble a saw chain. (IM)

A study found verbal reprimands, delivered contingent upon eating prohibited foods, were sufficient to decease the food stealing of a girl (age 14) with Prader-Willi syndrome. Warning stimuli were then successfully used to help her discriminate between permitted/prohibited foods during sessions in which food stealing was not directly observed.…

The mentally retarded child usually has a significant effect on his/her family, particularly on siblings, who need classes to learn how to cope with their situation and to share their feelings so positive attitudes can be fostered. (MH)

FIVE EXPERIMENTS WERE CONDUCTED IN AN ATTEMPT TO ISOLATE SPECIFIC LEARNING PATTERNS IN CHILDREN OF VARYING DEGREES OF MENTAL RETARDATION AND TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE PHYLOGENETIC DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLIGENCE. FACTORS STUDIED WERE THOSE KNOWN TO INFLUENCE LEARNING IN NORMAL CHILDREN AND ADULTS--KIND OF REINFORCEMENT (VERBAL OR…