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SELF‐INJURY IN THE PROFOUNDLY RETARDED: CLINICALLY SIGNIFICANT VERSUS THERAPEUTIC CONTROL
Author(s) -
SINGH N. N.,
DAWSON MARYAN J.,
GREGORY P. R.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
journal of intellectual disability research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.941
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1365-2788
pISSN - 0964-2633
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2788.1980.tb00061.x
Subject(s) - citation , general hospital , library science , medicine , psychology , family medicine , computer science
Two experiments investigated the effects of behavioural interventions on the self-injurious behaviour of two profoundly retarded girls who had a long history of such behaviour. In the first experiment, response-contingent aromatic ammonia was used as the aversive stimulus to reduce the high frequency of face-slapping and face-hitting in a deaf and blind girl. In the second experiment an overcorrection procedure was used to control jaw-hitting in another girl. In both cases, the treatments resulted in near-zero levels of self-injury. However, complete suppression of self-injury was not achieved. The results are discussed in terms of clinically significant versus therapeutic control of self-injurious behaviour in institutionalised profoundly retarded persons.