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IMPROVEMENT OF RETARDATES' MEALTIME BEHAVIORS BY TIMEOUT PROCEDURES USING MULTIPLE BASELINE TECHNIQUES 2
Author(s) -
Barton Elizabeth Spindler,
Guess Doug,
Garcia Eugene,
Baer Donald M.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
journal of applied behavior analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1938-3703
pISSN - 0021-8855
DOI - 10.1901/jaba.1970.3-77
Subject(s) - timeout , psychology , multiple baseline design , feeding behavior , meal , developmental psychology , social psychology , statistics , medicine , psychiatry , mathematics , intervention (counseling) , pathology
Undesirable mealtime behaviors of a hospital cottage of retardates were reduced by contingent timeout procedures applied by ward personnel successively to one undesirable behavior after another, in a multiple baseline design. In some cases the timeout procedure was to remove the subject from the room until the meal was finished; in other cases (depending on the health of the child and the initial rate of the behavior to be reduced), timeout consisted of a 15‐sec removal of the child's meal tray. Undesirable behaviors were defined as stealing, using fingers inappropriately, messy use of utensils, and pigging (eating directly with mouth or eating spilled food). Timeout was applied to these behaviors in that order, and in each case led to a marked and useful reduction in the behavior throughout the group. As these undesirable behaviors were reduced, more appropriate mealtime behaviors emerged: as inappropriate use of fingers declined (under contingent timeout), messy utensil behavior increased; later, as messy utensil behavior declined (under contingent timeout), a defined category of neat utensil behavior increased. Weights of the subjects were monitored steadily throughout the study and showed essentially no change.