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THE EFFECTS OF MEAL SCHEDULE AND QUANTITY ON PROBLEMATIC BEHAVIOR
Author(s) -
Wacker David P.,
Harding Jay,
Cooper Linda J.,
Derby K. Mark,
Peck Stephanie,
Asmus Jennifer,
Berg Wendy K.,
Brown Kimberly A.
Publication year - 1996
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.1996.29-79
Subject(s) - psychology , toddler , schedule , developmental psychology , meal , crying , eating behavior , social psychology , obesity , medicine , pathology , computer science , operating system
We present 2 case examples that illustrate the effects of meal schedule and quantity on displays of problematic behavior. In the first example, self‐injury displayed by a toddler with severe developmental delays was maintained by parent attention, but only when he was satiated for food. When he was food deprived, self‐injury decreased but did not appear to be differentiated across low or high social conditions. In the second example, crying and self‐injury displayed by an elementary‐aged girl with severe disabilities were correlated: Both behaviors were associated with food quantity, and neither behavior was responsive to social stimuli. These results replicate and extend previous findings demonstrating that meal schedule or food quantity can affect problematic behavior. In the present studies, brief functional analyses of aberrant behavior provided useful information for interpreting distinct patterns of behavior displayed by each child. We discuss these results in terms of the concept of establishing operations.