Abstract
A single case design was adopted to evaluate the effects of the stimulus control and the differential attention on the behavior of a male elderly person in a nursing home setting. The negative targeted behavior was insistent demanding, e.g. calling loudly, aggressive physical contact, and asking for things insistently. The positive targeted behavior was socially acceptable communication, e.g . talking to the staff or the other residents without aggression and responding to the staff and the other residents without aggression. The stimulus control was a procedure of reconstructing the lounge physical setting facilitating the positive social behavior. The differential attention was a procedure of differentially reinforcing the positive behavior by using the staff's attention as reinforcers. After having introduced the differential attention the negative behavior decreased as the staff's interaction increased. Later, however, when the staff's interaction decreased, namely the staff compliance deteriorated, the elderly person's negative behavior began to increase. Then the supervisor started to feedback the staff about their performance, the negative behavior decreased again. Unfortunately, however, the staff compliance was not maintained, which suggests the necessity of system to maintain staff compliance.
