EFFECTS OF BEHAVIORAL CONTRAST ON THE MODIFICATION OF SELF-INJURIOUS BEHAVIOR OF A MENTALLY RETARDED CHILD : AN APPLICATION OF GOAL-GRADIENT HYPOTHESIS

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the hypothesis that conditioning the other behavior with reinforcers that have maintained the self-injurious behavior has the effects of making the self-injurious behavior per se decreased, its differentiation weakened, and the contrast-effect relieved because the self-injurious behavior of the retarded in this case is considered an operant which has been differentiated from other behaviors by their extinction and maintained by the contrast-effects. It was also hypothesized that if the potency of reinforcers contingent upon the self-injurious behavior was more weakly operated than that upon the other behavior, it would be decreased. The other behavior in this study was defined as a certain behavior, and gratifying the subject's demand and stopping the experimenter's orders to him were used as reinforcers. The result showed that the self-injurious behavior was decreased by delivering the same reinforcer as the one which modifyed the other behavior and by creating the difference between the potencies in terms of chaining.