MANIPULATION OF SELF-DESTRUCTION IN 3 RETARDED CHILDREN

The study attempted to isolate some of the environmental conditions that controlled the self‐destructive behavior of three severely retarded and psychotic children. In the extinction study subjects were placed in a room where they were allowed to hurt themselves, isolated from interpersonal contact. They eventually ceased to hurt themselves in that situation, the rate of self‐destruction falling gradually over successive days. In the punishment study, subjects were administered painful electric shock contingent on the self‐destructive behavior. (1) The self‐destructive behavior was immediately suppressed. (2) The behavior recurred when shock was removed. (3) The suppression was selective, both across physical locales and interpersonal situations, as a function of the presence of shock. (4) Generalized effects on other, non‐shock behaviors, appeared in a clinically desirable direction. Finally, a study was reported where self‐destructive behavior increased when certain social attentions were given contingent upon that behavior. 1969 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior