A two-step program designed to enhance generalization of treatment was implemented with four dually diagnosed autistic/severely or profoundly retarded subjects. The first step involved training the subjects to associate treatment with a discriminative stimulus (S$\sp{\rm D}$). The second step involved systematically introducing the S$\sp{\rm D}$ into the generalization settings. / A multiple baseline design across settings was used. For each subject, one setting served as the treatment setting; two others served as generalization settings. A one-month follow-up was also conducted. / In Setting One, 8 days of baseline data were collected followed by treatment. Training was conducted during four ten-minute blocks of time. During discrimination training, the first 10 minutes, the subjects wore an S$\sp{\rm D}$ (e.g., a ribbon) and treatment was instituted (e.g., time-out) contingent on self-injurious behavior (SIB). During S$\sp{\Delta}$ training, the next 10 minutes, the S$\sp{\rm D}$ was removed and no treatment for SIB was in effect. Treatment continued daily until SIB was reduced to 0 during S$\sp{\rm D}$ conditions and SIB continued during S$\sp{\Delta}$ conditions. / The S$\sp{\rm D}$ was then taken into the generalization settings. Baseline was continued in each generalization setting until that setting was incorporated for generalization. / Results from all four subjects show that the presence of the S$\sp{\rm D}$ in the generalization settings suppressed self-injury in those settings. In all cases, there was an immediate drop in SIB when the S$\sp{\rm D}$ was introduced. Furthermore, by the end of treatment, the SIB behaviors were eliminated in the generalization settings for three of the subjects. For the remaining subject, the behavior was substantially reduced by the end of treatment, and SIB was eliminated at follow-up. / This procedure has several practical advantages over current generalization strategies, namely, ease of application and use of a systematic analysis of the treatment effect through S$\sp{\rm D}$ - S$\sp{\Delta}$ comparisons. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-09, Section: B, page: 2785. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76163 |
| Contributors | MCCAIN, MARIANNE LISA., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 185 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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