The Use of an Extinction Procedure in the Control of Self-Destructive Behaviour in a Retarded Adolescent

Abstract

Severe self-destructive behaviour in a 16 year old mongoloid boy was reduced and eventually eliminated during the wearing of a protective helmet. This enabled restraint, which had been used on a 24 hour per day basis, to be removed for up to 6 hours per day. New social behaviours were taught, for their own sake but also to provide acceptable responses that would compete with the inappropriate ones, thereby supporting the extinction process. These new behaviours were accompanied by positive reinforcement from the environment, and their maintenance was ensured by attention and response in the ward milieu. The subject became a functional individual in the institutional setting, whereas he had formerly been totally dependent.