Previous work has demonstrated the efficacy of differentially reinforcing other behaviors (DRO) as a procedure for the reduction of self-injurious behavior, especially when combined with other procedures. The present study employed an ABAB design to investigate the efficacy of DRO alone as a procedure for decreasing the self-injurious behavior of an institutionalized 9-year-old female.
The data indicated a functional relationship between the DRO procedure and a decrease in the rate of self-injurious behavior, as evidenced by the consistent decrease in self-injurious behavior In the presence of the DRO procedure. The self-injurious behavior was not eliminated, but a discussion of the possible reasons indicates that variables other than the DRO procedure may have been responsible for the continued low-rate occurrence of this behavior. A discussion of future DRO research concerns is included.
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