Behavior state is potentially a major variable that affects the level of alertness and responsiveness of persons with profoundly handicapping conditions. Two studies were conducted involving 50 students with severe, profound, and multiply handicapping conditions who ranged in age from 1 year and 8 months up to 21 years. In Study 1, behavior slate conditions for each student were observed across 20 sessions in classroom settings. Data were analyzed according to profile groups that reflected similarities and differences in behavior state conditions. The analyses also included short and long term measures of state stability. Results indicated that these stability measures further differentiated the profile groups. The data also showed that the students were observed to spend an average of 42% of their classroom time in slate conditions that were not judged optimal for learning. In Study 2, developmental, medical, environmental, and student characteristic data were compared statistically for the profile groups identified in Study 1. These results showed some different characteristics and conditions associated with each of the behavior state profiles. Overall results suggested that behavior state conditions have significant implications for the education and treatment of students with the most profound handicaps.
AlsH.TronickE.LesterB. M.BrazeltonT. B. (1977). The Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 5, 215–231.
2.
BaumeisterA. A. (1978). Origins and control of stereotyped movements. In MeyersC. E. (Ed.), Quality of life in severely and profoundly mentally retarded people: Research foundations for improvement (pp. 353–384). Washington, DC: American Association on Mental Deficiency.
3.
BrazeltonT. B. (1973). Neonatal behavioral assessment scale.Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott.
4.
BrazeltonT. B. (1984). Neonatal behavioral assessment scale (2nd ed.). Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott.
5.
BrownF.HelmstetterE.GuessD. (1986). Current best practices with students with profound disabilities: Are there any? Unpublished manuscript, University of New York at Binghamton.
6.
CampbellP. H. (1989). Dysfunction in posture and movement in individuals with profound disabilities: Issues and practices. In BrownF.LehrD. H. (Eds.), Persons with profound disabilities: Issues and practices (pp. 163–189). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.
7.
ColomboJ.HorowitzF. D. (1987). Behavioral state as a lead variable in neonatal research. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 33, 423–437.
8.
EamesP.WoodR. (1984). Consciousness in the braindamaged adult. In StevensR. (Ed.), Aspects of consciousness: Vol. 4 Clinical issues (pp. 1–39). London: Academic Press.
9.
FergusonD. (1985). The ideal and the real: The working out of public policy in curricula for severely handicapped students. Remedial and Special Education, 6, 52–60.
10.
GuessD.CarrE. (in press) Conceptual model for the emergence and maintenance of stereotyped and self-injurious behavior among persons with disabilities. American Journal on Mental Retardation.
11.
GuessD.Mulligan AultM.RobertsS.StruthJ.Siegel-CauseyE.ThompsonB.BronickiG. J.GuyB. (1988). Implications of biobehavioral states for the education and treatment of students with the most profoundly handicapping conditions. Journal of The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 13, 163–174.
12.
HelmJ. M.SimeonssonR. J. (1989). Assessment of behavioral state organization. In BaileyD. B.WoleryM. (Eds.), Assessing infants and preschoolers with handicaps (pp. 202–224). Columbus, OH: Merrill Publishing.
13.
HopkinsB. L.HermannJ. A. (1977). Evaluating inter-observer reliability of interval data. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 10(1), 121–126.
14.
HorowitzF. D. (1980). Intervention and its effects on early development: What model is appropriate? In TurnerR.ReeseW. H. (Eds.), Life span developmental psychology: Intervention (pp. 235–248). New York: Academic Press.
15.
KoppC. B.SigmanM.ParmaleeA. H.JeffreyW. E. (1975). Neurological organization and visual fixation in infants at 40 weeks conceptual age. Developmental Psycho-biology, 8, 165–170.
16.
Landesman-DwyerS.SackettG. P. (1978). Behavioral changes in nonambulatory, mentally retarded individuals. In MeyersC. E. (Ed.), Quality of life in severely and profoundly mentally retarded people: Research foundations for improvement (Monograph No. 3) (pp. 55–144). Washington, DC: American Association for Mental Deficiency.
17.
LeubaC. (1955). Toward some integration of learning theories: The concept of optimal stimulation. Psychological Reports, 1, 27–32.
18.
PrechtlH. F. R. (1974). The behavioral states of the newborn infant: A review. Brain Research, 76, 185–212.
19.
RainforthB. (1982). Biobehavioral state and orienting: Implications for educating profoundly retarded students. Journal of The Association for the Severely Handicapped, 6(4), 33–37.
20.
RosettH. L.SnyderP.SanderL. W.LeeA.CookP.WeinerL.GouldJ. (1979). Effects of maternal drinking on neonate state regulation. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 21, 464–473.
21.
SailorW.GeeK.GoetzL.GrahamN. (1988). Progress in educating students with the most severe disabilities: Is there any?Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 13, 87–99.
22.
SiegelL. (1956). Nonparametric statistics for the behavioral sciences.New York: McGraw-Hill.
23.
SimeonssonR. J.HuntingtonG. S.ParseS. A. (1980). Expanding the developmental assessment of young handicapped children. New Directions for Exceptional Children, 3, 51–74.
24.
ThomanE. B. (1985). States of sleep and wakefulness in infants. Ecological observations. Unpublished manuscript, University of Connecticut, Department of Biobehavioral Sciences, Storrs.
25.
ThomanE. B.DenenbergV. H.SievelJ.ZeidnerL. P.BeckerP. (1981). State organization in neonates: Developmental inconsistency indicates risk for developmental dysfunction. Neuropediatrics, 12(1), 45–54.
26.
ThomanE. B.WhitneyM. P. (1990). Behavioral states in infants: Individual differences and individual analyses. In ColomboJ.FagenJ. W. (Eds.), Individual differences in infancy (pp. 113–135). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
27.
ThompsonB.GuessD. (1989). Students who experience the most profound disabilities. In BrownF.LehrD. (Eds.), Persons with profound disabilities: Issues and practices (pp. 3–41). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.
28.
TynanW. D. (1986). Behavioral stability predicts morbidity and mortality in infants from a neonatal intensive care unit. Infant Behavior and Development, 9, 71–79.
29.
WolffP. H. (1959). Observations on newborn infants. In StoneL. J.SmithH. T.MurphyL. B. (Eds.), The competent infant (pp. 257–272). New York: Basic Books.
