The social interactions of 13 severely retarded persons were observed with each other and with staff, in a small hospital. There were marked individual differences in susceptibility to social interaction. The frequency of peer interaction was very low. In terms of interaction with the staff, the subjects could be grouped as high, moderate and low scorers. Aversive behavior, such as hitting and scratching, was emitted spontaneously by some high scorers thereby achieving interaction from staff, and by the low scorers, in response to approaches from the staff, thereby decreasing the likelihood of such attempts at interaction.
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