This study examined an operational conditioning paradigm designed to t
rain procedural learning channels in a patient with anoxic encephalopa
thy. Prior to treatment the patient had been incontinent to bowel and
bladder incontinent, minimally participant in daily activities and agg
ressive toward staff and residents for two years. Previous rehabilitat
ion attempts had been unsuccessful in changing these behaviours. Based
on the literature, it was hypothesized that through operant condition
ing the patient could be trained on three behaviours: 1) bowel and bla
dder continence 2) activity level and 3) level of aggression. Results
indicated that at a 4 month interval following the initial training, t
he patient had improved in all areas of functioning.