THE THERAPEUTIC EFFECT OF REACTIVE SELF-MONITORING ON THE REDUCTION OF INAPPROPRIATE SOCIAL AND STEREOTYPIC BEHAVIORS

The effect of self-monitoring on the reduction of inappropriate social and stereotypic behaviour was investigated. Participants were three m en and two women with mild to moderate learning disabilities. A multip le baseline design across participants was used. Participants were tau ght to monitor and record the frequency of their inappropriate behavio urs. No extrinsic reinforcement was used throughout the study. Assessm ents of language ability and functional significance of behaviours wer e made. Significant reductions in target behaviours for all participan ts were observed. The findings suggest that individuals with learning disabilities have the potential to use self-regulatory procedures to c ontrol their behaviour with a minimum of external intervention. The im plications of language development and functional covariation of behav iours are discussed.