THE EFFECTS OF MEAL SCHEDULE AND QUANTITY ON PROBLEMATIC BEHAVIOR

We present 2 case examples that illustrate the effects of meal schedul e and quantity on displays of problematic behavior. In the first examp le, self-injury displayed by a toddler with severe developmental delay s was maintained by parent attention, but only when he was satiated fo r food. When he was food deprived, self-injury decreased but did not a ppear to be differentiated across low or high social conditions. In th e second example, crying and self-injury displayed by an elementary-ag ed girl with severe disabilities were correlated: Both behaviors were associated with food quantity, and neither behavior was responsive to social stimuli. These results replicate and extend previous findings d emonstrating that meal schedule or food quantity can affect problemati c behavior. In the present studies, brief functional analyses of aberr ant behavior provided useful information for interpreting distinct pat terns of behavior displayed by each child. We discuss these results in terms of the concept of establishing operations.