TOWARD A FUNCTIONAL-ANALYSIS OF SELF-INJURY (REPRINTED FROM ANALYSIS INTERVENTION IN DEVELOPMENTAL-DISABILITIES, VOL 2, PG 3-20, 1982)

This study describes the use of an operant methodology to assess funct ional relationships between self-injury and specific environmental eve nts. The self-injurious behaviors of nine developmentally disabled sub jects were observed during periods of brief, repeated exposure to a se ries of analogue conditions. Each condition differed along one or more of the following dimensions: (1) play materials (present vs absent), (2) experimenter demands (high vs low), and (3) social attention (abse nt vs noncontingent vs contingent). Results showed a great deal of bot h between and within-subject variability. However, in six of the nine subjects, higher levels of self-injury were consistently associated wi th a specific stimulus condition, suggesting that within-subject varia bility was a function of distinct features of the social and/or physic al environment. These data are discussed in light of previously sugges ted hypotheses for the motivation of self-injury, with particular emph asis on their implications for the selection of suitable treatments.