EFFECTS OF THIORIDAZINE AND VISUAL SCREENING ON STEREOTYPY AND SOCIAL-BEHAVIOR IN INDIVIDUALS WITH MENTAL-RETARDATION

Thioridazine and visual screening procedures are effective in reducing the stereotypic behaviors of individuals with mental retardation. A d ouble-blind, placebo-controlled study, using alternating treatments wi thin a multiple-baseline across subjects design, was conducted to asse ss the effects of two doses of thioridazine (1.25 and 2.5 mg/kg/day) a nd visual screening, alone and combined, on stereotypy and social beha vior of three individuals with profound mental retardation. Functional analyses did not show demand, alone, social attention, or differentia l reinforcement conditions to maintain the subjects' stereotypy. Thior idazine was effective in producing modest reductions in stereotypy and minor increases in social behavior across subjects. The higher dose o f thioridazine (2.5 mg/kg/day) was slightly more effective than the lo wer dose (1.25 mg/kg/day), and thioridazine plus visual screening was more effective than thioridazine alone. The most effective treatment w as visual screening when used in the absence of thioridazine. This stu dy demonstrates a method for assessing the impact of psychopharmacolog ical and behavioral interventions in individuals for whom a behavioral treatment cannot be easily derived from a functional analysis of the maintaining conditions of the target behavior