STIMULUS (INSTRUCTIONAL) FADING DURING EXTINCTION OF SELF-INJURIOUS ESCAPE BEHAVIOR

Three individuals with developmental disabilities were exposed to a se ries of assessment conditions to identify the source of reinforcement for their self-injurious behavior. In each case, self-injury occurred most often in instructional (demand) situations containing a brief tim e-out from the task contingent on self-injury, indicating that the beh avior was an escape response (i.e., maintained by negative reinforceme nt). Treatment was implemented in a multiple baseline across subjects design and consisted of extinction (prevention of escape) plus instruc tional fading (initial elimination of instructions followed by their g radual reintroduction). Results showed that the combined treatment pro duced immediate and large reductions in self-injury that were maintain ed as the frequency of instructions was increased across sessions to m atch the original baseline rate of presentation. Results of a componen t analysis conducted with 1 subject suggested that stimulus fading acc elerated the behavior-reducing effects of extinction.