DESCRIPTIVE AND EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSES OF VARIABLES MAINTAINING SELF-INJURIOUS-BEHAVIOR

Independent descriptive (correlational) and functional (experimental) analyses were conducted to determine the extent to which the two metho ds would yield data supporting similar conclusions about variables mai ntaining the self-injurious behavior (SIB) of 6 subjects. For the desc riptive analyses, subjects were observed in their residences and at tr aining sites at various times each day while observers recorded natura lly occurring sequences of specified subject and staff behaviors. The subjects also participated in a day program for the assessment and tre atment of SIB, in which they were exposed to functional analyses that manipulated potential maintaining variables in multielement designs. B oth sets of data were analyzed via conditional probabilities to identi fy relevant antecedent and consequent events for subjects' SIB. Using outcomes of the experimental analysis as the standard for comparison, results indicated that the descriptive analysis was useful in identify ing the extent to which SIB was related to social versus nonsocial con tingencies, but was limited in its ability to distinguish between posi tive and negative reinforcement (i.e., attention versus escape).