Parametric analysis of overcorrection duration effects - Is longer really better than shorter?

Positive practice overcorrection (PPOC) has long played a significant role in the behavioral treatment of serious self-stimulatory behavior. Three exp eriments comparing the effectiveness of 30-second, 2-minute, and 8-minute P POC on reduction of stereotypic hand behavior of adults with severe to prof ound developmental disabilities were conducted to resolve inconsistencies i n previously reported findings concerning the role of PPOC duration in resp onse suppression. Experiment 1, which used an alternating treatments-multip le baseline design, suggested that the different durations were equally eff ective in reducing the stereotypic behaviors to near-zero levels. Experimen t 2, which used a reversal design, supported the findings of Experiment 1. Experiment 3, which used a reversal design to test the shortest and longest durations, generally confirmed the results of the first two experiments. T his study therefore failed to support the oft-claimed superiority of long-d uration PPOC. The possible factors underlying these findings and their impl ications for future research and practice are discussed.