Advisor(s)

Gary Pace

Contributor(s)

Jennifer Silber, Serra Langone

Date of Award

2010

Date Accepted

5-2010

Degree Grantor

Northeastern University

Degree Level

M.S.

Degree Name

Master of Applied Behavior Analysis

Department or Academic Unit

Bouvé College of Health Sciences. Department of Counseling and Applied Educational Psychology.

Keywords

counseling, pre session, response blocking, skill acquisition, stereotypy

Subject Categories

People with disabilities - Care - Case studies, Stereotyped behavior (Psychiatry) - Case studies, Developmentally disabled children - Behavior modification - Case studies

Disciplines

Counseling Psychology

Abstract

Stereotypy is a learned behavior found in many individuals with developmental disabilities. The behavioral literature has repeatedly demonstrated that stereotypy can interfere with performance on academic tasks and the acquisition of adaptive behaviors. This study attempted to explore an effective treatment for the reduction of one participant's stereotypic behavior through pre session stimulation and response blocking. The purpose of the current study was to identify a successful treatment for stereotypy resulting in an increase in skill acquisition. An 8 year-old girl diagnosed with Duplicate Chromosome and Seizure Disorder engaged in finger play stereotypy at a high rate throughout the school day. A functional analysis, preference assessment, and a function based treatment were implemented to attempt to decrease the stereotypy. The results of a reversal design, demonstrated that pre session matched stimulation was ineffective in reducing stereotypy for this participant. However, a subsequent treatment, response blocking resulted in a significant reduction in the occurrence of the target behavior, and an improvement in learning.

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Rights Holder

Nicole Dion


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