A behavioral approach to the control of thumbsucking in the classroom

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether classroom thumbsucking could be controlled by making social reinforcement contingent upon appropriate behaviors incompatible with thumbsucking. The classroom thumbsucking behavior of three 8-yr-old elementary school children was observed and recorded by two observers. Sixteen experimental lessons were divided into sets of baseline, reinforcement, reversal, and representation of reinforcement. The effect of the experimental treatment was determined by the changes in the total thumbsucking level for each subject during each lesson. Results indicated noticeable decreases in thumbsucking rate for all three subjects during lessons in which social reinforcement was made contingent upon appropriate behavior. Two of the three subjects showed sudden increases in thumbsucking time during lessons when social reinforcement for appropriate responses was withheld; the third subject showed continued low thumbsucking time during these lessons.