Controlling pica by components of an overcorrection procedure

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Psychology
• Developmental Disabilities
• Intervention Strategies

Background:

• Pica, the ingestion of inedible objects, is a common behavior in individuals with intellectual disabilities.
• Previous treatments involved multi-component overcorrection or differential reinforcement of other behavior.
• The efficacy of individual components of these interventions was not well-established.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effectiveness of individual intervention components for pica in intellectually disabled subjects.
• To determine if oral hygiene procedures alone could eliminate pica.
• To assess the ease of implementation of the oral hygiene procedure by different therapists.

Main Methods:

• The study evaluated components of overcorrection procedures, including oral hygiene, tidying, and personal hygiene.
• Two subjects with intellectual disabilities exhibiting pica participated in the study.
• The oral hygiene procedure was later implemented by multiple therapists to assess generalizability.

Main Results:

• The oral hygiene component alone successfully eliminated pica in both subjects.
• Tidying and personal hygiene components also reduced pica, but less effectively than oral hygiene.
• Multiple therapists demonstrated ease and effectiveness in implementing the oral hygiene procedure.

Conclusions:

• Oral hygiene is a highly effective, standalone intervention for managing pica in individuals with intellectual disabilities.
• Simpler, single-component interventions can be as effective as complex, multi-component approaches.
• The oral hygiene procedure is practical and can be readily adopted by caregivers and therapists.