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Treatment of a retarded child's faeces smearing and coprophagic behaviour
Insights
A daily shower routine change effectively reduced fecal smearing and coprophagia in a profoundly intellectually disabled child. These behavioral improvements generalized to other times, suggesting a social learning framework is applicable.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral science
- Developmental psychology
- Intellectual disability research
Background:
- Intellectual disability is often associated with challenging behaviors.
- Fecal smearing and coprophagia are complex behaviors requiring effective interventions.
- Understanding the motivations behind these behaviors is crucial for treatment.
Observation:
- A profoundly intellectually disabled child exhibited low-frequency fecal smearing and coprophagia.
- These behaviors were primarily observed during the late afternoon/early evening.
- The child's daily routine, specifically shower time, was rearranged.
Findings:
- The rearranged shower routine was effective in eliminating target behaviors during the late afternoon/early evening.
- Behavioral improvements generalized to other times of the day and night.
- The study suggests a social learning framework can explain these behavioral changes.
Implications:
- Routine modifications can be a viable intervention for challenging behaviors in individuals with intellectual disabilities.
- Social learning principles offer a framework for analyzing and addressing behaviors like fecal smearing and coprophagia.
- Further research can develop models to analyze motivations and reinforcement for these behaviors.
Abstract:
The daily rearrangement of a profoundly retarded child's routine shower was effective in eliminating his low-frequency faeces smearing and coprophagic behaviour during the late afternoon/early evening part of the day. The effects appeared to generalise such that both types of behaviour were reduced at other times of the day and night. These results are discussed in terms of a social learning framework. A model for analysing the motivations and reinforcing conditions for rectal digging, coprophagy, and smearing faeces is also presented.