Citation

Shirley MJ, Iwata BA, Kahng S. J. Appl. Behav. Anal. 1999; 32(2): 201-204.

Affiliation

University of Florida, Gainesville 32611, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, Wiley-Blackwell)

DOI

10.1901/jaba.1999.32-201

PMID

10396773

PMCID

PMC1284179

Abstract

Results of a functional analysis indicated that the hand mouthing of a woman with developmental disabilities was maintained by multiple sources of control (sensory stimulation and access to a leisure item). Further assessment revealed that access to several other items also produced high rates of hand mouthing. However, direct observation conducted in the woman's home indicated that none of these items was delivered contingent upon hand mouthing. When the consequence observed most frequently in the home was incorporated into the functional analysis, rates of hand mouthing were no higher than they were during an alone condition. We concluded that hand mouthing, although maintained by automatic reinforcement, was also susceptible to social contingencies when exposed to them during assessment, thereby producing a partially false-positive outcome.

Language: en