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Biomedical subjects

A C Repp

Publications and source records attributed to A C Repp.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

An eco-behavioral analysis of small community-based houses and traditional large hospitals for severely and profoundly mentally handicapped adults.

Recently, much interest has centered on the transfer of mentally handicapped people from institutions to other settings. Most studies in this area have focused indirectly on the behavior of the mentally retarded client, usually measured intermittently by global assessments such as the American Association On Mental Deficiency's Adaptive Behavior Scale. In contrast, the present study combined these indirect measures with direct continuous observation of each subject. In doing so, it examined the effects of such a transfer to small community-based homes on the behavioral functioning of severely and profoundly mentally handicapped adults. In addition, staff activity, in terms both of providing opportunities for engagement in activity and of consequating client behavior, was also measured. Two comparisons were made, those being between a group of clients in a small home and a comparable group in institutions and between the latter group when in the institutions and after having moved to a small home. Results show increased client functioning in the small homes, particularly in domestic activity and interaction with staff, and a markedly higher level of staff provision of opportunity to engage in activities. The results are discussed in terms of size, design, staff-client ratio, and staff training in small community-based residential services. The need for more research on the determination of staff performances is highlighted.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1986

Maintenance of therapeutic change by momentary DRO.

Differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) involves delivery of reinforcement at the end of an interval during which the target behavior has not occurred. Momentary DRO, however, is a procedure in which reinforcement is delivered if a response did not occur at the end of an interval. We examined the extent to which momentary DRO maintained suppression, following initial treatment with whole-interval DRO, of nine retarded students' maladaptive behavior. Results indicate that momentary DRO maintained response suppression comparable to that obtained by whole-interval DRO.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed1985

Reduction of stereotypic behaviours using differential reinforcement procedures and momentary restraint.

This study explored the effectiveness and classroom applicability of a combination of DRO and momentary restraint procedures to reduce the stereotypic responding of four severely or profoundly mentally retarded, multihandicapped students aged 6-16 years. Modifications were made in the application of both of the procedures in order for them to be usable by classroom staff; (a) whole-interval DRO was used with no interval reset contingent upon inappropriate responding; and (b) the momentary restraint procedures were very short in duration (i.e. 3, 5 or 10 s). The results indicate that the combination of these two procedures could be readily implemented by classroom staff without a disruption in educational programming. In addition, in each of the four subjects substantial and relatively rapid results occurred. These results are particularly interesting in that the stereotypic behaviours to which they were applied were topographically very different.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Stereotypic responding: a review of intervention research.

More than 60 studies using behavioral strategies to suppress stereotypic responding in handicapped individuals were reviewed in order to identify the populations studied, the behavior observed, the interventions employed, and the relative effectiveness of these interventions when used alone or in combinations. The target populations were distributed across nine categories, three of which (severely mentally retarded, profoundly mentally retarded, and severely emotionally disturbed) constituted approximately three-quarters of all subjects studied. Fifty types of target behavior were identified; body rocking was the target in approximately two-thirds of all studies, and mouthing and complex finger and hand movements were the targets in at least one-third. Ten interventions (seven aversive, three positive) were identified. The aversive interventions were used in approximately three-quarters of the studies whereas positive procedures were used in approximately one-third. One aversive procedure (overcorrection) was used in more than one-third of the studies, whereas another, shock, was the most effective. The other six aversive procedures, however, and three positive procedures were relatively equal in effectiveness. Discussion centered on the relative effectiveness of the interventions and their relationship to the concept of least restrictive alternatives.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1983

A comparison of two procedures for programming the differential reinforcement of other behaviors.

The relative effectiveness of two methods of programming DRO schedules of reinforcement was examined in two experiments. In these two methods, reinforcement is delivered if inappropriate responding is not occurring (a) at the end of an interval (momentary DRO), or (b) throughout the entire interval (whole-interval DRO). In Experiment 1, the effects of these schedules on disruptive responding of three retarded students were assessed in a multiple-baseline design. For two students, the momentary schedule occurred first and was ineffective, whereas the whole interval that followed was effective; for the third student, the whole-interval schedule occurred first and was effective, and reduced responding was maintained under the momentary schedule. In Experiment 2, baseline and the two DRO schedules were each presented in random order each day to one student in an alternating treatments design. The momentary DRO schedule reduced responding, but the whole-interval schedule was more effective.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed1983

Naturalistic studies of institutionalized profoundly or severely mentally retarded persons: the relationship of density and behavior.

Observational data were collected on institutionalized mentally retarded people to determine the relationship between density and behavior in order to discover (a) in what size groups do such persons typically congregate? and (b) what effect does density have on their behavior within that group? Results showed that (a) this population was alone or only with peers more than with staff by a 3:1 ratio; (b) when they were with staff, they were with two or more peers 75 percent of the time; and (c) when they were not with staff, they were with two or more peers more than they were alone or with only one other peer. Results also showed that certain types of behavior changed in frequency as density changed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Naturalistic studies of mentally retarded persons: V: The effects of staff instructions on student responding.

A naturalistic study, with two purposes, was conducted to evaluate communication between staff and retarded persons in an institutional and in a community setting. The first purpose was to determine the natural rates of attention from staff in the form of instructions. Results showed that verbal instruction was the most prevalent (67%) followed by verbal instruction with physical assistance (12%), nonverbal instruction with physical assistance (10%), nonverbal instruction (6%), and physical assistance (5%). The second purpose was to determine the relative effectiveness of each of these types of instructions. Results showed that although verbal instruction was the most common, it was not the most effective, being surpassed by nonverbal instruction and nonverbal instruction with physical assistance. Results were discussed in terms of (a) their relation to prior research, (b) their use as nomothetic data to provide initial instruction modes, and (c) their use with specific persons on whom individual data have been collected.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Naturalistic observations of institutionalized retarded persons: a comparison of licensure decisions and behavioral observations.

In the last several years, various organizations have produced strikingly similar documents by which institutions for retarded persons are judged for licensure. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether residential units that were licensed differed from residential units that were not licensed in terms of the active programming behaviors of their staff and residents. Data were collected through a time-sampling procedure that yielded about 160,000 observations on eight staff and six resident behaviors. Results showed that the licensed units were just as derelict as unlicensed units in providing habilitative programming for their retarded residents. Maladaptive responding by residents occurred at least as much as task-related residents. Maladaptive responding by residents occurred at least as much as task-related behaviors: residents spent as much time self-stimulating as they did in programming; they also engaged in self-abusive behavior about as much time as they engaged in on-task responding. Results were discussed in terms of the failure of governmental regulations that are not based on observation to adequately assess habilitative programming.

Adolescent↗