Reinforcement-Based Reductive Procedures: A Review of 20 Years of their Use with Persons with Severe or Profound Retardation

Although differential reinforcement is a procedure generally used to increase responding, it can also be used to decrease responding that is inappropriate. This article contains a review of 49 articles on studies describing reduced maladaptive responding of persons with severe or profound mental retardation. Four differential reinforcement procedures were reviewed, including the differential reinforcement of (a) alternative behavior (DRA), (b) low rates of responding (DRL), (c) other behavior (DRO), and (d) incompatible behavior (DRI). However, because there were only three articles concerning the first two categories, data were presented only for DRO and DRI. The review categorized the findings in three areas: (a) demographics, (b) methodology, and (c) results. Demographic data showed that the procedures were implemented most often by teachers, in schools or institutions, to treat stereotypy or self-injury. Procedural data showed that (a) information on reinforcer selection was seldom indicated, (b) although social reinforcement was quite common, it appeared to be the least effective consequence, (c) AB or reversal designs were the most common, and (d) only a quarter of the studies provided maintenance data. The results on the individual procedures showed that (a) DRI studies seldom measured the incompatible behavior being increased, (b) DRO studies seldom indicated the basis on which the interval was chosen, and (c) neither group tended to provide information on reinforcement schedules. Results were discussed in terms of areas for further study and proposed methodological changes.