Analysis of self-recording in self-management interventions for stereotypy.
Self-recording only works when you bolt on clear instructions or differential reinforcement.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Bowen et al. (2012) took apart a self-management package for stereotypy. They wanted to see if simply having a person count their own stereotypy would cut the behavior. The team tested self-recording alone, then added clear instructions, then added differential reinforcement. They watched what happened to stereotypy at each step.
What they found
Self-recording by itself did nothing to stereotypy. Only when clear instructions or differential reinforcement entered the mix did the behavior drop. The data say the package works, but the counter alone is not the active piece.
How this fits with other research
Dyer (1987) already showed that differential reinforcement alone can beat stereotypy in autistic students. Bowen et al. (2012) now tell us the same ingredient still does the heavy lifting even inside a self-management frame.
Ding et al. (2017) mixed noncontingent reinforcement with matched toys and also cut stereotypy. Their result lines up with N’s finding that you need a real reinforcer, not just a tally mark.
Matson et al. (2013) tried giving extra social praise for stereotypy and saw no change. That null result fits N’s story: without instructional control or real reinforcement, stereotypy stays put.
Why it matters
If you hand a client a clicker and hope for magic, you will wait a long time. Pair the clicker with crystal-clear rules and a reinforcer for accurate counts, or skip the clicker and run straight differential reinforcement. Either way, make sure the consequence, not the counter, drives the change.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Most treatments for stereotypy involve arrangements of antecedent or consequent events that are imposed entirely by a therapist. By contrast, results of some studies suggest that self-recording, a common component of self-management interventions, might be an effective and efficient way to reduce stereotypy. Because the procedure typically has included instructions to refrain from stereotypy, self-recording of the absence of stereotypy, and differential reinforcement of accurate recording, it is unclear which element or combination of elements produces reductions in stereotypy. We conducted a component analysis of a self-management intervention and observed that decreases in stereotypy might be attributable to instructional control or to differential reinforcement, but that self-recording per se had little effect on stereotypy.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 2012 · doi:10.1901/jaba.2012.45-55