Acceptability of alternative treatments for deviant child behavior.
Reinforcement wins the popularity contest; punishment and drugs trail far behind.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The researchers asked adults to rate how acceptable different treatments are for child problem behavior. They used short stories that described a child who hit others. Each story ended with a different treatment.
People marked how acceptable each option felt on a 9-point scale. The choices were reinforcement of good behavior, time-out, drug therapy, or electric shock.
What they found
Reinforcement of incompatible behavior scored highest. Electric shock scored lowest. Time-out and drug therapy landed in the middle.
How severe the child’s problem seemed had only a small effect on the ratings.
How this fits with other research
Roberts et al. (1987) asked parents of children with intellectual disability the same questions. They got the same rank order: reinforcement first, then overcorrection, with time-out and drugs last.
Tallant et al. (1989) flipped the question. They asked professionals when electric shock might ever be okay. Shock became more acceptable only when the behavior was severe, frequent, and had already failed gentler options.
Banks et al. (2018) later showed that plain wording does not make time-out more likable, but it does help parents understand what they are being asked to approve.
Why it matters
When you meet with families, start by offering reinforcement-based plans. Expect quick agreement. If you ever need to discuss time-out, medication, or more intrusive options, show data from less restrictive steps first. Use clear, simple language so parents grasp the plan even if they still feel uneasy.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The acceptability of alternative treatments for deviant child behavior was evaluated in two experiments. In each experiment, clinical cases were described to undergraduate students along with four different treatments in a Replicated Latin Square Design. The treatments included reinforcement of incomparible behavior, time out from reinforcement, drug therapy, and electric shock and the treatments were described as they were appliedto children with problem behaviors. Experiment 1 developed an assessment device to evaluate treatment acceptability and examined whether treatments were rated as differentially acceptable. Experiment 2 replicated the first experiment and examined whether the severity of the presenting clinical problem influenced ratings of acceptability. The results indicated that treatments were sharply distinguished in overall acceptability. Reinforcement of incompatible behavior was more acceptable than other treatments which followed, in order, time out from reinforcement, drug therapy, and electric shock. Case severity influenced acceptability of alternative treatments with all treatments being rated as more acceptable with more severe cases. However, the strength of case severity was relatively small in relation to the different treatment conditions themselves which accounted for large portions of variance.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1980 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1980.13-259