Reduction of aggression evoked by sounds using noncontingent reinforcement and time-out.

Ohan et al. (2015) worked with a six-year-old boy with autism. Loud sounds made him hit and kick.

The team gave him a favorite snack and toy every few minutes, no matter what. If he still hit, they moved him to a chair for a short time-out. They never held back the snack to punish him.

The combo cut his sound-triggered aggression in every session. The gains held even though they never removed the snack when he hit.

Konstantareas et al. (1999) got the same drop in aggression using only noncontingent attention. They did not add time-out. The two studies line up: free reinforcers alone can work, and adding a brief time-out can also work.

Migan-Gandonou Horr et al. (2021) pushed further. They paired noncontingent attention with extinction and saw a 98% drop in repetitive speech that lasted years. Their result shows that when you can safely withhold reinforcement, extinction plus NCR gives even longer-lasting change.

Vukelich et al. (1971) first mixed free attention with time-out for life-threatening aggression in a teen with severe ID. Ohan et al. (2015) repeat that recipe in autism, showing the package still works four decades later.

You can run this package in any classroom or clinic. Pick a reinforcer the child already loves. Deliver it on a fixed clock, not for good behavior. Add a brief, boring time-out if aggression happens. You skip extinction, so you avoid escalation when safety is a concern. Try it next time noise triggers hitting.