Rumination is a rare behavior disorder of childhood involving regurgitation of food which is then ejected or reswallowed. The present study investigated the control of rumination through use of a positive reinforcer (a mixture of honey and water) delivered on a differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) schedule. The subject was a 26-month-old girl who had lost 50% of body weight through rumination. DRO was used as part of a multifaceted treatment program which also included, at different phases, punishment and time out from positive reinforcement. Evaluation of treatment components via a single-subject experimental design with withdrawals indicated the DRO procedure exerted powerful controlling effects over rumination. Transfer of control to social consequences was attempted through use of time out with punishment. The subject's weight increased over her 69-day hospitalization from 7.1 kg. to 11 kg. A 10-month followup revealed continued weight gain and suppression of rumination. Possible limitations to generalizability of findings, particularly previous experience with punishment, are discussed as are advantages of DRO in the management of this behavior problem.
The stimuli were slides of 36 green and blue dots, varying from 0 green (36 blue) to 36 green (0 blue) dots. From these 37 slides 7 sets of 11 slides each were drawn and presented for judgment on a scale of 0 to 10. Anchoring occurred where the end slide was salient, e.g., monochromatic, in accordance with the subjective-standard hypothesis. Anchoring of the other slides could be interpreted as due to the effect of the monochromatic slide, even when it was not presented. No anchoring occurred when neither end was salient. Regression toward the mean, i.e., central tendency, occurred at the unanchored end, or ends.
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