Sensory reinforcement of self-injurious behaviour Box
- Sensory reinforcement of self-injurious behaviour
- Some self-injurious behaviour may be reinforced by sensory reinforcement in which the behaviour itself provides the individual with reinforcement rather than another person in their environment. Take the example of a child with ear ache. The child has a pain and they therefore have a need for stimulation (i.e. the pain) to stop. In this example the self-injurious behaviour may be head banging. The head banging provides stimulation but also, more importantly, removes the pain (albeit temporarily). This is an example of negative reinforcement as the child is rewarded by the pain stopping and there is now an increased chance that, given an ear ache in future, the child will follow this same process again.
Source:
on behalf of the Cornelia de Lange Syndrome Foundation, published on 20 Jun 2003
Last modified by Gerritjan Koekkoek on 2021/05/23 21:24
Created by Gerritjan Koekkoek on 2021/05/23 21:24
Translated into en by Gerritjan Koekkoek on 2021/05/23 21:24
