Success with electroshock in habitual vomiting. Report of two cases in young children

An Effective and Benign Treatment of Rumination

This study reports a simple and effective program for the reduction or elimination of ruminative behavior in school-aged students with multiple handicaps. Four students were treated using a combination of peanut butter, reduced fluid consumption at meals, and fading. In each of the cases, the ruminative behavior was significantly reduced or eliminated. The program is discussed in light of its effects on the student, the staff, and its relation to other treatments for rumination.

Evaluation of electrical aversion therapy for inappropriate sexual behaviour after traumatic brain injury: a single case experimental design study

Inappropriate sexual behaviour after acquired brain injury is a severe complication. Evidence for effective treatment is not available. Electrical aversion therapy (EAT) is a behavioural therapeutic option used in persons with intellectual disabilities, which might be suitable for brain-injured individuals for whom other therapies are not effective. The effect of EAT in brain injury has not been investigated previously. A single case experimental design was used. In an ABBA (baseline-treatment-treatment-withdrawal) design the frequency of the target behaviour (ie, inappropriate sexual behaviour) in a 40-year-old man was measured daily. A total of 551 measurements were recorded. A significant reduction of the target behaviour was seen after the first treatment phase (baseline 12.18 (2.59) vs 3.15 (3.19) mean target behaviours daily); this reduction remained stable over time. We conclude that EAT was effective in this patient with inappropriate sexual behaviour due to severe brain injury. EAT can therefore be considered in therapy resistant inappropriate sexual behaviour in brain-injured patients.

The use of conditioned cues associated with air hunger as reinforcers: a case report

During the operant conditioning of eating behavior with a 3-year-old boy who breathed with the aid of a respirator, it was discovered serendipitiously that the patient had apparently associated certain secondary cues with the experience of air hunger. An attempt was made to use these cues as secondary reinforcers to condition eating behavior. The results were dramatic. Implications for the use of conditioned cues associated with air hunger as secondary reinforcers in the conditioning of respiratory, and possibly other, patients are discussed.

Variables associated with frequency of rumination in a boy with profound mental retardation

The relationships between frequency of rumination in a boy with profound mental retardation and a variety of environmental, interpersonal, and temporal variables were investigated by collecting and analyzing data during all waking hours over a 4-week period. Low levels of rumination were associated with periods of special education programming (versus nonschool hours), individual attention (versus group activities and independent play), and time spent with caretakers who like the child (versus those who like him less). The findings also revealed a mealtime effect (decreasing rumination as time elapsed following meals) and a time of day effect (increasing rumination as the day progressed). Directions for future research and possible implications for the environmental management of rumination are discussed.