Question

Ted is a young man with a severe intellectual disability and autism who engages in stereotypic behavior involving paper shredding. Ted picks up a piece of paper (newspaper, note paper, a page from a report or program) and tears thin strips until the piece is shredded. He gazes at the paper as he rips it and does not pay attention to other people or events in the environment. This behavior has been a concern for years because he sometimes shreds important papers. Ted is not aggressive in obtaining paper to shred, but he becomes mildly aggressive if you try to take a piece of paper away from him once he has it in his hand.

The staff has implemented a number of reinforcement procedures and antecedent manipulations, but they have not decreased the behavior. The staff is now planning a punishment procedure involving contingent electric stimulation. Ted will wear a stimulation device on his upper arm that can be activated by remote control. A staff person will have the control box, and anytime Ted starts to rip a piece of paper, the staff member will activate a brief shock. The shock will be mildly painful but will cause no harm. The staff members delivering the electric stimulation will be trained and supervised, and data will be collected to document the effects of the procedure. What is wrong with this punishment procedure?

Answer 1

What is wrong with this punishment procedure?

Punishment techniques should only be used after the non aversive techniques have failed. In normal cases, punishment procedures are only employed if the problem is severe. This stimulus is unpleasant, painful as well as annoying. The behavior presented by Ted is mildly aggressive, only when the someone would try to take the paper that he has obtained. In such situations, it should be taken care that he should not be obtaining any of the paper.

The behavior posited by ted is not harmful to himself or any other person. Here, in the punishment procedure, there is no conjunction with reinforcement procedures. Hence, this procedure is not completely correct.