Comparison of DRO and DRI on rate of suppression of self-injurious behavior.

Two procedures were used to compare the effects of differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) and differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior (DRI) on self-injurious behavior (SIB) of three profoundly retarded head-bangers in a multiple-schedule within-subjects design. We found that rewarding a response specifically incompatible with SIB suppressed it more rapidly than applying DRO without specifying an alternative response. The relationship of collateral behaviors to SIB were dependent upon the repertoires of the individual clients.