Operantly based treatment procedure for stair avoidance by a severely mentally retarded adult.

Abstract

The use of contingent social and edible reinforcement and physical guidance-without desensitization-in the treatment of stair avoidance behavior by a severely mentally retarded adult was tested. Results indicate that this operantly based procedure was effective in increasing stair use, both ascent and descent, in staircases containing 5 and 11 stairs.