Behavior modification of the severely retarded through play therapy and positive reinforcement

Abstract

The hyperactivity and antisocial behavior, of ambulatory severely retarded patients of a selected state hospital, precluded formalized rehabilitative therapy for them. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of behavior modification, through play therapy and positive reinforcement in increasing positive social interactions of the selected patients.The population for this study consisted of thirty-six patients selected from two wards of institutionalized retardates, with thirty observations made for all subjects. For the experimental subjects, the observation session procedures for sessions one through ten, and twenty-one through thirty were identical with the control group. In sessions eleven through twenty, the therapist interacted with the experimental subjects with the toys and gave verbal praise reinforcement for subjects' positive social behavior.It was concluded from this study that the toys alone produced a degree of increased positive social responses, but the greatest change of all the subjects was found for the experimental subjects, during the period of play therapy and reinforcement. This indicated that there was a degree of behavior modification from play therapy and positive reinforcement.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306