Abstract
THE self-injurious behaviours (SIB) of Lesch–Nyhan children were studied during three learning paradigms: punishment, positive reinforcement and time-out from reinforcement following an attempt at self-injury. Punishment of self-injury by contingent electric finger shock failed to suppress these behaviours but positive reinforcement of non-self injury and time-out procedures were effective. The results stress the importance of environmental factors in the development and control of SIB and suggest the presence of an unusual learning defect which may be related to the specific enzyme deficiency in Lesch–Nyhan disease.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Lesch, M. and Nyhan, M., Am. J. Med., 36, 561–570 (1964).
Rosenbloom, F. M. and Kelley, W. N., Science, 155, 1682–1691 (1968).
Rubin, C. S., Dancis, J., Yip, L. C., Nowinski, R. C. and Balis, M. E., Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 68, 1461–1463 (1971).
Schenzer, A. L. and Ilson, J. B., Pediatrica, 44, 116–120 (1969).
Anderson, L., Herrmann, L. and Dancis, J., Neuropäd., (in the press).
Woods, P., Am. Psychol., 29, 584–596 (1974).
Tate, B. G. and Baroff, G. S., Behav. Res. Ther., 4, 281–287 (1966).
Louaas, O. I., and Simmons, J. O., J. appl. behav. Anal., 2, 143–157 (1969).
Louaas, O. I., Schaffer, B., and Simmons, J. Q., J. exp. Res. Person., 1, 99–109 (1969).
Corte, H., Wolf, M. and Locke, I. B., J. appl. behav. Anal., 4, 201–213 (1971).
Risley, T. R., J. appl. behav. Anal., 1, 21–34 (1968).
Tate, B. G., Behav. Ther., 3, 72–83 (1972).
Young, J. A. and Wincze, J. P., Behav. Ther., 5, 614–623 (1974).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The erratum article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1038/266748c0
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
ANDERSON, L., DANCIS, J., ALPERT, M. et al. Punishment learning and self-mutilation in Lesch–Nyhan disease. Nature 265, 461–463 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/265461a0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/265461a0
This article is cited by
-
Self-injury in Lesch-Nyhan disease
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (1994)
-
Two decades of treatment for self-injurious biting in individuals with mental retardation or developmental disabilities: A treatment focused review of the literature
Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities (1991)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
