Behavioral Treatment of Attention Deficits in Mentally Impaired Subjects

This paper describes an operant approach to the remediation of the behavioral aspects of attention deficits in three mentally impaired subjects. Two of the subjects also displayed severe atypical psychiatric disorders. Contingent reinforcement within an ABAC experimental design was used to increase levels of attending behavior. The efficacy of this approach within a group setting was demonstrated. Results suggest that some forms of additional deficit may be treated behaviorally despite differing etiologies of the cognitive deficit. The implications for occupational therapy are discussed within the context of the design of the ward program.