The role of attention in the elimination of chronic, life-threatening vomiting.

A 24-year-old retarded client, whose weight over 7 years had fallen from 130 pounds to 72 pounds due to vomiting, was being kept alive for 2 weeks by tube feeding. Behavioural treatment consisted of (a) 30 minutes of non-contingent staff attention, (b) 2 minutes of no attention contingent on vomiting, and (c) a resulting 2-minute delay in cleaning expelled vomitus. In 2 weeks, vomiting of 7 years history was reduced to zero. Through 2 months of follow-up, vomiting remained at zero and weight increased to 97 pounds. The results support previous studies which suggested that vomiting may be reduced and eliminated by manipulating attention.