Effects of response satiation procedures in the treatment of aerophagia.

A contingent response that previously increased self-injurious air-swallowing (aerophagia) by a profoundly mentally retarded woman (Holburn & Dougher, 1985) was shown to decrease her air-swallowing when the response was presented in accord with the response deprivation/satiation hypothesis, which suggests that any free-operant response can serve as a reinforcer or a punisher depending upon specific contigency arrangements. The results offer an explanation for the earlier increase in air-swallowing.