Eliminating perserverative speech by positive reinforcement and time-out in a psychotic child

Reinforcement, time-out, and combined reinforcement-time-out contingencies through in vivo training were applied to a 5-yr-and-9-month-old psychotic male in a short-term residential center in an attempt to extinguish perseverative verbal behavior. Results indicated that perserverative verbal behavior could be extinguished without decreasing total verbal output. Time-out and combined reinforcement-time-out contingencies proved to be more effective treatment techniques than a contingency consisting of reinforcement for behaviors incompatible with verbal perseveration. Environmental generalization from ward to school was demonstrated. In vivo therapy rather than the more traditional in-session training utilized for language problems was effective in treating the perseverative speech. After 6 months the behavior was no longer present in the school.