Reducing hyperactivity in a mentally retarded child by training incompatible responses which decreases the behavioral deficit

An operant program was designed to treat a girl aged 3 years, 7 months, who was retarded and extremely hyperactive. The child's mother and a developmental therapist at the clinic were both trained to apply behavior modification techniques. The program consisted of nine weekly sessions at the developmental clinic, with the mother and therapist working individually with the child for half an hour. By training responses that were incompatible with the child's hyperactivity, and simultaneously reducing her behavioral deficit, the developmental functioning increased strikingly during 3 months.