Instructional Control of Self-Control in Adults with Co-Morbid Developmental Disabilities and Mental Illness

Abstract

The present study examined the use of a progressive delayed concurrent schedule to teach tolerance to reinforcer delays with three adults with a dual-diagnosis of mental illness and mental retardation. Participants were initially given a series of choices between a sooner smaller reinforcer available immediately or a larger delayed reinforcer available after various delays ranging up to 5 min. During one of two alternating training conditions, participants were asked to choose between a sooner smaller reinforcer and a larger reinforcer at progressively increasing delays. During the other training condition, identical choices were available but participants were also provided a rule by the experimenter informing them that it was better to select one of the options over the other. Results showed that during baseline all three participants made frequent impulsive choices and selected the sooner smaller reinforcer most often, even at short delay values. However, following training, all participants’ preferences reversed. Furthermore, the effects were enhanced via the delivery of the rule by the experimenter. A 6 month follow-up consisting of rule removal and rule reversal demonstrated the durability of the training procedures over time. Implications for the enhancement of self-control via rule governed behavior is discussed.