NAIL BITING BEHAVIOUR AND ITS TREATMENT THROUGH APPLIED BEHAVIOUR ANALYSIS: A CASE STUDY

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of conducting this study was to establish whether nail biting behaviour could be reduced by applying various methods of Applied Behavioural Analysis. It was hypothesized that there would be a significant decrease in the number of nail biting responses after the application of Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behaviour in conjunction with Reinforcement and Punishment.

Place of Study:  Karachi, Pakistan 

Research design: Case Study

Sample and Method: This study was conducted on a 14 year old girl in a home environment who had started nail biting at the age of 8 years. The entire study was divided into three main phases; pre-intervention, intervention and post-intervention. These were pursued by follow-ups. Each session was observed for two hours, six days a week for 39 days. Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behaviour with reinforcement and punishment was used to modify the target behaviour.

Results: Results indicated a remarkable difference with nail biting frequency decreasing 50% in the intervention phase compared to the pre-intervention period. During the post-intervention phase, the average was higher than that of the intervention period, but it must also be noticed that the number of observed days was half the amount of that in the intervention phase. However, the post-intervention showed a positive change when compared with the baseline results. During the three follow-ups, the average nail biting occurrence decreased from 4.75 in the post-intervention, to 4.3 in the follow-ups.

Conclusion: The results revealed that the techniques used were successful in decreasing the target behaviour of the subject. The undesirable behaviour was modified in a home environment where the outcome supports the underlying construct of Applied Behaviour Analysis.