Overcorrection of Aggressive Behavior in a Chronic Psychiatric Patient

A psychiatric patient who had been institutionalized for 43 years was treated for throwing small objects in the face of other patients and ward staff. Over-correction consisted of requiring her to perform the following behaviors contingent on each occurrence of object-throwing: (1) apologize to the offended person for her behavior, and (2) pick up objects from the floor and put them in the trash can for five minutes. This contingency reduced the frequency of the target behavior, whereas differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior had no effect. Elimination of object-throwing maintained over an 11-week posttreatment phase.