The effects of varying schedules of time-out on aggressive behavior of a retarded girl

Three schedules of time-out were compared for suppressing aggressive behavior in a 7-yr-old retarded girl. The schedules (FR5, FR2, CRF) were time-out after every 5th, 2nd or every aggressive act. The FR5 schedule had no effect on rate of aggressive behavior while the FR2 and CRF schedules both produced significant reductions, the CRF being more effective. This reduction was maintained at follow-up after 5 weeks. It appears that time-out may be effective proportionate to the percentage of target behaviors it follows, and that some success can be achieved with less than continuous application.