Review article Aggression as positive reinforcement in people with intellectual disabilities Michael E. May * Educational Psychology and Special Education, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Mailcode: 4618, Carbondale, IL 62901, United States Contents 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2215 2 Aggression as nonsocial reinforcement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2215 2.1 Experimental analysis of aggression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2216 3 Biology of aggression as positive reinforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2217 3.1 Aggression as positive reinforcement in humans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2217 3.2 Aggression as positive reinforcement in people with ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2218 4 Assessment and treatment of aggression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2218 4.1 Assessment and treatment of nonsocial behavior. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2219 4.2 Assessment and treatment of nonsocial aggression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2220 5 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2221 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2221 Research in Developmental Disabilities 32 (2011) 2214–2224 A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 28 April 2011 Accepted 15 May 2011 Available online 22 June 2011 Keywords: Intellectual disabilities Nonsocial Reinforcement Aggression Assessment Treatment A B S T R A C T From an applied behavior-analytic perspective, aggression in people with intellectual disabilities is mostly maintained by social reinforcement consequences. However, nonsocial consequences have also been identified in functional assessments on aggression. Behaviors producing their own reinforcement have been labeled ‘‘automatic’’ or ‘‘nonsocial’’ in the behavior-analytic literature, a label that bares a striking resemblance to biobehavioral explanations of reward-seeking behaviors. Biobehavioral studies have revealed that aggression activates the same endogenous brain mechanisms as primary reinforcers like food. Therefore, integrating brain-environment explanations would result in a better understanding of the functional mechanisms associated with nonsocial aggression. The purpose of this paper was to explore aggression as a reinforcing consequence for reinforcement-seeking behaviors in people with intellectual disabilities. First, the literature establishing aggression as reinforcement for arbitrary responding will be reviewed. Next, the reward-related biological process associated with aggression was described. Finally, the paper discusses what might be done to assess and treat aggression maintained by nonsocial reinforcement. ß 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. * Tel.: +1 618 453 6916; fax: +1 618 453 2711. E-mail address: mayme@siu.edu. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Research in Developmental Disabilities 0891-4222/$ – see front matter ß 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2011.05.029