Manual guidance used in a punishment procedure: the active ingredient in overcorrection.

Simple manual hand and arm guidance used in the context of a punishment paradigm can be effective in suppressing the frequency of self-injurious behaviour in severely retarded individuals. The procedure involves a socially more acceptable consequence for self-injurious behaviour than many other treatment approaches; it is quite economical and easy to administer; and, the procedure appears to produce fairly rapid suppression of response rates. Brief periods of manual guidance following self-injurious behaviour may indeed be the most efficacious intervention for use in on-going treatment programmes. Questions relating to the generalisation of effects and the effects of verbal prompts and other behavioural prompts remain for future research.