Increasing Head Extension with the Use of Automated Contingent Music

The experiment was an attempt to increase proper head posture using automated music as a reinforcer and to determine if this behavior would generalize to another setting.Two cerebral palsy and mentally retarded subjects participated. Subject 1 was 24-year-old female, while Subject 2 was a 17-year-old male.The two conditions included in this study were Baseline (no-music), and Treatment (music contingent on proper head posture). Generalization (no-music) was assessed throughout all experimental conditions. Both subjects wore the mercury-switch head apparatus during Baseline, Treatment and Generalization sessions.During Baseline, the overall mean percent of proper head posture for Subject 1 and Subject 2 was 4.5% and 27%, respectively. During Treatment, the overall mean percent of proper head posture for subject 1 and Subject 2 was 24% and 60.5%, respectively. Generalization of this behavior to another setting did not result.