Skip to main content
Article
Pica: A Review of Recent Assessment and Treatment Procedures
Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities (2004)
Abstract
The phenomenon of pica has been described within the literature in many ways, from a socially acceptable practice to a life threatening behavior. Recent prevalence rates of pica indicate relatively low occurrence of this phenomenon that makes it difficult to easily identify trends in practices related to pica. Recent literature on pica (1990 to 2002) indicate a trend toward use of more reinforcement based procedures and less use of more intrusive procedures such as overcorrection, time-out and restraint as was reported in the literature prior to 1990. Most recent studies of pica appear to have an underlying basis in behavior analysis procedures for both assessment and intervention. It appears that recent literature indicates a trend toward frequent use of functional assessment procedures to identify the specific reinforcement involved with pica. This paper reviews some of the recent assessment procedures and treatments of pica based on different etiological models.
Keywords
  • timeout,
  • functional behavioral assessment,
  • behavior problems,
  • antisocial behavior,
  • behavior modification,
  • etiology,
  • clinical diagnosis,
  • evaluation methods,
  • cognitive restructuring,
  • outcomes of treatment,
  • intervention
Publication Date
December, 2004
Publisher Statement
© Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities. This document was published with permission from the publisher. It was originally published in the Education and Training in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.
Citation Information
"Pica: A Review of Recent Assessment and Treatment Procedures" Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities Vol. 39 Iss. 4 (2004) p. 346 - 358 ISSN: 1547-0350
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/john-wheeler/60/