A study, involving four developmentally disabled children who exhibited a variety of disruptive behaviors such as self-injury and tantrums, was conducted to assess the influence of task demands and adult attention on children's behaviors. The three experimental conditions were the "EASY 100" which consisted of an easy task on which children could comply with 100% correct responses with 1-to-1 adult attention, the "DIFFICULT 100" involving a more difficult task and the same adult attention, and the "EASY 33" with only 1/3 of the adult attention. Two of the children were most disruptive with the "DIFFICULT 100" condition, one child was most disruptive when demands were increased (DIFFICULT 100) and when attention was withdrawn (EASY 33), and another child was most disruptive during the "EASY 33" condition. Results suggested that the disruptive behaviors served social-communicative functions. When Ss were trained to respond with verbally appropriate responses (such as "Am I doing good work," to get attention), disruptive behavior was virtually eliminated. Implications of the findings were considered. Graphs of behavior under various conditions are offered. (SW)