FILLING YOUR BEHAVIORAL TOOLBOXHeather Jones M.S. BCBA

Mary Beth Malone M.Ed

Today we are going to cover… Data Collection Understanding Behavior Reinforcement Attend and Ignore Token Economies Behavior Contracts Self-Monitoring Functional Communication Training Activity Choice Visual Schedules

Collecting Data: Duration

Collecting Data: Latency

Collecting Data: Partial Interval

Collecting Data: Whole Interval

Collecting Data: Momentary Time Sampling

Collecting Data: Frequency/Rate

Why we do what we do(good or bad)

Get what we want or like Get out of what we don’t want or like Avoid what we don’t want or like

Understanding the behavior

Why is this behavior occurring? Why does (s)he like ______? When does this behavior occur? Is the task appropriate for his/her skill

level? Why doesn’t (s)he like this task? What is (s)he getting out of the

behavior? What is (s)he getting out of appropriate

behavior?

Further understanding of the behavior

What else could be going on? Hungry Tired Thirsty Various body aches Medical changes/side effects

What is in it for them? The appropriate behavior needs a payoff

Tool 1: Use reinforcement!!!

Like us, students behave the way they do because of the consequences of their behavior.

If we reinforce appropriate behavior, there is less time for inappropriate behavior.

Likewise, if students can earn reinforcers for appropriate behavior, they will not need to engage in inappropriate behavior.

What is reinforcement?

When something happens after a behavior that increases the likelihood that we will see that behavior again

Types of Reinforcement

Edibles Tangibles Activities Social

Inappropriate reinforcers

Dangerous reinforcers Self-stimulation The behavior itself isn’t so bad, but the

context is wrong Inappropriate kinds of attention from

adults or peersRemember, try to find out why these are occurring, teach an appropriate way, and reinforce that!

How does reinforcement work (or not)?

Reinforcement should be IMMEDIATE The reinforcer should be something that

they WANT Factor in magnitude! Effort Change reinforcement value of inappropriate behaviors Change it up! Use it as much as possible!

Bribery vs. Reinforcement

Bribery Reinforcement

• “If you do this, I’ll give you this”

• Prior to the behavior, it is discussed what we are working for

• Unrealistic goals • Realistic goals

Other important information

Provide about 3X more positive attention than constructive feedback

Think about pairing the reinforcer with the difficulty of the task and arrange for deprivation

The squeaky wheel always gets the grease

Gradually shift from more tangible type reinforcers to social reinforcers Why? IT’S FREE

And Moving On…

We often think of behavior reduction as “what do we do to Joe for engaging in that behavior”

This is flawed. If we do something to someone and their

behavior does not change, then we must change our behavior.

Tool 2: Attend and Ignore

Provide attention for appropriate behavior

Ignore the junk (not the student) Caveat: Use for behaviors that youcan ignore

I love how you are

standing in line

So NICELY!

Now what?

Provide reinforcement to other students around engaging in appropriate behavior

Provide attention for the student engaging in inappropriate behavior as soon as he/she does ANYTHING appropriate

A closer look

“I love the way Susy and Jennyare listening so nicely!”

“Brandon and Patrick, great work! Which one of you can tell me the answer to 4X4?”

Other things to consider

Repertoire When you use this tool, the student should

already have existing behaviors in their skill set

Otherwise, teach the necessary skills These skills include but are not limited to:

Social skills Coping skills Academic skills Tolerating delays Tolerating “No”

Ignoring can be difficult!

The issue The resolution

• It feels like we are not doing anything to stop the behavior

• With this tool, we are not ACTIVELY doing something

• This won’t immediately stop the behavior

• With consistency, the behavior will be less likely to happen later

• It doesn’t seem like it is working in the short run

• The behavior will often get worse before it gets better- but it will be better!

What happens if it doesn’t work?

Try, Try again! Use another form of reinforcement

besides social reinforcement (maybe edible?)

Then move to using an already established classroom procedure Clap to get their attention, name on board,

etc.

Tool 3: Token Economies

Let’s Break it Down

Specific target behaviors or rules Tokens or points that are earned by the

student for engaging in the target behaviors

A menu of preferred items, activities, or privileges

Examples

Important Tips

Tokens should not be distracting or valuable in and of themselves Examples: pennies, marbles, points,

laminated discs Students must be taught what the

tokens or points mean by those being paired with the identified reinforcer

Start off by exchanging the points more frequently and gradually change it Example: hourly->daily->weekly

Response Cost?

It is not best to have a response cost initially, because we have to make sure the student is motivated by the preferred items

But, when it is included, it should be clearly stated in the rules How much a behavior “costs”

More severe behavior, lose more tokens Students should NEVER lose more than

they earn

Fidelity

Not only does the initial training of the token economy need to be done very well, but it is extremely important that the system is done with consistency and fidelity Teachers and even parents need to be on

the same page Monitoring and adjustments are needed

on a regular basis to make sure that it continues to be effective

Level System

A type of token system where students move up (and sometimes down) a hierarchy of levels contingent on meeting specific criteria

As they move up the levels, they have access to more privileges and are expected to be more independent

Tokens and other reinforcers are also decreased and are more like naturally occurring reinforcers

Group Contingencies

Independent Only those who meet the criterion get the

reward Dependent group contingency

The reward for the whole group is contingent on the performance of an individual or a small group

Interdependent All members of the group (individually and

as a group) must meet the criterion before any member earns the reward

Tool 4: Behavioral Contracting

A document that specifies the relationship between the completion of a specific behavior and access to a preferred item or activity Contract

Task Reward

Who: Bobby Who: Mrs. Heather

What: Return homework What: Free time

When: Every school day When: Friday afternoon

How well: Bobby will return completed homework four out of five days for reward

How much: Bobby will have 20 minutes of free time at the end of the school day on FridaySign and date

M: T: W: TH: F:

What is it?

What is included? The task

Including: specifics of what is expected Reward

Again, very specific of who and what is expected

Task record Programs for frequent review, and proof

Some things to consider:

Is the skill in the student’s repertoire? If not, other techniques are needed

It is most effective when there is a permanent product, or occurs in the presence of who is giving the reward

Both parties (student and teacher) need to be in agreement for the contract to be an effective tool

Tool 5: Self-Monitoring/Management

The personal application of behavior change tactics that produces a desired change in behavior

It may help provide immediate consequences for each response or a small set of responses

The student has control over reinforcement, and observing and recording his or her own behavior

Tool 6: Functional Communication Hudson is a 5th grade student who

swipes materials off of the table when he is presented with demands or after he has been working for a while.

What should we do? Teach a replacement behavior

Important!

With teaching a replacement behavior/communicative response: The appropriate request/behavior must be

honored EVERY TIME initially Then we can start teaching appropriate

times Gradually decrease the time breaks are

allowed, with success, until a more reasonable time is reached

Tool 7: Activity Choice

Offer choices as much as possible Academic activity Reward Seat Timeline Many more!!!!

Tool 8: Visual Schedules

Questions?

References

Who’s Engaged by Janet Pilcher Applied Behavior Analysis by Cooper,

Heron, & Heward Adventures in Special Education by

Merrill Winston