Chapter 16: Book Notes

Antecedent Control Procedures

What happens in antecedent control procedures?

In antecedent control procedures, the behavior is changed before a behavior happens to encourage desirable behaviors and reduce undesirable behaviors

• Changing what happens before the behavior to influence the behavior

What do antecedent control procedures do to the physical or social environment?

Antecedent control procedures manipulate some aspect of the physical or social environment to make a desired behavior more likely and a competing behavior less likely

• Makes good behavior more likely and bad behavior less likely

What are the six different antecedent control procedures?

The six different antecdent control procedures include:

1. Presenting the discriminative stimulus (SD) or cues for the desired behavior

2. Arranging establishing operations for the desirable behavior

3. Deceasing the response effort for the desirable behavior

4. Removing the discriminative stimulus or cues for undesirable behaviors

5. Presenting abolishing operations for undesirable behaviors

6. Increasing the response effort for undesirable behaviors

How does antecedent control procedure present an SD for the desired behavior to increase it?

Desirable behavior might not occur often because the SD for the behavior might not be present in the person’s environment

• Ex. SD for eating healthy foods is the presence of healthy foods

• Can add an SD so behavior occurs more often

How does antecedent control procedure arrange establishing operations for the desirable behavior?

Establishing operation is the environmental event that makes the reinforcer more valuable and increases the behavior that gets it

• When establishing operation is present, it makes the reward more valuable and increases behaviors that lead to the reward

• Ex. Buying a cookbook helps Cal make tastier food. This makes good-tasting food more reinforcing, so he is more likely to cook.

How does antecedent control procedure decrease response effort for the desirable behavior?

It arranges antecedent conditions so less effort is needed to engage in the behavior

• Behaviors that require less effort are more likely to occur than behaviors that require more effort

• Ex. Cal kept healthier foods more accessible and got rid of the junk food, so that eating healthy foods took less response effort

How can antecedent control be used to make it more likely that a desirable behavior will occur?

Antecedent control can make it more likely that a desirable behavior will occur by:

• Presenting the SD or arranging cues for the desirable behavior

• Arranging an establishing operation that makes the outcome of the behavior more reinforcing, so that the behavior is more likely to occur

• Mainpulate antecedent conditions that decrease the response effort, so that desired behavior is more likely to occur

How to remove the SD for undesirable behaviors and make the behavior less likely to occur?

To decrease the likelihood of an undesirable behavior, you can remove the SD to make it less likely that the person will engage in the behavior

• Ex. Can remove unhealthy foods (SD) from sight to make it less likely to occur

How to present abolishing operations for undesirable behaviors and make the behavior less likely to occur?

To decrease undesirable behaviors, you can make the outcomes less reinforcing by presenting an AO

• AO: Something that makes a reinforcer less valuable, decreasing the behavior that gets it

• Ex. Eating a meal, so that buying junk food is less reinforcing

What are the antecedent manipulations that make undesirable competing responses less likely?

The antecedent manipulations that make undesirable competing responses less likely are:

• Removing the SD for competing behaviors

• Presenting an AO for the outcome of the competing behavior

• Increasing the response effort for the competing behavior

How to increase the response effort for undesirable behaviors and make the behavior less likely to occur?

Can decrease the likelihood of an undesirable competing behavior by increasing the response effort for the behavior

• Making it harder to engage in an undesirable behavior

• Ex. By going to the library to study, it makes it harder for her to talk to her friends

When is an alternative behavior more likely to occur and replace the problem behavior?

An alternative behavior is more likely to occur and replace the problem behavior when it takes less response effort

What are differential reinforcement procedures used with to increase behavior?

Differential reinforcement procedures are used with antecedent control procedures to increase desirable behavior

What are extinction and differential reinforcement procedures used with to decrease behavior?

Extinction and differential reinforcement procedures are used in conjuncation with antecedent control procedures to decrease undesirable behavior

How to determine what antecedent control procedure to use for a desirable behavior?

To determine the antecedent control procedure for a desirable behavior:

1. Conduct functional assessment to analyze the antecedents, behavior, and consequences (ABCs)

2. Use team input and problem solving to decide the best ways to alter the antecedents

3. Identify and define the desirable behavior you want to increase (SDs)

4. Identify the reinforcer for the desirable behavior

How to determine what antecedent control procedure to use for a undesirable behavior?

To determine the antecedent control procedure for an undesirable behavior:

1. Identify and define the undesirable competing behaviors that may interfere with the desirable behavior (Can you increase the response effort of them?)

2. Analyze the antecedent stimuli associated with undesirable behaviors (SD)

3. Identify the reinforcer for the undesirable behaviors

Functional Interventions

The approaches for decreasing problem behavior which include:

• Extinction

• Differential Reinforcement

• Antecedent Control

These approaches are functional because they decrease problem behaviors by addressing the function (what is maintaining the behavior) and antecedents of the behavior

What is being done with the reinforcer in extinction?

With extinction, you are removing the reinforcer for the problem behavior

• Behavior no longer results in reinforcer, so it no longer occurs

What is done in differential reinforcement?

In differential reinforcement, the person can achieve the same outcome without engaging in the problem behavior

• Produces the same functional consequence through an alternative behavior, absence of problem behavior, or lower rate of the problem behavior, so no reason for the problem behavior to continue to occur

What is done with antecedent manipulation?

With antecedent manipulation:

• The antecedent events that cause the problem behavior are no longer present

• The reinforcer isn’t effective

• Effort to perform the problem behavior is increased

• Events that evoke desirable behavior are present

• Effectiveness of the reinforcer for desirable behavior is increases

• Response effort for the desirable behavior is decreased

What happens when antecedent conditions no longer favor the problem behavior?

When antecedent conditions, no longer favor the problem behavior, the problem behavior is less likely to occur and the desirable behavior is more likely to occur

Summary: In antecedent control strategies what happens?

Antecedent stimuli are manipulated to:

• Cause the occurence of desirable behavior

• Decrease the occurence of competing behavior

What happens if you present an SD for a desirable behavior vs remove the SD for an undesirable behavior?

When you:

• Present SD for a desirable behavior: Behavior is more likely to occur

• Remove SD for undesirable behavior: Behavior is less likely to occur

What happens if you add or remove an establishing operation?

Establishing operation for the outcome of a desirable behavior makes the behavior more likely to occur

• Remove the establishing operation (present an abolishing operation), the undesirable behavior is less likely to occur

What happens when a desirable behavior takes less response effort than an alternative undesirable behavior?

When desirable behavior takes less response effort than an alternative undesirable behavior and both behaviors lead to the same reinforcing outcome, desirable behavior is more likely to occur