ABA Exam 4

functional assessment of a problem behavior and why is it important

the process of gathering information about the antecedents and consequences that are functionally related to the occurrence of a problem behavior, it is important to identify antecedents that have stimulus control over behavior and reinforcing consequences that maintain behavior

four possible functions of problem behavior

social positive reinforcement: positively reinforcing consequence delivered by another person, social negative reinforcement: another person terminates an aversive stimulus, automatic positive reinforcement: behavior produces positively reinforcing consequence automatically, automatic negative reinforcement: behavior automatically reduces an aversive stimulus

three major methods for conducting a functional assessment of a problem behavior

indirect assessment: info is gathered through interviews and questionnaires, direct observation: observer records antecedents, behavior, and consequences as they occur, experimental methods (functional analysis): antecedents and consequences are manipulated to observe their effect on the problem behavior

two ways to conduct an indirect assessment

behavioral interview: questions about events immediately before and after the behavior with a caregiver or authority figure, questionnaire: present a caregiver with a list of questions about behavior

three ways to conduct ABC direct observation assessments

descriptive method: brief description of the behavior, antecedent, and consequence each time the behavior occurs, checklist method: checklist with columns for possible antecedents, behaviors, and consequences, interval recording method: record behavior occurrence in each interval

what are descriptive functional assessment methods?

antecedents and consequences are described either from memory or direct observation and they help develop hypotheses about variables controlling the problem behavior

explain how descriptive assessment methods do not demonstrate a functional relationship

they help develop a hypothesis but they do not prove a functional relationship because that would require the manipulation of antecedents or consequences to show their influence on problem behavior

outcome of descriptive functional assessment methods

hypotheses about the antecedent and consequent variables controlling the problem behavior

describe how a functional analysis demonstrates a functional relationship

a functional analysis involves specifically manipulating antecedents and consequences to demonstrate a functional relationship

what is the difference between a functional assessment and functional analysis?

a functional assessment involves recording and gathering data while a functional analysis involves manipulating variables

first step in conducting a functional assessment

start with a behavioral interview with the client or other informants to gain knowledge about the problem behaviors

when is a functional assessment of a problem behavior complete?

when your hypothesis is firm and treatments are functional

when do you need to conduct a functional analysis of a problem behavior?

if information from interviews and ABC observations is inconsistent after further assessment and if the descriptive assessments do not lead to a firm hypothesis

three essential features of a functional analysis

have a reliable method of data collection to record the behavior in the different experimental conditions, to manipulate the antecedents and consequences in test and control conditions while holding other variables constant, and to repeat the test and control conditions to demonstrate experimental control over the behavior

reinforcers for SIB

attention, escape, and automatic reinforcement

three experimental conditions in functional analysis of SIB

in the attention condition, an adult worked on a task and paid attention to the child only after occurrence of SIB, in escape condition, adult made educational demands and after SIB, briefly terminated demands, in control condition, occurrence of SIB shows whether it is related to other functions or automatic reinforcement

differential reinforcement of alternative behavior

behavioral procedure used to increase the frequency of a desirable behavior and decrease the frequency of undesirable behaviors, the desirable behavior is reinforced each time it occurs, this results in an increase in the future probability of the desirable behavior

two behavioral principles involved in differential reinforcement

reinforcement and extinction - as the desirable behavior occurs, it is reinforced each time, and as the undesirable behavior occurs, reinforcement is withheld and it is put on extinction

when is it appropriate to use DRA

if you want to increase the rate of a desirable behavior, if it is already occurring occasionally, and if you can reinforce it consistently

three ways to identify reinforcers for a person

use the reinforcer that is currently maintaining the undesirable behavior, note activities or interests that the person pursues, ask questions about what they like

when using DRA, when do you use continuous reinforcement?

right away because it is more likely to increase the desirable behavior and replace undesirable behaviors that are not being reinforced

when using DRA, when do you use intermittent reinforcement?

once the desirable behavior is occurring consistently and the undesirable behavior occurs rarely because it maintains the behavior over time by making it resistant to extinction, and it is easier to use

premack principle

using the opportunity to engage in a preferred behavior as a reinforcer for a low frequency behavior

generalization

target behavior should occur outside the training situation in all relevant stimulus situations, the target behavior should be differentially reinforced in as many relevant situations as possible by as many relevant people as possible when using DRA

how does DRO differ from DRA?

DRO involves reinforcing the absence of the problem behavior, reinforcement is implemented in the presence of a variety of other behavior as long as the problem behavior is not present, DRA involves a specific replacement behavior that must occur for reinforcement to be delivered

describe implementation of DRO

the reinforcer is no longer delivered after the problem behavior, but the reinforcer is delivered after an interval of time in which the problem behavior does not occur

why is extinction important in DRO

reinforcing the absence of the problem behavior would not be effective if instances of the problem behavior continued to be reinforced

how do you establish the length of the interval for reinforcement in DRO?

choose an interval length that will result in a high probability of reinforcement, the length of the interval should be tied to the baseline rate of the problem behavior, if it occurs frequently, the DRO should be short, but if it is infrequent the DRO should be longer

when using DRO, what do you do if the problem behavior occurs before the end of the interval?

reset the interval

how is whole-interval DRO different from momentary DRO?

in whole interval, if the behavior is absent the entire interval reinforcement is delivered, in momentary, if the behavior is absent when the interval ends reinforcement is delivered, whole interval is more effect because there is a higher standard of behavior for the delivery of reinforcement

two types of DRL procedures

differential reinforcement of low rates of responding, full-session DRL and spaced-responding DRL

implementation of full-session DRL

in one variation, reinforcement is delivered if fewer than a specified number of responses occur in a period of time

implementation of spaced-responding DRL

there must be a specified amount of time between responses for reinforcer to be delivered

how is the purpose of DRO different from DRL?

DRO is used when you want to eliminate a problem behavior, DRL is used when you want to decrease the rate of a behavior that occurs too frequently

how is implementation of DRO different from spaced-responding DRL?

in DRO, reinforcement is delivered in the total absence of behavior but in DRL, reinforcement is delivered when person meets a specific criteria for their behavior

when using spaced-responding DRL, what do you do when behavior occurs before end of interval?

reset the interval

antecedent interventions

antecedent stimuli are manipulated to evoke desirable behaviors, so that they can be differentially reinforced and to decrease undesirable behaviors that interfere with the desirable behaviors

how is occurrence of undesirable competing behaviors related to occurrence of a desirable behavior?

the desirable behavior is a replacement behavior for the undesirable behavior, but if the antecedent condition makes the undesirable behavior easier or more reinforcing, the person will choose that

goal of antecedent interventions with undesirable behaviors

manipulate some aspect of the environment to evoke the desirable behavior and prevent the undesirable behavior

three antecedent interventions to evoke desirable behavior

present the SD or cues that have stimulus control over the desirable behavior, arrange the EO so the consequence of the desirable behavior is more reinforcing, decrease response effort for the desirable behavior

three antecedent interventions to reduce undesirable behavior

removed the SD or cues for competing behavior, present an abolishing operation for the outcome of the competing behavior, increase response effort for competing behavior

how to eliminate SD or cues for problem behavior

change something about environment that evokes problem behavior

abolishing operation

antecedent condition that eliminates an establishing operation

why is differential reinforcement important in conjunction with antecedent interventions to increase a desirable behavior?

because they make the desirable behavior more potent and the undesirable behavior less potent

what does it mean to say an intervention is functional?

it decreases problem behavior an increases desirable behavior by modifying the antecedent and consequence variables that control it

functional interventions for problem behaviors

antecedent interventions, extinction, and differential reinforcement

high-p instructional sequence

present high probability task demands before a low probability task demand and provide reinforcement for each task to make the low-p task more likely, its used for tasks that the individual does not usually engage in

noncontingent reinforcement

reinforcer for problem behavior is given on a fixed time schedule independent of the problem behavior and is not delivered when problem behavior occurs

extinction

a basic principle of behavior in which eliminating the reinforcing consequence for a behavior results in a decrease in the frequency of a behavior

Why must you conduct a functional assessment before using extinction to decrease a problem behavior?

to identify the reinforcer for the problem behavior so that you can eliminate it when the problem behavior occurs

Why is it important to collect data on the problem behavior when implementing an extinction procedure?

you must collect data on the problem behavior to document the change in behavior after the use of the procedure

Before using an extinction procedure, you must ask whether the reinforcer can be eliminated. Explain the importance of this question and its implications for the use of extinction.

if the change agent has no control over the reinforcer, extinction cannot be implemented. you must be able to prevent reinforcing consequences when using an extinction procedure.

When would it be unsafe to use extinction? What can you do to make the use of extinction safer?

it would be unsafe if extinction resulted in harm to the person exhibiting the problem behavior or to other people in the immediate environment. to make extinction safer, you must prepare for the extinction burst and devise a plan to minimize harm.

What is an extinction burst? How will the predicted extinction burst influence your decision about whether to implement extinction in a particular case?

when extinction is implemented, the behavior briefly increases in frequency, duration, or intensity, or novel behaviors or emotional responses occur. you must determine if the escalation of behavior is likely to harm anyone and if it is possible to minimize the harm.

What happens if the change agents cannot maintain consistency in using the extinction procedure?

the procedure amounts to intermittent reinforcement rather than extinction, and extinction will fail

Why is it important to use a reinforcement procedure in conjunction with extinction?

it gives the subject a replacement behavior that serves the same function or consequence, and it will be less likely that the problem behavior will occur again

How is the schedule of reinforcement before extinction related to the effectiveness of extinction?

continuous reinforcement before extinction is much more effective than intermittent reinforcement behavior extinction. behavior is resistant to extinction after intermittent reinforcement.

What is sensory reinforcement? What is another name for sensory reinforcement?

when the reinforcer for a behavior is non-social and involves the sensory stimulation produced by the behavior itself - automatic reinforcement

What is sensory extinction?

a procedural variation of extinction that is used for behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement

Describe how you would promote the generalization and maintenance of the behavior change produced through an extinction procedure.

for generalization, extinction must be used across all agents in all circumstances. for maintenance, use extinction after initial suppression of behavior whenever the problem behavior occurs again