Behavior Management Strategies

Token Economy

• Definition: A system where positive behaviors are reinforced with symbolic tokens (points, stickers, etc.).
• Tokens are exchanged for reinforcing items or activities (activity, object, attention, break).
• Reinforcer Types:
  • Primary: The item or activity the token is redeemed for.
  • Secondary: The token itself.

Response Cost

• Definition: The removal of a specific amount of a reinforcer following inappropriate behavior.
• Application: Can be used as an additional procedure within token economies, point systems, or group contingencies.

Group Contingencies

• Definition: An intervention where consequences for group members are based on the behavior of individuals within the group.
• Types:
  • Dependent (One for All): The behavior of one or a few individuals determines the consequences for the entire group.
  • Independent (To Each Their Own): Individual behavior determines individual consequences.
  • Interdependent (All for All): The behavior of all group members determines the consequences for the entire group.
• Considerations:
  • Efficiency: Can be an efficient method for reinforcing desired behaviors.
  • Potential Harm: Can lead to peer pressure, negative stigma, and unfairness.

Extinction

• Definition: The process of ceasing reinforcement for a previously reinforced behavior.
• Requirements:
  • Must be accompanied by reinforcement for alternative behaviors.
• Application: Can be used with positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and automatic reinforcement.

Extinction Burst

• Definition: A temporary increase in the frequency or intensity of the behavior before it decreases during extinction.
• Occurrence: Evidence suggests this happens approximately half the time.

Spontaneous Recovery

• Definition: The unexpected reappearance of a previously extinguished behavior after a period of time during which it was not occurring.
• Characteristics:
  • Short-lived and limited if the extinction procedure remains in effect.

Time-Out

• Definition: A procedure to decrease behavior by denying a student the opportunity to receive positive reinforcement for a fixed period of time following a problem behavior.
• Types:
  • Nonexclusion: The student remains in the instructional area but is denied access to reinforcers.
    • Methods:
      • Planned Ignoring
      • Withdrawal of a Specific Reinforcer
      • Contingent Observation
      • Time-Out Ribbon
  • Exclusion: The student is removed from the instructional area following the problem behavior.
    • Versions:
      • Time-Out Room
      • Partition
      • Hallway

Corporal Punishment

• Definition: Physical punishment intended to inflict pain (e.g., paddling, hitting knuckles with a ruler).

Setting Events (SEs) / Motivating Operations (MOs)

• Definition: Events that occur before the immediate Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence (A-B-C) chain.
• Impact:
  • Affect the current likelihood of a behavior occurring.
  • Affect the potential value of a reinforcer.
• Classification: Technically considered an antecedent.
• Types:
  • Physiological
  • Cognitive/Emotional
  • Physical Environment
  • Social/Activity
• Major Types:
  • Establishing Operation (EO):
    • Value-Altering Effect: Increases the effectiveness of a stimulus, object, or event as a reinforcer.
    • Behavior-Altering Effect: Increases the current frequency of behavior that has been reinforced by the stimulus (evocative effect).
  • Abolishing Operation (AO):
    • Value-Altering Effect: Decreases the effectiveness of a stimulus, object, or event as a reinforcer.
    • Behavior-Altering Effect: Decreases the current frequency of behavior that has been reinforced by the stimulus (abative effect).

Conditioned and Unconditioned Motivating Operations

• Conditioned MOs: Environmental variables that temporarily alter the effectiveness of a stimulus as a reinforcer or punisher and alter the frequency of related behaviors.
  • Explain why certain things become motivating even if they aren't inherently linked to survival.
• Unconditioned MOs: Most salient for value-altering effects.
  • Based on innate reinforcers (e.g., food and water being more valuable when hungry or thirsty).

Interventions for Motivating Operations

• Two major options exist.

Antecedent Intervention

• Definition: Removing or modifying the event that precedes the problem behavior.
• Actions:
  • Modify, increase, or introduce events associated with desirable behavior.
• Goals:
  • Prevent problem behaviors.
    • Important for student safety (e.g., self-harm).
    • Important for others (e.g., disturbances).
  • Provide opportunities to teach new and alternative skills.

General Antecedent Interventions

• Examples: Choice options, transition warnings.

Antecedent Interventions for Obtaining Attention

• Strategies:
  • Make adequate attention available.
  • Modify situations leading to the need for attention.

Antecedent Interventions for Escaping Tasks

• Strategies:
  • Eliminate or modify part of the instruction, demand, or expectation.

Antecedent Interventions for Obtaining Tangibles/Activities

• Strategies:
  • Prepare student for removal of desired item.
  • Make the loss of the item less aversive.

Antecedent Interventions for Self-Stimulatory Behavior

• Strategies:
  • Make the environment more stimulating.
  • Provide sensory stimulation to match input provided by the target behavior.

Fading Antecedent Strategies

• Definition: Systematically and gradually reducing prompts, cues, or other environmental supports used to evoke a desired behavior.
• Goal: Promote independence, ensure behavior is maintained by natural cues, and prevent prompt dependency.

Behavioral Momentum

• Definition: Presenting a series of brief, simple tasks that the student has a history of easily completing before presenting a more challenging task.
• Process: Identify tasks the student does well and present those before the difficult task.

Task Interspersal

• Definition: Arranging an instructional sequence to offer variation.
• Implementation: Integrate different tasks into blocks of similar tasks.
• Note: Tasks do not necessarily have to be easier or harder, could just be novel.

Core Features of Replacement Skills (Alternative Behavior)

Efficiency

• Definition: Ensures the replacement skill will effectively compete with the problem behavior.
• Composed of:
  • Effort
  • Quality/Magnitude
  • Immediacy
  • Consistency
  • Probability of Punishment

Effort (as part of Efficiency)

• Definition: The physical or cognitive energy required to produce the behavior.
• Consideration: If the alternative behavior requires more effort, it will not occur more often than the problem behavior.

Quality/Magnitude (as part of Efficiency)

• Definition: The outcome of the alternative behavior should be the same or better quality than that of the problem behavior.

Immediacy (as part of Efficiency)

• Goal: Alternative behaviors should get a faster response than the problem behavior.
• Action: Modify the environment to ensure this happens.

Consistency (as part of Efficiency)

• Definition: How often the alternative behavior produces the desired outcome, especially during initial stages.
• Considerations:
  • Social recognition of response.
  • Select responses that are more likely to result in reinforcement from a novel person.
  • Durand: Use of voice output devices by individuals was consistently reinforced by untrained people in novel settings.
  • Especially salient for generalization programming.

Probability of Punishment (as part of Efficiency)

• Consideration: Ensure the alternative behavior is not followed by punishing events.

Function-Based Replacement Skills

• Principle: If the problem behavior allows the student to access X, then the alternative skill needs to allow the student to access X too (but more efficiently).
• Examples of Teaching:
  • Escape from activities/social interactions.
  • Obtaining or accessing materials or activities.
  • Recruiting attention and social interaction.
  • Sensory stimulation.

Model/Lead/Test

• Description: Format for teaching (I do, you do, we do).
  • Model the behavior for the student.
  • Lead a role-play with the student.
  • Test the student for comprehension.

Imitation

• Definition: Producing a new behavior by doing what someone else does, regardless of the behavior modeled.
• Critical Relations:
  1. Model is an antecedent that evokes the imitative behavior.
  2. Imitative behavior must immediately follow the model.
  3. Model and behavior must have formal similarity (look the same).
  4. Model must be the controlling variable for imitative behavior.

Shaping

• Definition: Producing a new behavior by differentially reinforcing successive approximations toward a terminal behavior.
• Critical Components:
  • Differentially reinforcing.
  • Successive approximations.
  • Towards a terminal behavior.
  • When key characteristics of the terminal behavior are met, shaping is complete.
• Can shape according to:
  • Topography
  • Frequency
  • Latency
  • Duration
  • Amplitude/Magnitude
• Steps:
  1. Select and define terminal behavior.
  2. Set criterion for success.
  3. Analyze response class.
  4. Identify initial behavior to reinforce.
  5. Gradual changes.
• Limitations:
  • Can be time-consuming.
  • Progress may be erratic.
  • Small changes must be noticed.
  • Shaping applies to negative behaviors too.

Chaining

• Definition: Linking stimuli and responses together to create new sequences of behavior.
• Behavior Chain: Sequence of stimulus-response pairs, wherein each response produces an S^D for the next response.
• Types:
  • Forward Chaining (start at the beginning).
  • Backward Chaining (start at the end).
  • Total Task Chaining (everything every time, with prompts/assistance).
  • Kazdin (2001): No consistent evidence suggests one is better than the other.
• Steps:
  1. Task analyze.
     • Observe people who can do the sequence.
     • Consult with experts.
     • Perform it yourself.
     • Consider adjustments after beginning
  2. Teaching a chain:
     • At first, reinforcement provided when criterion met for step 1.
     • Then provided when criterion met for steps 1 & 2.
     • And so on.