1. Chapter 32 Behavioral Principles, Assessment, and Therapy
Chapter 32 slides in Children with Disabilities, Seventh Edition, Online Companion Materials. Copyright © 2013 Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

2. Operant Learning Principles and Practices
Terms for approaches:
applied behavior analysis (ABA)
Behavior modification,
positive behavioral support
Chapter 32 slides in Children with Disabilities, Seventh Edition, Online Companion Materials. Copyright © 2013 Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

3. Operant Learning Principles and Practices (continued)
Reinforcement—consequences that follow behavior result in increase in that behavior’s future strength
Extinction—reinforcement withheld for previously reinforced response, resulting in decrease in response’s future occurrence
Punishment—consequences delivered contingent on behavior result in decreasing future occurrence of behavior
Motivation—dependent on motivating operations that produce a change in value of a consequence and corresponding change in strength of behavior influenced by consequence
Chapter 32 slides in Children with Disabilities, Seventh Edition, Online Companion Materials. Copyright © 2013 Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

4. Behavioral Assessment of Problem Behaviors
Functional assessment—identify antecedent events and consequences that serve as motivational variables for problem behavior
Indirect assessment: questionnaires and rating scales completed by caregivers; derived score suggests behavioral function
Quick and efficient, but not recommended as sole source for assessment
Descriptive analysis: quantitative, direct observation under naturalistic settings; conditional probability and antecedents/consequences determined
Time consuming and may not identify variables that are maintaining problem behavior
Chapter 32 slides in Children with Disabilities, Seventh Edition, Online Companion Materials. Copyright © 2013 Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

5. Behavioral Assessment of Problem Behaviors (continued)
Functional (experimental) analysis: exposure to variety of antecedent conditions and consequences; patterns of differential responding observed over time
Most powerful demonstration of relationship between antecedent and consequent events on problem behaviors
Chapter 32 slides in Children with Disabilities, Seventh Edition, Online Companion Materials. Copyright © 2013 Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

6. Functional Assessment and Treatment Development
Hypothesis-based treatment development resulting in increased numbers of evidence-based treatment options and individualized treatments:
Social-positive reinforcement—terminating the reinforcer
Extinction usually combined with differential reinforcement procedures
Social-negative reinforcement—preventing escape
Aversive event is continued and not terminated
Automatic reinforcement—behavior produces internal consequences that reinforce/maintain problem behavior
Treatment requires attenuation or elimination of source of reinforcement
Chapter 32 slides in Children with Disabilities, Seventh Edition, Online Companion Materials. Copyright © 2013 Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

7. Preference Assessment and Reinforcer Evaluation
In the past, stimuli used as reinforcers were arbitrarily chosen, resulting in ineffective interventions
Since the early 1980s, a growing body of research has examined systematic identification of stimuli that may serve as reinforcers
Preference assessments expose individuals to different stimuli to measure whether they respond to it
High-preference stimuli may be potential reinforcers
Chapter 32 slides in Children with Disabilities, Seventh Edition, Online Companion Materials. Copyright © 2013 Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

8. Common Behavior Problems
Research demonstrates that operant learning principles can be applied to treatment for routine child behavior problems such as
Routine oppositional behavior
Toileting
Bedtime problems
Common habit disorders
Chapter 32 slides in Children with Disabilities, Seventh Edition, Online Companion Materials. Copyright © 2013 Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

9. Severe Behavior Problems
Research suggests that severe problem behaviors have neurobiological mechanisms and learned component
Learned component influences frequency and long-term disability; can be reduced through operant-learning-based approaches
Children with severe behavior problems should be referred to properly trained and credentialed behavior analysts, psychologists, or educators
Environmental contingencies that maintain problem behavior:
Social-positive reinforcement
Social-negative reinforcement
Automatic reinforcement
Chapter 32 slides in Children with Disabilities, Seventh Edition, Online Companion Materials. Copyright © 2013 Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

10. Viability of Extinction and Implications from Behavioral Economics
Extinction not always possible in natural environments
Not always practical to reinforce alternative behavior every time
Behavioral economics: some behavior analysts applying economic concepts to treatment of problem behaviors
Consumption of reinforcer declines more steeply when response requirements increase or when “substitute” commodities can be earned with less effort
Implication: reinforcing alternative behavior with a reinforcer that is distinct from that maintaining the problem behavior may be more viable treatment option
Chapter 32 slides in Children with Disabilities, Seventh Edition, Online Companion Materials. Copyright © 2013 Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

11. Practical Strategies for the Classroom
Establishing routines and schedules—provides students with predictability and teaches them to tolerate waiting and transitions
Examples: picture schedules, word schedules, checklists
Arranging the classroom for maximum impact—space management and positioning of staff and students
Examples: sitting near teacher, one-to-one work with staff, individual carrels
Chapter 32 slides in Children with Disabilities, Seventh Edition, Online Companion Materials. Copyright © 2013 Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

12. Practical Strategies for the Classroom (continued)
Providing instruction—teaching readiness skills such as remaining seated, attending to materials, and listening to instructions
Examples: teach skills one at a time, various methods for delivery (written, verbal, recorded), instructional materials that address variables (e.g., motor abilities, sight limitations, hearing impairments), prompting
Reinforcement—every classroom should have system for both individuals and group
Examples: token boards/economies, sticker charts, edible and tangible reinforcers, classroom “stores,” extracurricular activities
Chapter 32 slides in Children with Disabilities, Seventh Edition, Online Companion Materials. Copyright © 2013 Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

13. Behavioral Teaching Strategies
Goals of effective teaching: learners perform newly acquired skills independently, with accuracy and fluency, in situations outside of training (generalization)
Stimulus control is prerequisite and accumulates over time through repeated practice and appropriate reinforcement
Tailoring instruction to student performance levels: mastery of a skill is attained through sequence of stages called learning/instructional hierarchy
Each stage has
Different training goal and performance measure (learning hierarchy)
Associated set of teaching strategies (instructional hierarchy)
Chapter 32 slides in Children with Disabilities, Seventh Edition, Online Companion Materials. Copyright © 2013 Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.