1. FILLING YOUR BEHAVIORAL TOOLBOX Heather Jones M.S. BCBA Mary Beth Malone M.Ed

2. 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

3. Collecting Data: Duration

4. Collecting Data: Latency

5. Collecting Data: Partial Interval

6. Collecting Data: Whole Interval

7. Collecting Data: Momentary Time Sampling

8. Collecting Data: Frequency/Rate

9. 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

10. 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?

11. 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

12. 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.

13. What is reinforcement?  When something happens after a behavior that increases the likelihood that we will see that behavior again

14. Types of Reinforcement  Edibles  Tangibles  Activities  Social

15. 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 peers Remember, try to find out why these are occurring, teach an appropriate way, and reinforce that!

16. 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!

17. Bribery vs. Reinforcement BriberyReinforcement “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

18. 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

19. 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.

20. Tool 2: Attend and Ignore  Provide attention for appropriate behavior  Ignore the junk (not the student)  Caveat: Use for behaviors that you can ignore I love how you are standing in line So NICELY!

21. 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

22. A closer look “I love the way Susy and Jenny are listening so nicely!” “Brandon and Patrick, great work! Which one of you can tell me the answer to 4X4?”

23. 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”

24. Ignoring can be difficult! The issueThe 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!

25. 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.

26. Tool 3: Token Economies

27. 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

28. Examples

29. 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

30. 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

31. 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

32. 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

33. 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

34. 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 TaskReward Who: BobbyWho: Mrs. Heather What: Return homeworkWhat: Free time When: Every school dayWhen: 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 Friday Sign and date M: T: W: TH: F: What is it?

35. 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

36. 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

37. 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

38. Tool 6: Functional Communication  Hudson is a 5 th 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

39. 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

40. Tool 7: Activity Choice  Offer choices as much as possible  Academic activity  Reward  Seat  Timeline  Many more!!!!

41. Tool 8: Visual Schedules

42. Questions?

43. References  Who’s Engaged by Janet Pilcher  Applied Behavior Analysis by Cooper, Heron, & Heward  Adventures in Special Education by Merrill Winston