Behavior Reduction - Interventions

Question 1

Define Intervention

Answer 1

Procedures designed to alter the environment in ways that increase the likelihood of positive behaviors occurring while decreasing the likelihood of negative (i.e. the target) behavior occurring

Question 2

Intervention

Define Antecedents

Answer 2

Setting conditions before a target behavior occurs.

ie
Environmental arrangement, staff interaction with client, ongoing activities, people present, etc.

Question 3

Intervention

Define Establishing Operations ( EOs) /
Motivating Operations (MOs)

Answer 3

EOs & MOs are the same. Procedures or conditions that establish value for behaviors previously associated with such conditions.

Conditions that increase the value of the Reinforcer produced by behaviors previously associated with those conditions.

ie
Being hungry is an EO for food-getting behavior (cooking, going to McDonald’s, raiding the fridge).

Being thirsty makes the Reinforcer of consuming Diet Coke valuable. If I’m not thirsty, the behaviors required to get/drink Diet Coke are not likely to occur because the Reinforcer (drinking soda) are not valuable.

Question 4

Intervention

Define Discriminative Stimulus (Sd)

Answer 4

A Stimulus in the presence of which a particular response will be reinforced.

Often used as alternative word for “instruction “.
“Touch the bear” is Sd indicating that using a finger to touch a picture of a 🐻 will be reinforced. If no one said “touch the bear” touching 🐻 would not result in Reinforcement.

For pigeon in Skinner’s 📦, the 💡 being on was Sd indicating that pecking the lever would result in food. No light meant pecking would not result in food.

Question 5

Define Environmental Enrichment

Answer 5

Altering the environment to increase access to reinforcers currently available only contingent on certain behaviors.

i. e.
- Increase the number of toys available
- Scheduling for more attention to be given through out the day

Question 6

Define Non-Contingent Reinforcement

Answer 6

Access to the putative/functional Reinforcer is available independent of any particular response/behaviors

(i. e. getting the “good stuff” for free)
- attention provided on a time schedule rather than contingent on client behavior
- access to breaks scheduled through out session, independent of work completion

Question 7

Define Deprivation

Answer 7

Withholding or being without access to a reinforcer, thus increasing the value of accessing the reinforcer

Question 8

Define Satiation

Answer 8

Consuming a substantial amount of reinforcer, thus temporarily decreasing the value of that reinforcer

Question 9

Define Function of a Behavior

Answer 9

The function of a behavior is the purpose for which that behavior occurs

Question 10

What are the 4 common functions of behavior?

Answer 10

1) Escape
2) Attention
3) Access
4) Self-Stimulation

Question 11

Define Escape

Answer 11

Social negative reinforcement.
Behavior that is maintained by the removal or termination of aversive stimuli following instances of that behavior

i.e.
Material swiping consistently followed by removal of that task

Screaming consistently followed by termination of music playing in the car

Question 12

Define Attention

Answer 12

Social positive reinforcement.
Behavior that is maintained by attention provided following instances of that behavior

i.e. Flopping to the floor that is consistently followed by
comforting attention from mom

Shouting out in class that is consistently followed by laughter from classmates

Question 13

Define Access

Answer 13

Social positive reinforcement.
Behavior that is maintained by the presentation of/access to preferred items or activities following instances of that behavior

i.e.
Hitting peers that is consistently followed by them giving you the toy they were playing with

Crying in the kitchen that is consistently followed by being given milk from the fridge

Question 14

Define Self-Stimulation

Answer 14

Automatic reinforcement.
Behavior that is maintained by the sensory input caused by the behavior itself

i.e.
Staring through your fingers held in front of lights that results in appealing light patterns to look at

Applying pressure to your own temple because it alleviates head pain

Question 15

Define Behavior Reduction Plan

Answer 15

A written description of the behavior(s) to be reduced, the baseline rate of the behaviors, the antecedent, consequence & replacement behavior interventions
necessary to address the need, and the plan for monitoring the effectiveness of the
plan

Question 16

Who develops a Behavior Reduction Plan?

Answer 16

Development of Behavior Reduction Plans is the primary role of the BCBA. RBTs should understand
the components, how to read such plans, and how to implement programming based on such plans

Question 17

What are the necessary components of a Behavior Reduction Plan?

hint:

1) Op_____ def____ of t____ behavior
2) B____line data
3) Op_____ def____ of re_____ behavior
4) Pro____ resp____ for when target behavior occurs
5) ____grammed ___sponce for when t___ b___ ceases
6) P___ r___ for when repl____ behavior occurs
7) What d___ to record and when
8) Plan for eval___ eff_____
9) Plan for f___ing components of plan

Answer 17

1) operational definition of the target behavior- objective, observable definition of the behavior targeted for reduction, including enough detail to ensure multiple people can identify occurrence and non-occurrence with reliability and high observer agreement

2) baseline data- objective/quantifiable data describing the rate of the target challenging behavior prior to intervention
What are the necessary components of a behavior reduction plan?

3) Operational definition of replacement behavior(s)-
Objective & observable definition of an appropriate alternative behavior to replace the maladaptive behavior, including enough detail to ensure multiple people can identify occurrence and non-occurrence
with reliability and high inter­-observer agreement (e.g., target IOA often 80% or better)

4) Programmed response for when the target behavior occurs- Description of exactly what staff, family members, etc. should do following occurrence of the challenging behavior

5) Programmed response for when the target behavior
ceases- Description of what staff, family members, etc. should do when instances of target challenging behavior has ceased

6) Programmed response for when replacement behavior occurs- Description of what staff, family members, etc. should do following
occurrence of the target replacement behaviors

7) What data to record and when- Description of exactly what data will be recorded and in what way it will be tracked What are the necessary components of a behavior reduction plan?

8) Plan for evaluating effectiveness- Target reduction rate should be set at the outset of intervention and a
system for graphing/reviewing data for progress should be in place

9) Plan for fading components of the plan- Description of steps to fade out each intervention component, including how to know when it is appropriate to fade the components, the order in which they will be faded, etc.