Topic 16: Antecedent Control Procedures Flashcards
Antecedent Control Procedures
a procedure in which antecedents are manipulated to influence the target behavior, may involve manipulating a discriminative stimulus (S^D) or cues, establishing operations, or response effort for the target behavior or alternative behaviors
What are antecedent manipulations that evoke a desired response?
presenting the S^D or supplemental stimuli (cues) that have stimulus control over the desired behavior
arranging an establishing operation such that the consequence of the desirable behavior is more reinforcing
decreasing the response effort for the desirable behavior
What are antecedent manipulations that make undesirable competing responses less likely?
removing the S^D or cues for the competing behaviors
presenting an abolishing operation for the outcome of the competing behaviors
increasing the response effort for the competing behaviors
Functional Interventions
interventions (extinction, differential reinforcement, and antecedent control) that decrease problem behaviors without the use of punishments by modifying the antecedents and consequences that control the behavior
What are antecedent control procedures?
antecedent stimuli are manipulated to evoke desirable behaviors than can be (differentially) reinforced
also called antecedent manipulation
How can presenting an S^D for the desirable behavior be an antecedent control procedure?
can be presenting, modifying, or developing new S^D for desirable behavior
can be speeded up by using shortcut methods, like prompting
How can decreasing response effort be an antecedent control procedure?
decreasing response effort for desirable behavior
similar nudge theory: behavior manipulated by changing the ease or difficulty of performing it
How can removing or modifying existing S^D for an undesirable behavior be an antecedent control procedure?
overt or immediate S^Ds are easier to identify than covert or distant S^Ds
desirable alternative behavior should be encouraged instead
How can increasing response effort for an undesirable behavior be an antecedent control procedure?
the opposite of a nudge is a “sludge”
What is the difference between an S^D and MOs?
a discriminative stimulus (S^D) indicates that reinforcement is available following a particular behavior
a motivation operation (MO) alters the value of a reinforcer, and therefore affects the likelihood of the behavior that results in the reinforcer
What is noncontingent reinforcement (NCR)?
a form of antecedent intervention in which stimuli that are known reinforcers are delivered on a schedule independent of behavior – not dependent on responses
diminishes undesirable behaviors, because reinforcers that maintain it are frequently available
may function as an AO, reducing motivation to preform undesirable behavior
reinforcers can be delievered on a fixed-time (FI) or variable-time (VT) schedule
schedule should be greatly “thinned” (time duration increased)
is often combined with DRO, which decreases adventitious reinforcement of the undesirable behavior that may occur in a time-based NCR schedule
What types of reinforcement can noncontingent reinforcement employ?
positive reinforcement (e.g. teacher placing a child on her lap during story time, so the child will not disruptively seek attention)
negative reinforcement (e.g. break from instrumental requests to reduce problem behaviors)
automatic reinforcement (e.g. physical manipulation of a string of beads to reduce SIB)
What are the pros of NCR?
evidence shows it produces robust effects across a variety of behaviors
easy to apply, does not require monitoring for a behavior to occur before reinforcer is delievered
when used with extinction, NCR may reduce extinction-induced response bursts
What are the cons of NCR?
free access to NCR may reduce motivation to engage in desirable behavior
coincidental pairings of undesirable behavior an NCR can strengthen the behavior
as no behavior is being strengthened, it is controversial to call it noncontingent reinforcement
