You, Too, Can Do ABA ABA at its Foundation

You, Too, Can Do ABA ABA at its Foundation By: Lauren Payer, BCaBA October 27, 2015 Regional Professional Development Academy

MISCONCEPTIONS What is ABA?

WHAT IS BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS? 1. Focus on behavior of the individual 2. Study the behavior and identify what environmental variables cause the behavior to occur 3. Focus on changing behavior by changing the environmental variables 4. Use data to evaluate the behaviorchange process

Behavioral Teaching Approaches Pairing Errorless Teaching Prompting Fading Shaping Active Student Responding Chaining: forward or backward Task Analysis Differential Reinforcement Extinction

Behavioral Teaching Approaches Individualized assessment and intervention program Frequent opportunities to respond Use of discrete trial teaching procedures Incidental & natural environment teaching procedures Data collection Behavioral momentum techniques Peer and social interaction Functional analysis On-going analysis of performance by formally trained behavior analysts

ABA These procedures are (to varying degrees) common to most behavioral intervention programs for children with autism and thus all benefit from the same empirical foundation found in applied behavior analysis Greer & Keohane, 2006; Howard, Sparkman, Cohen, Green, & Stanislaw, 2005; Koegel & Koegel,1996; Leaf & McEachin, 1999; Lovaas, 2003; Maurice, Green, & Luce, 1996:Sundberg & Partington, 1998),

PROMPTS Prompts: Used to evoke behavior. A prompt is used to increase the likelihood that a person will engage in the correct behavior at the correct time. (Miltenberger, 2001). The function of prompts is to produce an instance of the correct behavior so that it can be reinforced. The use of prompts makes teaching more efficient. Waiting for trial and error can be very slow. The use of prompts increases the chances that a correct response will occur. Miltenberger, R.G. (2001). Behaviour Modification: Principles and Procedures.

Types of Prompts Physical/Partial Physical Model Verbal Gestural Positional Visual/textual

Prompt Fading The process by which a prompt is removed gradually across learning trials until the prompt is no longer provided. Once correct response has occurred, prompts must be eliminated!

Shaping Reinforce improvement rather than perfection Identify to what degree the child can display this behavior When the child approximates the behavior, reinforce the approximation As the child consistently approximates behavior require a closer approximation Reinforce only behaviors that are closer steps toward the target behavior Return to previous step if unsuccessful If child does not progress troubleshoot Highly reinforce spontaneous instance of target behavior

Task Analysis Breaking a task down into small teachable units Take data on each step Calculate % done independently

Incidental Teaching Defined by Jed Baker as the following: Incidental teaching refers to teaching a student about a social situation as it is occurring rather than in a structured lesson. The goal is to amplify the social environment as it is unfolding so the student picks up on social cues, rules, others feelings, and perception that are all part of the social situation In other words, capture a teachable moment as it is occurring because this is more concrete and applicable when compared to looking at pictures or role-playing a pretend situation

Active Student Responding Active Student Responding is an antecedent intervention in which students are answering questions or responding in other ways to demonstrate understanding of content that is being taught following teacher directions to show that they are still engaged in the lesson/activity.

What is ASR? Antecedent Interventions are an evidence-based practice to decrease interfering and off-task behaviors that interfere with student learning. The aim of antecedent interventions is to modify the environment or activity so the identified targeted behavior is not elicited during instruction.

Implementation of ASR Incorporating audience participation when teaching has been found to increase learning the more a student responds, the more they will learn Using ASR in various teaching environments: - Decreases the amount of downtime - Increases the amount of instructional time - Is cost effective implementing various ASR methods are cheap and easy to do - Increases response accuracy (Blackwell & McLaughlin, 2005) (Kellum, Carr, & Dozier, 2001) (Berrong, Schuster, Morse, & Collins, 2007)

ASR Response Cards Choral Responding Guided Notes

Response Cards

Response cards

Response Cards

Differential Reinforcement Provide reinforcement that is differentiated across: Provide more reinforcement for new or difficult tasks Provide better reinforcers for new or difficult activities Reinforce the students displaying the desired behavior if or when one student is not (peer pressure) Providing more reinforcement to appropriate behaviors and less reinforcement to inappropriate behavior

Extinction A behavior that has been reinforced for a period of is no longer and therefore, the behavior stops occurring. It is a behavior reduction technique that refers to breaking the association between a and a specific. (Miltenberger, 2001:87).

Extinction As long as behaviors are reinforced, they will to occur. If a behavior is no longer followed by a reinforcing consequence, the person will engaging in the behavior. Extinction Common misconception- extinction simply means the behavior. Extinction removing the reinforcer for a behavior. Ignoring the problem behavior functions as extinction only if is the reinforcer. Example: Child is crying for attention from adults Extinction = removing adult attention whenever the child cries Adults give attention when child is not crying

9 RESEARCH-BASED TEACHING PROCEDURES 1. PAIR TEACHING ENVIRONMENTS WITH REINFORCEMENT AND USE COMPETING REINFORCERS (Lalli, Vollmer, Progar, Wright, Borrero, Daniel, Barthold, Tocco and May, 1999; Michael, 1993, De Leon et al. 2001; Piazza, et al 1997, Lalli and Casey, 1996; Harding, et al, 1999; Fisher and Mazur, 1997.) 2. FADE IN EFFORT/DIFFICULTY OF TASKS (Wacker, Steep, Northup, Sasso, Berg, Reimers, Cooper, Cigrand and Donn, 1990; Iwata, Smith and Michael, Homer and Day, 1991; Weld and Evans, 1990; Richman, Wacker and Winborn, 2001.) 3. FADE IN NUMBER OF DEMANDS (Weld & Evans, 1990; Pace, Iwata, Cowdery, Andree, and McIntyre, 1993; Zaracone, Iwata, Vollmer, Jagtiani, Smith, and Mazaleski, 1993; Zarcone, Iwata, Smith, Mazaleski and Lerman, 1994; Pace, Ivanic and Jefferson, 1994; Piazza, Moes and Fisher, 1996)

9 RESEARCH-BASED TEACHING PROCEDURES 4. REDUCE STUDENT ERRORS (Terrace, 1963; Sidman and Stoddard, 1966; Sailor, Guess, Rutherford, and Baer 1968; Reese, Howard and Rosenberger, 1977; Etzel and LeBlanc, 1979; Alltman, Hobbs, Roberts and Haavik, 1980;Carr, Newsom and Binkoff; 1980; Weeks and Gaylord-Ross, 1981; Touchette and Howard, 1984; Can and Durand, 1985; Lancioni and Smeets, 1986; Woolery, Bailey and Sugai, 1988; Durand, 1990; Homer and Day, 1991; Woolery, Ault and Doyle, 1992; Cameron, Luiselli, McGrath and Carlton, 1992; Cameron,Ainsleigh and Bird, 1992; Sprague and Homer, 1992; Heckman, Alber, Hooper and Heward, 1998; Smith and Iwata, 1997; Woolery, Ault and Doyle, 1992.) 5. INTERSPERSE EASY AND DIFFICULT DEMANDS (Singer, Singer and Homer, 1987; Mace, Hock, Lalli, West, Belfiore, Pinter & Brown, D. F. 1988. Mace and Belfiore, 1990; Harchick and Putzier, 1990; Homer, Day, Sprague, O'Brien and Healthfield, 1991; Zarcone, Iwata, Hughes and Vollmer, 1993)

9 RESEARCH-BASED TEACHING PROCEDURES 6. MIX AND VARY INSTRUCTIONAL DEMANDS (Dunlap and Koegel,1984; Winterling, Dunlap and O'Neil; Dunlap, 1984) 7. PACE INSTRUCTION PROPERLY (Carnine, 1976; Weeks and Gaylord-Ross, 1981; Carnine and Engelmann, 1982; Dunlap, Dyer and Koegel, 1983; West and Sloane, 1986; Cameron, Luiselli, McGrath and Carlton, 1992; Zanolli, Daggett, and Pestine, 1995) 8. TEACH TO FLUENCY (Binder, 1982; 1984; 1990; 1996) 9. ESCAPE EXTINCTION (Zaracone, Iwata, Smith, Mazaleski, and Lerman, 1994; Pace, Ivanic, and Jefferson, 1994.)

What is behavior? Anything an individual can do Appropriate and inappropriate behavior Being quiet, riding a bike, eating with utensils, reading, yelling, laughing, cleaning, hitting, etc.

Baseline Data Baseline data can assist in: Developing realistic objectives Establishing performance criteria Evaluating the effectiveness of an intervention Determine whether the intervention is warranted at the current time

Why take data? Track progress over time Determine whether a different course of action is needed Assess the influence of other factors (i.e., diet, sleep, & other educational programs) Functions of Behavior 100 80 60 40 20 0 1/1/1900 1/2/1900 1/3/1900 1/4/1900

What to measure Frequency Duration Intensity RPM %

Name the best measurement Out of seat Humming Rude, disrespect # of math problems correct Tantrums screaming, flopping to floor, kicking, hitting, biting # of social interactions

How We learn The A-B-C s Antecedent What occurs immediately before a behavior Direction given Stand up. Another behavior child begins to stamp feet A person someone enters the room Setting change enters the bathroom Another person s behavior - other child answers question

How We learn The A-B-C s Behavior A reaction to the antecedent Following direction stands up Verbal response says no Compliance sits quietly Non-compliance screams SIB hand biting Self-stimulatory behavior flapping, rocking

How We learn The A-B-C s Consequence What happens immediately following a behavior Behavior is rewarded verbal praise, sticker Behavior is ignored turn away Told no No hitting Removed time out Someone else laughs or yells sibling, classmate, teacher, parent

The A-B-C s Learning Theory We can use antecedents and consequences to affect behavior Antecedents set the occasion for a behavior to occur If the antecedent changes, the behavior may change A consequence is any change in the environment that occurs as a result of the behavior If it is a desirable consequence, it is likely the behavior will occur again in the future

Reinforcement Any consequence that strengthens the behavior it follows A reinforcer Is a consequence Immediately follows the behavior Should be used consistently Strengthens the behavior In frequency, and/or In intensity, and/or In duration Should be functional and individualized Can be used to maintain a previously learned behavior Can be used to teach a new behavior

Behavior Analytic Lingo = Increase, Strengthen = Decrease, Reduce Look at the effects on behavior

Functions of behavior Tangible: child wants a specific item For example: I want to watch a video, or I want juice. Attention: child wants your attention For example: Pay attention to me Avoid or Escape: child is trying to avoid or escape a situation For example: I don t want to do this. I don t like this situation. Self-stimulatory/stereotypic behaviors: may increase pleasure or decrease discomfort This feels good. I don t know what else to do. I m bored.

Functional Analysis FA is done to determine function or cause of behavior. Once you know the function you can treat the behavior TREAT NOT!

Changing Behavior With good assessment and teaching, most behaviors can be changed without ever needing to use aversive procedures

Positive Reinforcement Why is positive reinforcement your best option? Focus on adaptive behavior What the person should be doing Focus on expanding repertoire, independence How else could the person achieve his goal? More fun, relaxed, happy Working toward goal, instead of getting out of unpleasant situation

Types of Reinforcement reinforcers satisfies a basic human need, such as food, drink or warmth reinforcers Social praise, privilege, activity, game, token, money. Secondary reinforcers become desirable over time because of their association with primary reinforcers Do not satisfy a basic human need

Secondary Reinforcers Verbal No cost, easy to give, immediate May need to be paired with primary reinforcers at first Good job! Way to go! You are so smart! Social No cost, fun to give May need to be paired with primary reinforcers at first Smile, hug, high-five, tickle Tangible Easy to deliver Can be costly or cumbersome Inherently reinforcing Toys, books, games, activities

Premack Principle Behavior is increased by the opportunity to engage in another more preferred behavior Example dinner, then dessert Eating dinner will increase to gain access to dessert Example homework, then play outside Homework behavior will increase to get outside

When delivering reinforcement Reinforce correct responses immediately Save the biggest for the best Be clear Be creative Be a ham Gradually de-emphasize primary reinforcers Fade reinforcement gradually

Fair Pair Rule For every inappropriate behavior you target to decrease, teach at least one new skill BEHAVIOR

Tangible-Motivated behavior Antecedent Keep desired objects out of reach until you are ready to use them as reinforcers Teach the child to request preferred items appropriately Teach the child to wait (e.g., OK, you can have it in 5 seconds, after you finish this problem ) Consequence Reinforce appropriate waiting Reinforce appropriate requests for preferred items

For Attention-Motivated Behaviors Antecedent Teach the child to request attention appropriately Actively teach waiting and give specific instructions of what to do while waiting Consequence As a reinforcer, provide lavish praise and attention Tell what a great job he is doing waiting Provide attention when the child is acting appropriately Reinforce appropriate requests for attention

For Escape Motivated Behavior Antecedent Alter materials or structure of tasks to make it more enjoyable for the child Intersperse easy & difficult tasks Break the task down into simpler parts so the child will be successful Allow choice of activities Consequence Honor appropriate social rejections Reinforce appropriate work behavior before the problem behavior arises, end on a positive note Keep demand on!

For self-stimulatory behavior Antecedent Structure child s time carefully so he has something to do at all times Teach new skills so child can participate in other activities Have age appropriate materials available that accomplish the same function of the stim Consequence Earn access to age appropriate toys that serve a selfstimulatory function for reward for decreasing self-stim behavior Example: if child likes to look at lights-reward for not looking at the lights with a game of lite-brite Reinforce appropriate requests for these objects If child appropriately asks for lite-brite, give it

Guidelines for using extinction Consider other procedures for SIB or aggression, if you do use extinction use caution and a professional consultant Behavior can sometimes get worse before it gets better extinction burst Monitor progress by looking at graphs Monitor yourself to make sure you are not reinforcing behavior in subtle ways (expression, sighing, tone, etc.) Monitor others to make sure they do not reinforce the behavior

Antecedent Behavior Consequence Function? Teacher tellstommy to do math Adult turns to play with other child Tommy flicks object Tommy flicks object Teacher takes Tommy to time out Adult turns and grabs Tommy s hand says, No flicking.

Antecedent Behavior Consequence Function? Mom and Tommy are waiting in line at the supermarket Tommy flicks object Mom gives Tommy a lollipop from aisle display Tommy is playing with blocks Tommy flicks object Tommy laughs and continues to play

Changing Behavior REMEMBER: With good and teaching, most behaviors can be without ever needing to use aversive procedures

Response cost The withdrawal of access to a preferred object, activity, or person as a consequence to the occurrence of the targeted behavior.

Guidelines for using response cost Monitor progress by looking at graphs Avoid the nothing to lose syndrome Be sure to provide plenty of reinforcers, especially for appropriate alternative behaviors Preference for all activities and items must be assessed on an individual basis. For example, taking away coffee from someone who does not like coffee will not work well.

Time out Withdrawal of the opportunity to earn positive reinforcement for a specified period of time Non exclusion time out Planned ignoring Time out ribbon/bracelet Exclusion time out Time out room Partition hallway

Guidelines for Considering the use of Time out Rule out medical, dental, or physiological cause Always take data to conduct careful assessment first. Consider the function of the behavior and then teach an appropriate replacement Always use differential reinforcement procedures along with behavior reduction procedures Always evaluate the procedure and take data Have others watch you implement the procedure Always consider the least Restrictive Alternative, use positive procedures instead of aversive

Questions? Thank you for attending!