Module 4: Behavior Reduction
Behavior Analyst Certification Board Registered Behavior Technician™ (RBT®) 2nd ed. Task List
A-02 Implement continuous measurement.
F-3 Communicate with stakeholders (e.g. family, caregivers, other professionals) as authorized.
D-01 Identify the essential components of a written behavior reduction plan.
D-02 Describe common functions of behavior.
D-03 Implement interventions based on the modification of antecedents such as motivating/establishing operations and discriminative stimuli
D-04 Implement differential reinforcement procedures.
D-05 Implement extinction procedures.
E-01 Effectively communicate with supervisor
F-02 Respond appropriately to feedback and maintain or improve performance accordingly.
Functions of Behavior
So far, you have learned that reinforcement can be used to increase desirable behavior. The reinforcement of desirable replacement behaviors can also help to decrease undesirable behavior. But first, it is necessary to identify why the behavior is occurring. This is referred to as the function of the behavior. Both desirable and undesirable behaviors are maintained by a reinforcer(s) which are categorized into functions. There are four functions of behavior: Tangible, Attention, Escape and Automatic reinforcement.
Tangible (Social Positive Reinforcement): Behavior maintained by access to an item or activity.
Examples: A client enjoys their train toy. When the toy is removed, the client whines. The toy is given back contingent on whining. The client engages in whining more frequently in the future due to tangible reinforcement.
A client sees a fun activity across the room and bolts to access it. They engage with the activity for a few moments before the paraprofessional is able to take it away and redirect the client back to task. The client engages in bolting more frequently in the future due to tangible reinforcement.
A client engages in a correct response during a discrete trial and then gains access to playing with a wand immediately afterward. The client responds correctly more frequently in the future due to tangible reinforcement.
Attention (Social Positive Reinforcement): Behavior maintained by verbal or physical attention from others.
Examples: Paraprofessionals provide a client praise for engaging in a desired behavior. The client engages in desired behavior more frequently in the future due to the attention provided contingent on the behavior. While the client is flopped on the floor, the paraprofessional says stand up and provides physical prompts to stand. The client flops to the floor more frequently in the future due to the attention provided contingent on the behavior.
Escape (Social Negative Reinforcement): Behavior maintained by the removal of an unpleasant stimulus (person, place, or thing).
Examples: During a transition to a non-preferred activity, a client flops to the floor and is told by paraprofessionals that they no longer must engage in the activity. The client flops during transitions to non-preferred activities more frequently in the future due to the escape provided contingent on the behavior. In a noisy room, a client elopes from the room and does not have to hear the noise any longer. The client bolts from a loud environment more frequently in the future due to the escape provided contingent on the behavior. When presented with a difficult demand, the client negotiates a way for them to do something else. The client negotiates more frequently in the future due to the escape provided contingent on the behavior.
Automatic: Behavior maintained by sensory stimulation (automatic positive reinforcement). Behavior maintained by pain attenuation (automatic negative reinforcement).
Examples: Hand clapping produces a sound and sensation. The client engages in hand clapping frequently in the future due to automatic (positive) reinforcement produced by the behavior. Making vocalizations which produce different sounds and sensations on the vocal chords. The client engages in vocalizations more frequently in the future due to automatic (positive) reinforcement produced by the behavior.
Rubbing on the temple area during a headache attenuates the pain of the headache. The client engages in temple rubbing more frequently in the future due to automatic (negative) reinforcement produced by the behavior.
The function of the behavior is determined after data collection and evaluation via a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) and/or a Functional Analysis (FA) conducted by a BCBA. You will learn more about functional assessment procedures in Module 6.
Video Examples
Functions of fitness behavior videos. In the first video, functions of fitness behavior are covered. remember, our behavior has a purpose, that is learned…even in the gym! Understanding the consequences can help you better make fitness behavior decisions. In the second video the ABC’s and function s of fitness behavior are outlined.
https://behaviorfit.com/blog/3-functions-of-fitness-behavior/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kzicLHgcrU
Behavior Reduction: Consequence Strategies
Differential Reinforcement Reinforcement can be used not only to increase desirable behavior, but to help decrease undesirable behavior. For instance, differential reinforcement entails providing reinforcement specifically for desirable behavior. Differential reinforcement is often paired with extinction for the undesirable behavior, meaning that reinforcement in not provided for the undesirable behavior. Specifically, during the process of extinction, reinforcement of a previously reinforced behavior is withheld, thereby decreasing the behavior in the future (Cooper, Heron & Heward, p. 457). Although extinction results in a decrease in behavior, it should not be confused with punishment. In order to use extinction, you must know the function of the behavior so that the functional reinforce can be withheld (You do not need to know the function of the behavior when using punishment). Therefore, extinction can be used to decrease behaviors that are maintained by attention, escape, tangible or sensory functions. For behaviors maintained by attention, differential reinforcement with extinction entails withholding attention for undesirable behavior and only providing attention for the occurrence of desired behavior. Example: Client screams when their parent leaves the room. Attention from the parent is not provided for screaming. Attention may be provided for the child calling the parent’s name at a reasonable volume, the child waiting quietly for a period, or the child going up to the parent and saying “excuse me” to gain their parent’s attention. For behaviors maintained by escape, differential reinforcement with extinction would entail providing escape for appropriate behavior and not allowing escape contingent on undesirable behavior. Example: Escape is provided for appropriate responses such as “I need a break” and not provided contingent on challenging behavior such as physical or verbal aggression. For behaviors maintained by tangibles, differential reinforcement with extinction would entail providing tangibles for appropriate behavior and not providing tangibles contingent on undesirable behavior. Example: Tangibles are provided for desired responses such as waiting for a period, completion of school work, and requesting appropriately and not provided contingent on challenging behavior such as physical or verbal aggression. For behaviors maintained by automatic reinforcement, differential reinforcement with extinction would entail providing sensory stimulation during designated times and not allowing sensory stimulation at other times. Example: In instances where the behavior is maintained by a sensory function, the behavior may be blocked and redirected during teaching time and allowed during free play time. When reinforcement is withheld, an extinction burst may occur. This may result in a temporary increase in the occurrence of challenging behavior. It is important that the challenging behavior is not reinforced during this time as it could make the behavior even worse due to reinforcing a higher intensity of the behavior. By continuing to withhold reinforcement during an extinction burst, the behavior will eventually decrease. Typically, an extinction burst indicates that the function maintaining the behavior has been accurately identified and the procedure is working (Cooper, Heron & Heward, p. 462). However, it is important to note that reinforcement must always be used in conjunction with extinction. This is ethically necessary because a child will be less likely to engage in a lengthy extinction burst if they have been taught how to access the reinforcer by alternate means. For instance, if you teach a child to appropriately gain attention by using differential reinforcement while you also withhold attention for inappropriate means of accessing attention such as aggression, the treatment will be more effective because the client will have an alternative means of accessing the reinforcer, overtime making it unnecessary to engage in the challenging behavior that was previously reinforced by the same reinforcer ( in this case attention). There are different types of differential reinforcement.
Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior (DRA) is when reinforcement is provided following a replacement or alternative behavior that is being fostered in place of a challenging behavior targeted for decrease.
Functional Communication Training (FCT) is a treatment procedure based on DRA. Once the results of an FBA identify the function of a client’s challenging behavior, FCT may be used to teach an appropriate replacement behavior. FCT teaches an appropriate communication response based on the function of the challenging behavior. The FCT response must serve the same function as the undesirable behavior (Cooper, Heron & Heward, p. 471). Therefore examples of communication that may be taught could be “Play with me” to request attention and replace challenging behavior maintained by access to attention, “I need a break,” or “all done” to request escape and replace challenging behavior maintained by escape and “I want (item)” to request a tangible and replace challenging behavior maintained by access to tangibles. For clients that cannot vocally communicate, sign language, picture exchange, or a voice output device can be used to promote functional communication. The previously learned prompting strategies can be used to teach whichever functional communication response is appropriate for the client.
There are certain components that should be considered before implementing DRA (Cooper, Heron, & Heward). Select alternative behavior The alternative behavior should be a behavior that is already established in the client’s repertoire that requires equal or less response effort than the undesirable behavior and has multiple opportunities for reinforcement so that it can be reinforced as much as possible in the client’s natural environment.
Select reinforcers that are powerful and can be delivered consistently Differential reinforcement procedures are most effective when they serve the same function as the undesirable behavior. A Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) and/or preference assessment should be conducted prior to implementing these procedures to ensure that the replacement behavior and its reinforcement is effective. The reinforcer should be such that it can be delivered consistently.
Reinforcing Alternative Behavior Immediately and Consistently Module 2 outlined the importance of the immediacy of reinforcement and how lasting behavior change cannot occur without it. Consistent reinforcement that is systematically faded after the desired behavior is established is a critical component to DRA being used effectively. In Module 5, we will review the benefits of continuous and intermittent schedules of reinforcement.
Withhold Reinforcement from The Challenging Behavior (Extinction) When using DRA procedures, it is important to withhold reinforcement from the undesirable/challenging behavior (extinction) and only reinforce occurrences of the alternative behavior.
Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior (DRO) entails providing reinforcement for the absence of the challenging behavior for a specific period of time. An example of this would be a paraprofessional providing a token on a token board each time a client is 10 minutes free of aggression. Once the client earns 3 tokens ( 30 minutes free of aggression) they earn access to their video games for 30 minutes.
There are also certain considerations when using DRO (Cooper, Heron, & Heward): Recognize the limitations of DRO Although the targeted behavior does not occur during the DRO interval, other undesirable behaviors may occur during the interval that could inadvertently be reinforced. Reinforcement should be provided in the absence of all undesirable behaviors as to not inadvertently reinforce other undesirable behaviors.
Set Initial DRO intervals that assure frequent reinforcement The initial intervals that are set should be established to guarantee that reinforcement will be contacted. This is accomplished by the supervising BCBA collecting baseline data and then calculating the average inter response time (IRT). After determining the average IRT, the BCBA will likely set the initial interval just below the average to ensure that the client is successful with the program and first/receives reinforcement for the absence of the challenging behavior. Then over time, the interval will be increased.
Gradually increase the DRO interval As mentioned above, the interval can be increased over time to increase the legit of time the client can go without engaging in the challenging behavior and fade the procedure. When increasing the interval, it, in turn, fades reinforcement. This should be done systematically, based on data from the client’s responding, and should be done consistently over time.
Extend the application of DRO to other settings and times of day Generalization of the DRO interval and procedure to other settings and people will increase the effectiveness of the procedure and the effects on responding.
Combine DRO with other procedures As in DRA, depending upon the severity of the undesirable behavior, DRO exclusively may not be the most effective treatment. Combining DRO with extinction may increase the effectiveness of the treatment for severe undesirable behaviors. Differential Reinforcement of Low Rates of Responding (DRL) When a behavior occurs too frequently, this procedure is used to decrease (but not eliminate) the behavior. Reinforcement is provided after an occurrence of a target behavior. This reinforcement can be provided at the termination of a session or interval if responses occur less than or equal to the predetermined criteria.
There are also certain considerations to using DRL. Recognize the limitations of DRL DRL should not be used for severe undesirable behaviors as the use of this procedure results in a gradual decrease in behavior. Choose the most appropriate DRL procedure Identifying if reinforcement occurs after a session or interval affects the decrease in behavior. Use baseline data to guide the selection of the initial response or IRT limits Contact with reinforcement is important when using differential reinforcement. As with DRO, calculating the mean IRT and setting criteria below it will assist with the success of the program by increasing the likelihood of the client meeting the criteria and accessing reinforcement. Gradually thin the DRL schedule As with DRO, thinning this schedule and fading the frequency of reinforcement should occur systematically until the desired number of responses is met.
Behavior Reduction: Antecedent Strategies
In Module 1, an antecedent was defined as a stimulus or environmental change that occurs prior to the behavior of interest (Cooper, Heron & Heward, p. 28). If you recall, there are two types of antecedents. In module 3, we discussed discriminative stimulus (SD ). These are stimuli that come before a behavior and signal available consequences. An S D signals the availability of reinforcement, due to a previous learning history in which the SD came before a behavior that was followed by reinforcement (Cooper, Heron & Heward, p. 261). We also reviewed motivating operations (MOs), which also occur before a behavior occurs and momentarily make a reinforcer more or less valuable, thereby momentarily increasing or decreasing the likelihood of responding. MOs are also known as setting events. MOs may arise that can attribute to challenging behavior. When such variables (e.g. lack of sleep, hunger, sickness) are present altering the environment may be necessary to manage behavior. Noncontingent reinforcement is an antecedent manipulation that can be used to alter motivating operations. In this strategy, reinforcement is provided regardless of whether or not the target behavior occurs (free access or frequent scheduled access to reinforcement). As a result, of the client receiving increased access to reinforcement, satiation will occur. Therefore, they will be less likely to engage in challenging behavior to gain access to reinforcement (Cooper, Heron & Heward, p. 489). For example if a client engages in attention maintained challenging behavior and a paraprofessional provides attention on a set schedule (e.g. every 2 minutes) the client receives frequent attention, and is less likely to engage in challenging behavior to access attention. High Probability Request Sequence is a procedure in which the paraprofessional will prompt the client to engage in several, simple tasks within their repertoire before presenting the target task. These tasks should be presented in quick succession and reinforcement should be provided after each correct response (Cooper, Heron & Heward, p. 492). Example: Paraprofessional states: “ Clean up” and client does not comply. Paraprofessional then conducts this sequence “Clap hands”(high probability behavior) -reinforcement for compliance “Touch nose”(high probability behavior) -reinforcement for compliance “Touch head” (high probability behavior) -reinforcement for compliance “Clean up” (target task) – reinforcement for compliance Premack Principle When a client does not engage in a desired response or engages in low frequency response, the likelihood that the desired response occurs can be increased using the Premack Principle. In this procedure, this lesser desirable response is required before a response that the client will be more likely to engage in. As a result, the client will engage in the less desirable response to engage in the more desirable response. Therefore, the more desirable response serves as a reinforcer for engaging in the less desirable response (Cooper, Heron & Heward, p. 271). Example: “First eat the broccoli (less desirable), then you can eat the chocolate (more desirable).” The client will eat the broccoli to gain access to eating the chocolate. The chocolate serves as a reinforcer for eating the broccoli.
Behavior Reduction Plans
When implementing the behavior reduction procedures mentioned in this chapter, or any other behavior reduction procedures, A Behavior Reduction Plan (BRP) is necessary. A BRP is a plan written by a BCBA, outlining the challenging behaviors targeted for decrease, the replacement behaviors targeted for increase and how to run the interventions necessary to execute the interventions. These types of plans may also be referred to as a Behavior Intervention Plan, Behavior Plan, Behavior Management Guidelines, Behavior guidelines or other similar names. In this Module, this document will be referred to as a Behavior Reduction Plan (BRP). BRP’s are individualized and written specifically for each client’s needs, therefore, each BRP will be different. Within this document protected health information (PHI). This PHI may include a client’s name, psychosocial information, diagnosis, and rationale for the BRP. We will review PHI in Module 7. This document should be kept private and only used as prescribed when working with the client. Several sections make up the document. The client’s challenging behaviors will be listed along with their operational definitions (operational definitions will be reviewed in Module 5) and hypothesized function of each challenging behavior. Paraprofessionals should be aware of which undesirable behaviors their client engages in, what those undesirable behaviors look like and what the function is. Earlier in this chapter, we reviewed antecedent interventions. Within a BRP, common antecedents that evoke the undesirable behavior will be listed. The antecedent interventions to implement to decrease the likelihood of challenging behavior will also be outlined. For example, an antecedent strategy for escape-maintained behavior may be interspersing easy task with hard task as in the high-probability request sequence to increase compliance with the task. We have learned a variety of different behavior reduction strategies. However, we have also learned that challenging behavior does not just disappear. It is replaced with other behavior. A required section of the BRP is the inclusion of appropriate replacement behaviors. Teaching strategies for each replacement behaviors should also be included. Reinforcement procedures to teach appropriate replacement behaviors will be outlined as part of the teaching strategy. These reinforcers are identified via a preference assessment (Module 6) and are delivered on a prescribed schedule of reinforcement as discussed in Module 2. Therefore, all such information should be included within the BRP. Lastly, data collection procedures for each challenging behavior and replacement behavior will be outlined for the paraprofessional. Data collection will be discussed in later modules regarding measurement. It is also important to note that consent for BRP’s should be received by parents/guardians before implementing the procedures listed in the document. Training on how to implement the procedures must also take place prior to implementing the plan. Therefore, the BCBA will train each paraprofessional using behavioral skills training (BST) as discussed in module 3. implementing the BRP. This training also includes a BST model as described in Module 3.
Treatment Integrity
Treatment integrity is the extent to which an intervention for a client is implemented as designed. Decisions regarding treatment selection and modification are data driven. Therefore, data are collected on the proper implementation of an intervention. There are different types of Treatment integrity errors. Consistency Errors are the failure to implement the procedure/treatment on every occasion as it is supposed to be conducted. Accuracy Errors are the failure to implement the procedure/treatment in its entirety or as written (e.g. poor quality, missing steps). Errors of omission are the failure to implement the procedure/treatment or neglecting to implement specific components of the procedure/treatment. Errors of commission entail adding components that are not part of the procedure/treatment Treatment integrity failures can become problematic as they can result in a potentially effective treatment being ineffective due to it not being adhered to and run as written. Lack of treatment integrity can also result in inconsistent responding from clients, slower progress for skill acquisition, minimal or inconsistent decreases in undesirable behavior, unnecessary and frequent changes in programming, or lack of generalization because parents or caregivers are implementing skills that are modeled by paraprofessionals incorrectly. It is imperative that paraprofessionals implement the behavior plan and programs as trained and written. However, in some cases, multiple responsibilities or behaviors are interfering with correct implementation. For example, paraprofessionals may have to work with multiple clients simultaneously or a client may be engaging in multiple behaviors. In other instances, the response effort to implement the procedure may be too extensive for the paraprofessionals to implement effectively. Therefore, communication between the paraprofessional and the BCBA is integral to treatment success. To maintain treatment integrity, paraprofessionals should ask for clarification and feedback throughout and after training of a procedure. If a program is difficult to implement or hard to understand, paraprofessional should seek immediate assistance from a supervisor to ensure treatment integrity and ultimately client progress.