Decreasing Behavior with Nonpunishment Procedures Chapters 21, 22, 23.
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Transcript of Decreasing Behavior with Nonpunishment Procedures Chapters 21, 22, 23.
What Does Nonpunishment Mean?
Punishment Occurs when a stimulus change immediately
follows a response and Decreases the future frequency of that type of
behavior in similar conditions Nonpunishment procedures that decrease
behavior Extinction Differential reinforcement arrangements Antecedent arrangements
Differential Reinforcement Arrangements Used to Decrease Behavior
Differential Reinforcement: reinforcing one response class and withholding reinforcement for another response class
As a behavior reduction procedure, DR is… Providing reinforcement contingent upon the occurrence of
behavior other than the problem behavior
Or contingent upon a reduced rate of the problem behavior
Withholding reinforcement as much as possible for the problem behavior
Differential Reinforcement of…
Incompatible Behavior (DRI) Alternative Behavior (DRA) Other Behavior (DRO) Low Rates of Responding (DRL) High Rates of Responding (DRH)
DRA
Reinforcement of an appropriate alternative to the problem behavior
Withholding of reinforcement following instances of problem behavior (extinction)
Sometimes the new behavior is a communication response that results in the same reinforcer as the target behavior: Functional Communication Training (FCT)
Sometimes the new behavior and the problem behavior can’t be done at the same time – this is called DRI – what’s the benefit of this?
Implementing DRA and DRI
Select incompatible and alternative behaviors that are Require equal or less effort than the problem behavior If possible, already in the learner’s repertoire Likely to be reinforced in the learner’s natural environment
Select reinforcers that are Powerful – try to use same reinforcer that maintains problem behavior
if you can! Can be delivered consistently and immediately (than switch from CRF
to Intermittent schedule) Withhold reinforcement for the problem behavior (Extinction) Combine with other procedures if the behavior is destructive
or dangerous
Should the Replacement Behavior Be Saying “I’m angry”?
It may be true that a student is feeling angry, sad, or frustrated
Will teaching the student to say, “I’m angry” be an appropriate replacement behavior? What reinforcer will be delivered contingent upon “I’m
angry”? How will another person know what to do in response to
that statement? Learning to describe emotions is an important skill
But it may be beneficial to teach a student to specify the reinforcer or engage in a functional skill instead
DRO Reinforcer is delivered contingent on the absence of a problem behavior – what’s the problem with the term DRO? Arranging a DRO schedule
Identify the target behavior’s reinforcer Identify the mean interresponse time (IRT) during baseline
Total of all baseline sessions/total number of responses Set the initial DRO value slightly less than the mean baseline IRT Deliver the reinforcer only at the end of intervals in which no target
behaviors have occurred (Interval DRO)or at a specific moment when no target behaviors are
occurring (Momentary DRO) Hint: think of momentary time sampling and partial interval
recording If the target behavior occurs, reset the interval
Guidelines for Using DRO
Interval DRO may be more effective than Momentary DRO But VM-DRO may be more practical
Increase the DRO interval gradually as behavior improves (recall LeBlanc, Hagopian, Maglieri, & Poling, 2002)
Watch for Other problem behaviors occurring
during the interval Problem behavior occurring at the
time of reinforcement Combine DRO with other procedures
Step Start at 15 s % incr
1 30 s 100%
2 45 s 50%
3 60 s 33%
4 90 s 50%
5 120 s 33%
6 160 s 33%
7 230 s 44%
8 330 s 43%
9 450 s 37%
10 600 s 33%
Antecedent Interventions Used to Decrease Behavior
Antecedent Intervention: Behavior change strategy in which motivating operations are manipulated
3 established antecedent interventions: Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) High-probability (Hi-p) request sequence Functional communication training (FCT)
NCR Reinforcer that maintains a problem behavior is delivered
on a fixed-time (FT) or variable-time (VT) schedule (also continuous) Independent of the learner’s behavior
How is noncontingent reinforcement a misnomer?
Vollmer et al. (1998)
How Does NCR manipulate Motivating Operations?
Abolishing Operation: Motivating operation that decreases the reinforcing effectiveness of a consequence e.g., food consumption decreases the reinforcing effectiveness
of food In the case of NCR…
Noncontingent access to attention decreases the reinforcing effectiveness of attention (social SR+)
Noncontingent access to escape decreases the reinforcing effectiveness of escape (social SR-)
Noncontingent access to sensory stimulation decreases the reinforcing effectiveness of sensory stimulation (automatic SR+)
Guidelines for Using NCR
First conduct Functional AssessmentUse with extinction or DROInitial time interval should be dense and
then thinned Total duration of all baseline sessions/total
number of occurrences of the problem behavior
Set the initial interval slightly below this
Advantages and Disadvantages of NCR Advantages
Easy to use Creates positive
learning environment If used with extinction,
can reduce extinction burst
Chance pairing of productive behavior and NCR could strengthen the productive behavior
Disadvantages Free access to NCR
stimuli may reducte motivation to engage in adaptive behavior
Chance pairing of non-productive behavior and NCR could strengthen the non-productive behavior
High-P Request Sequence
Teacher presents 2-5 easy-to-follow requests for which the learner has a history of compliance (hi-p)
When the learner complies, the teacher immediately gives the target request for which the learner has a history of noncompliance (low-p)
Sometimes called behavioral momentum
How Does the High-P Request Sequence Manipulate MOs?
Reinforcement during the high-p requests reduces the value of escape from the low-p request Makes the situation less aversive
Selecting the Hi-p Requests
Selecting the hi-p requests Create a list of requests Present each one in 5 separate sessions Hi-p requests are those that the student
complies with 100% of the time
Functional Communication Training
Conduct a functional assessment Use the reinforcer maintaining problem behavior to teach
a communication response Can be vocalization, sign, written word, picture, voice
output system, gesture How do you do this???
Best if combined with extinction Rather than changing the MO, FCT develops an
alternative behavior that is sensitive to the MO that evokes the target problem behavior
Advantages & Disadvantages of FCT Advantages
Generalization & Maintenance of the communicative response
High social validity When using FRI,
may be effective without using extinction
Disadvantages Usually includes
extinction and side effects of extinction
Extinction is very difficult to use consistently
Inappropriate high rates of new response
These may occur at impossible times
Extinction
Procedure: Discontinuation of the response-reinforcer relationship
Process: decline in response rate caused by withholding reinforcement
Extinction is procedurally different depending on what the maintaining reinforcer of the behavior is…how? What are possible categories of maintaining reinforcers? How do you know what reinforcer maintains a behavior?
Iwata, Pace, Cowdery, and Miltenberger (1994)
EXT (Sensory)EXT (Escape)EXT (Attention)
TreatmentIrrelevantIrrelevantAutomatic SR+
(Sensory)
IrrelevantTreatmentContra-
indicatedSocial SR- (Escape)
IrrelevantContra-
indicatedTreatment
Social SR+
(Attention)
What Makes Extinction Work: An Analysis of Procedural Form and Function
Misuse of the term Extinction
Extinction is NOT just any decrease in behavior Extinction is NOT the same as forgetting
What’s forgetting? Extinction is NOT the same as response blocking Extinction is not necessarily ignoring
Characteristics of Extinction
Extinction alone has not been well-studied in humans in applied settings!
In ABA, we always combine extinction with other procedures (“treatment package”)
Although these characteristics have been clearly documented in basic research, apply them cautiously to your learners Initial increase in response frequency and magnitude
Extinction burst: immediate increase in the frequency of a response after the discontinuation of reinforcement
Gradual decrease in frequency and magnitude “Emotional responses” (e.g., aggression, crying) Extinction-induced variability Spontaneous recovery
Resistance to Extinction Initial continued responding during an extinction procedure Variables Affecting RTE:
Schedule of reinforcement Intermittent schedules produce… Variable schedules produce… Thinner schedules of SR produce…
Motivating Operations RTE is greater when carried out with a strong EO in effect
Number, magnitude, and quality of reinforcement Effects are unclear!
Response effort A low effort response is more resistant to extinction
Number of previous extinction trials The 2nd extinction is…
Guidelines for Effective Use of Extinction
Withhold all reinforcers maintaining the problem behavior Withhold reinforcement consistently Combine extinction with other behaviors Use instructions Plan for extinction-produced aggression Increase the number of extinction trials Include significant others in extinction Guard against unintentional extinction Maintain extinction-decreased behavior