UNIT 9 REPLIES Targeted Topics in ABA
I’m studying for my Psychology class and need an explanation.
In your responses to your peers’ primary posts, discuss the approaches used in their behavior intervention plans (BIPs). Be sure to discuss them using behavior analytic terminology, for example, antecedent modifications, Differential Reinforcement (DR), extinction, etc. Explain whether your peers’ BIP approaches would be effective – or not, in this particular scenario. If the approaches would not be effective, describe how the BIP could be modified to insure effectiveness.
In each response, add to your peer’s BIP by inserting generalization and maintenance approaches.
Peer 1
To determine the function of Tabitha’s behavior I would want to undertake 2 different FA’s. I would first start with an indirect assessment then I would conduct a Direct assessment so I could see any of the things that the teacher might be missing this way I will also have a better sense of what the function of the behavior is. (Cooper,2020) With the indirect assessment I would give Tabitha’s teacher and Tabitha’s parents questioners detailing the behavior and looking for past behavior that was similar. The questioner would also contain queations about her past that were relevant. I should also mention that before any of these steps are taken, I would have had a consent form attained by all parties (Cooper,2020). The next step would be to preform a direct FA. I would observe Tabitha 3 times for a period of three hours. By gathering information from the indirect and direct assessment I would be able to hypothesize the probable function of the behavior. The main ABCs I came up with were= A- doing independent work B- asks for teachers help by raising hand C- Teacher helps her each time also A- walking to school extras B- Tabitha breaks the line C- Tabitha must walk next to teacher. Finally A- Tabitha inline next to new girl B- Tabitha pushes new girl C- Tabitha must sit on bench next to teacher at recess. It is pretty obvious after doing both of the assessments that the probable function of her behavior is attainment of social attention, most likely from Mrs. Lake.
BIP
Tabitha was a very good student before this behavior began and it is safe to assume that she continues to be a good student. Mrs. Lake has already began a few interventions that I think can be used with a few tweaks. First she has already given non contingent reinforcement by placing Tabitha’s desk near her own. The next thing I would do would be to tell Tabitha that if she stayed in line on the walk to the cafeteria and P.E. for 2 times the next time she could lead and be next to Mrs, Lake. The final behavior she wants to target was the pushing of the new student. Mrs. Lake would tell Tabitha that if no incidents of pushing take place, then when recess comes she may sit next to her on the play ground. This is an example of DRO. The easiest way to see if the interventions are working would be to take note on a work sheet. First she would take note of the behavior and how often it occurred. Then she would take note of each time it occurred once the intervention was put in place.
References
Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., Heward, W. L. Applied Behavior Analysis. [Purdue University Global Bookshelf]. Retrieved from https://purdueuniversityglobal.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780134798769/
Peer 2
Hello class,
For Tabitha’s case, in order to identify the function of Tabitha’s behavior I would begin the functional behavior assessment by doing an indirect assessment of Tabitha’s behavior, and what this means is I would collect information from third party sources in regards to her behavior (Cooper, Heron & Heward, 2020). So in this case, I would reach out to Mrs. Lake and ask her questions regarding Tabitha’s behavior, also having her complete a data collection sheet of Tabitha’s typical daily behavior.
Next I would do a direct assessment of Tabitha’s behavior through direct observation of a day in the classroom to conduct an ABC analysis, and to also determine what intervention methods the teacher is using to address the target behavior.
After having conducted an FBA it can be determined that the probable function of Tabitha’s behavior is attainment of attention from Mrs. Lake. Based on the antecedents identified during the FBA, Mrs. Lake’s presence always served as an antecedent to Tabitha’s behavior. The consequence always resulted in Mrs. Lake negatively reinforcing Tabitha’s behavior by providing the attention she was looking for.
My function-based behavior intervention plan would involve differential reinforcement of alternate behavior with extinction, and what this means is that a behavior serving the same function will be identified as the target behavior, and only that behavior would be reinforced, while also using extinction to eliminate reinforcement of the inappropriate behavior (Cooper et al, 2020). For Tabitha’s case, the target behavior to be reinforced would be on-task behavior, such as staying in line quietly, completing her work during seat work time, and playing nicely with the new girl. The reinforcement I would use for this specific BIP is social reinforcement, since the function of her behavior was attainment of attention. Social reinforcement can be praise, hugs, a high five, or spending time with a preferred person (Cooper et al, 2020), so this would satisfy the implementation for differential reinforcement. When Tabitha displays disruptive behavior such as raising her hand during seat work time her behavior will be ignored, but when she displays on-task behavior during seat work time she will be reinforced with praise such as “Good job completing your assignment!” Reinforcement for not breaking the line or fighting with the new girl would also be in forms of praise such as “I’m proud of you for staying in line today” or “I noticed you playing nice with the new girl, I think that’s awesome!”
Because Mrs. Lake’s attention is what Tabitha’s behavior is functionally motivated by, she would be the one providing the intervention after attending a brief skills training program to teach her the basics of ABA to assist with implementing the intervention. In the classroom setting, I will be collecting data through indirect observation setting up a recording device. Outside the classroom Mrs. Lake will be the one to conduct a direct observation of Tabitha’s baseline and intervention behavior. We will use a ABA experimental design to display her behavior on a line graph to demonstrate the relationship between her behavior and the intervention.
-Esther
References:
Cooper, J., Heron, T., Heward, W., (2020). Applied Behavior Analysis, 3rd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
