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Melissa Johnson
Behavior Management Project- Part I
Site: Warren City School District: Lincoln K-8
Grade Level 4: Mrs. Mary Ellen Vencel
Supervisor: Dr. Leah Gongola
Youngstown State University
November 8, 2010
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I-A: Biographical Sketch
Richard is a nine-year-old student in Mrs. Bagby and Mrs. Vencel’s fourth grade
inclusion classroom at Lincoln K-8 School. Richard is one of five children in his family.
He loves hands-on activities because he loves to manipulate things to make them work.
It also gratifies him once he manipulates something to make it work the right way. For
example, Richard is very good at putting together a puzzle. Richard is currently not
involved in any activities outside of school; however, he has expressed great interest in
boy scouts.
Richard began his schooling at Lincoln in kindergarten and first grade. In the
first grade, Richard was put through a series of tests to further study his noticed
learning and behavior deficits. As a toddler, Richard had significant hearing problems,
which aided in speech delays. The speech delays he exhibited included articulation
problems and volume control issues. Richard also had behavior issues such as being
moody, aggressive, impulsive, and he had difficulty concentrating.
Due to the results of the findings, Richard’s parents felt he needed more intensive
intervention. The second half of his first grade experience was spent at the Potential
Development School of Autism located in Youngstown, Ohio. Richard remained at this
facility until the end of third grade. His current fourth grade year is now back at Lincoln
in the inclusion classroom. According to his IEP, Richard’s scores on the WISC-IV are
the following: verbal- 69 (low), perceptual- 61 (low), memory- 62 (low), processing
speed- 62 (low), IQ scale- 56 (low). Richard has also been diagnosed with PDD-NOS,
ADHD, and Mild Mental Retardation. PDD-NOS is defined as, “pervasive
developmental disorder not otherwise specified. In essence, it's a diagnosis that means
"on the autism spectrum, but not falling within any of the existing specific categories of
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autism (Rudy, 2010).” Key behaviors seen in ADHD are, “inattention, hyperactivity, and
impulsivity (NIMH, 2010).” According to Richard’s IQ, the observer feels this is where
the mental retardation diagnostic came into play. Goals for Richard are to improve his
academic ability and social skills. Academic skills include being able to count to 20,
write his name independently, write and understand upper and lower case letters and
knowing their sounds. Social skills include acting age appropriately. This means not
throwing fits, putting head down, talking back to others, calling others names, and
ignoring others. Richard also needs to understand that playing with bodily fluids such as
his spit is inappropriate and unacceptable behavior.
I-B: Rationale for Selection of Target Behavior
Richard demonstrates many different behaviors throughout his day. The observer
feels that most of these behaviors can be defined under one category, which is noncompliant behavior. What the observer wants to see from Richard is compliant
behaviors. Compliant behavior, defined, is when the student:

Looks at the speaker (eye contact)

Work
o Student does not refuse to work. Student does not put head down or
tell the instructor he will not do what is asked of him.
o Student does the work that is asked of him.

Uses appropriate words to express himself
o The student does not use hurtful words towards the speaker e.g.
dumb, stupid, hate, and curse words.
o Student uses feeling words to express himself. For example, “I
feel…” (e.g. sad, happy, mad)
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Shows respect to the speaker (teacher/peer)
o The student respects the speaker by:

Not talking out/shouting out

Raising hand and waiting to be called on

Not ignoring the speaker (not giving a verbal response when
asked a question)

Follows directions/prompts
o The student follows through with a direction or prompt
o The student does not do an entirely different action than what is
asked.
Many common occurrences of the non-compliant behavior observed happen due
to consequences, frustrations, and home-life effects. Richard does not handle
punishment, of any kind, well. For example, if Richard is disciplined for undesired
behavior by having something taken away, he normally begins to use hurtful words such
as “I hate this,” or “this is dumb.” When Richard is frustrated with curriculum or
material above his level of understanding, he will shut down immediately. He does this
by not listening, not looking, talking out, and using hurtful words towards the speaker.
Richard wants to be accepted by his peers, but when he can’t learn like they can, he does
whatever he can to hide the fact that he doesn’t understand the material presented to
him. When shutting down behavior occurs, Richard exhibits escape behavior. He wants
to get out of work immediately because he is scared that he might not be able to do it.
When he can’t do the work right away, he feels stupid and he voices that. When
Lastly, home-life effects come into play with Richard’s non-compliant behavior.
Richard has mentioned numerous times, when exhibiting the undesired behaviors
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mentioned, that he doesn’t get enough sleep, or other confidential factors take place in
his home-life. Desirable behaviors, compliant behaviors, are most likely to occur when
the student is working one on one with someone. This limits frustration. Also, when the
student is positively reinforced for his work with praise or candy, desired behavior is
more likely to occur. This is favored over negative consequence in Richard’s case. It can
be difficult to overcome factors that affect Richard’s behavior due to home-life, however
this requires more refocusing and continuous reinforcement for the desired behavior
displayed. It is important that compliant behavior be targeted for Richard, because his
non-compliant behaviors highly affect his learning.
I-C: Classroom Environment Description
In Richard’s homeroom, room 218, there are two teachers working together in a
co-teaching model in an inclusion setting. These teachers are Mrs. Bagby and Mrs.
Vencel. Mrs. Bagby is a general education teacher, and Mrs. Vencel is a special
education teacher. There are a total of 26 students in this room. Of the 26 students, 7
students are on IEPs. There are also a few students identified as “at-risk” learners who
do not have an IEP.
The teaching styles the two teachers exhibit that have been observed are; one
teach, one assist; one teach, one observe; and alternative teaching. There is a noticeable
rapport between the two teachers. They work very well together and give each the
opportunity to teach the class. They communicate with one another daily, and give each
other feedback. There is also an aide for Richard who makes sure certain actions are
completed in his daily routine according to his behavior plan. She will take Richard for
break times in the day, as well as help him in specials by keeping him focused.
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The classroom is set up in a very accessible and organized fashion. Upon
entering, immediately seen across the way is the general education teacher’s desk. The
positioning of the teacher’s desk here helps her to see the entire classroom, and gives
her the ability to see the doorway and who is coming in and going out of it. On the
teacher’s desk sits a computer, telephone and an ELMO. The telephone is used as a
direct line to the office, or can also be used to call other rooms in the school. It opens
lines of communication when teachers can’t leave their rooms. The computer and ELMO
are connected to the overhead projector on the ceiling of the room to aid in stimulation
of visual learning. In the storage cabinet next to the ELMO is where the DVD player, and
stereo system is stored. The stereo system is connected to speakers that are placed in the
ceiling of the room so the sound con be heard in the entire room. The system also has
microphones along with it to project the teacher or student’s voice in a lesson
stimulating auditory learning. Another filing cabinet directly behind the teacher’s chair
stores curriculum and student information. There are three dry erase boards on the wall
behind the teacher’s chair that can be seen by the entire class. There is also a portable
overhead projector for transparencies behind the teacher’s desk. The electrical outlet
under the dry erase boards is where the overhead projector is normally plugged in.
There is a pencil sharpener right near the door. On the other side of the doorway, there
is a sink. This is used for many purposes such as science experiments, hand-sanitizing
purposes, and also for students who may need a drink of water during instruction. Paper
towels are located right next to the sink to dry hands.
A rug is required in the room. This is due to having group read alouds. The rug in
this room is right underneath the dry erase boards, and near the general education
teacher’s desk in the front of the room. The placement of the rug helps students who
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have vision difficulties to sit there and get a closer view of projected material or things
written on the board. Near the sink, a counter top holds curriculum materials and
reinforcers. Overhead of the counter are cupboards also referred to as storage cabinets.
These cupboards start over the sink and create a 90-degree angle on that side of the
room travelling over the students’ lockers until they reach the small group instruction
table in the back of the room. A globe is also located on the counter by the sink. Student
desks in the middle of the room are placed in groups. The classroom is promoting
cooperative learning. In the back of the room is normally where the special education
teacher is found. She works one on one and in small groups with students with special
needs, and learners who are classified as “at-risk.” Computers are located in the back of
the room. Also on the far wall upon entering the room are four windows for natural
lighting accompanied by fluorescent lighting in the room. There are also leveled
bookshelves on that wall to promote independent reading for students. Finally, there are
two trashcans in the room. One is located by the door, and the other in the back by the
computers.
I-D: Arrangement Strategies
The observer was able to witness and accompany the teachers in the room to
create a new seating chart recently. Students on IEPs were purposely placed closer to
the back of the room so the special education teacher would have easy access to them to
help assist in their learning and monitor them. One of the students on an IEP was
placed closer to the door due to the fact that she has been on crutches for the past few
weeks, so this makes it easier for her to get to her seat. When considering grouping
students, the teachers needed to make sure groups were heterogeneous, and that
student on IEPs were not clumped into one group. Also learners who are “at-risk” are
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spread out and put into groups where other higher achieving students would be able to
aid them with their learning. The “s” on the computerized layout represents the students
with special needs, or the students on an IEP. Richard has been placed at the “s” desk
closest to the lima bean table. Therefore, if and when he needs to be pulled out of
instruction, it will not be noticeable to the rest of the classroom. It is also important for
the special education teacher to have easy access to Richard to monitor different
behaviors and academic struggles.
I-E: Computerized Sketch
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
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Layout Key:
9
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I-F: Baseline
Baseline: Non-Compliant Behavior
40
Number of Behaviors
35
30
25
20
Afternoon Behaviors
15
10
5
0
1
2
3
4
5
Days
6
7
8
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I-G: Anecdotal Summary
Monday- October 25, 2010
Data was collected from 12:20p-12:40p by the observer (Miss Johnson). The data
was recorded using event-recording procedures. This means that the recorder tallied
how many times the behavior occurred in the time interval. The data was collected in
the afternoon. The reason for this is due to the fact that the observer was aware of the
higher frustration the student exhibits in the afternoon compared to the morning. At
this time of the day, the student is in Ms. Shelton’s resource room; a smaller group
instruction setting. The main undesired behavior that occurred was that Richard
continued to talk out during instruction. He would also use hurtful words such as “I hate
doing this.” Consequences applied for the undesired behavior were verbal warnings, and
the “if, then” procedure. For example, “If you practice your letters for 10 minutes, then
you can play with legos.” The observer feels the function of this behavior is due to a
home-life effect that cannot be mentioned due to confidentiality purposes. Richard
eventually told Ms. Shelton about the issue toward the end of the period.
Tuesday- October 26, 2010
Data was collected from 12:20p-12:40p by the observer (Miss Johnson). The data
was recorded using event recording procedures. The main undesired behavior that
occurred was that Richard continued to talk out during instruction, and refused to work.
Consequences applied for the undesired behavior were verbal warnings, and the “if,
then” procedure. The observer feels the function of this behavior is due to a home-life
effect that cannot be mentioned due to confidentiality purposes. The event from the day
before only escalated to affect Richard’s behavior. The consequences were not shown to
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be effective, which then left the teacher to ignore the remaining behaviors for the rest of
the period.
Wednesday- October 27, 2010
Data was collected from 12:20p-12:40p by the observer (Miss Johnson). The data
was recorded using event-recording procedures. The main undesired behavior that
occurred was that Richard would not listen to instruction and would not follow
directions or prompts Ms. Shelton gave to him. Today, Ms. Shelton began a response
cost system for the whole small group. It seemed that Ms. Shelton ignored some of the
non-listening behavior; however, she would incorporate the response cost intervention
when Richard would not follow instruction. She did this by starting students out with
Lincoln Leader Bucks, and taking one away for the noticed undesired behaviors. This
only seemed to worsen behavior, since Richard does not respond well to negative
consequence. The observer feels the function of this behavior is due to frustration with
the material being covered in class. Regardless of Richard being refocused, he seemed to
just shut down.
Thursday- October 28, 2010
Data was collected from 12:20p-12:40p by the observer (Miss Johnson). The data
was recorded using event recording procedures. The main undesired behavior that
occurred was that Richard would not listen or look at the speaker during instruction.
Again, Ms. Shelton incorporated the response cost system which helped Richard to see
some of his undesired behaviors, however verbal warnings were still incorporated. This
made the intervention inconsistent. The observer feels the function of this behavior is
due to frustration with material. The material covered matched the instruction from the
day before, and Richard still did not comprehend the higher-level materials. The
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observer feels that Richard might already feel defeated with the material before even
giving it a try.
Monday- November 1, 2010
Data was collected from 12:20p-12:40p by the observer (Miss Johnson). The data
was recorded using event recording procedures. The main undesired behavior that
occurred was that Richard continued to talk out during instruction. He stayed unfocused
during the entire instruction time by asking, “when are we going back to Mrs. Bagby’s
class?” Consequences applied for the undesired behavior were verbal warnings, and the
“if, then” procedure. The observer feels the function of this behavior is due to frustration
with the material. Again, Richard does not seem to be entertaining the instruction due
to possible feeling of defeat.
Tuesday- November 2, 2010
Data was collected from 12:20p-12:40p by the observer (Miss Johnson). The data
was recorded using event recording procedures. The main undesired behavior that
occurred was that Richard would talk out in instruction. However, today was an
amazing day due to low undesired behavior occurrences. Richard only became
unfocused and talked out six times. Consequences administered were verbal warnings to
acknowledge the behavior. The observer feels this is because of a positive happening in
Richard’s home-life that he voiced to Ms. Shelton. Richard was raising his hand and
participating in class.
Wednesday- November 3, 2010
Data was collected from 12:20p-12:40p by the observer (Miss Johnson). The data
was recorded using event recording procedures. The main undesired behavior that
occurred was that Richard was shouting out, disrespecting both the teacher and
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observer, and not listening or complying to direction or prompts. He would also use
hurtful words such as “I hate doing this.” Consequences applied for the undesired
behavior were verbal warnings, and the “if, then” procedure. When Richard would
ignore these consequences, the teacher then ignored the rest of his behaviors for the rest
of the class period. The observer feels the function of this behavior is due to a home-life
effect and attention seeking functions. Richard seemed to want to get attention for
something, so his behavior only escalated when being ignored.
Thursday- November 4, 2010
Data was collected from 12:20p-12:40p by the observer (Miss Johnson). The data
was recorded using event recording procedures. The main undesired behavior that
occurred was that Richard was not listening or looking at the speaker during instruction.
Richard also used hurtful words about himself. Consequences applied for the undesired
behavior were verbal warnings, and the response cost intervention. The observer feels
the function of this behavior is due to a home-life effect of exhaustion by not getting
enough sleep and frustration with materials. Today, Richard would say things like, “I’m
dumb, I can’t do this.” In response to this, the teacher would simply say yes you can, and
continue instruction.
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Melissa Johnson
Behavior Management Project- Part II
Site: Warren City School District: Lincoln K-8
Grade Level 4: Mrs. Mary Ellen Vencel
Supervisor: Dr. Leah Gongola
Youngstown State University
December 1, 2010
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II-A: Instructional Support Lesson Plan
The behavioral objective for Richard will require him to maintain compliant
behavior in various ways. The following are the objectives that will aim to be
accomplished during the intervention:

Richard will maintain eye contact for three seconds with the speaker 2 out of 3
trials with no prompting for 3 consecutive sessions.

Richard will follow directions given to him without refusal 2 out of 3 trials with
verbal prompting for 3 consecutive sessions.

Richard will use feeling words to express himself 2 out of 3 trials without
prompting for 3 consecutive trials.

Richard will raise his hand before speaking and wait to be called on 2 out of 3
trials without prompting for 3 consecutive sessions.

Richard will give a verbal response to the speaker when asked a question 2 out of
3 trials with verbal prompting for 3 consecutive sessions.
The intervention that will be used to obtain these behavioral objectives will be a
token economy. This economy will involve Richard working in intervals of time to earn
tokens. If he earns three tokens, he will earn the reward that he has chosen for the day.
The materials that this intervention will require are a foam board, Velcro, laminated
pictures of the reinforcers the student will work for (four pictures of one reinforcer), the
reinforcers themselves, and a timer. The reinforcers will be coloring, blocks, legos, and a
wild card picture. Therefore, a coloring book and crayons will be needed, legos, and
blocks (Winomino). Here is the step by step process that will need to be taken to
implement the intervention:
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1. At the beginning of the class period, have Richard choose a reinforcer to work for
during the class period.
2. Put a picture of the reinforcer under the statement “I am working for,” and there
should be three pictures let of that reinforcer for the three trials that will need to
be successfully completed in order for Richard to earn the reinforcer.
3. Set the timer for three minutes and inform Richard that the time is starting.
4. Reset the timer if a non-compliant behavior is exhibited. When a non-compliant
behavior is displayed, make sure the student knows what it is, and how he can fix
it. Also make him aware that you’re restarting the time. E.g. Richard you are
talking out, please raise your hand. Try again, I’ll restart the timer.
5. When the student finishes a trial without exhibiting a non-compliant behavior,
praise him for it.
6. Have the student put the picture on the board under the trial number. This will
help him realize he is earning his reward.
7. If the student earns a picture for each trial and there is still class time left, tell
him there will be a bonus reward of candy if the teacher does not have to correct
his behavior more than three times.
8. Put three marks on the board and erase a mark every time a non-compliant
behavior is displayed.
9. Make sure to continue to inform the student of the unwanted behavior, how to fix
it, and that a mark is being taken away from him.
10. At the end of class, discuss both wanted and unwanted behaviors that Richard
demonstrated with him.
II-B: Selection of Reinforcers
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The observer continued to observe Richard throughout his school day for
approximately four weeks. The observer was able to witness the types of things Richard
liked and disliked. The observer held casual conversations with Richard about the types
of things he enjoyed doing at school and at home. He would say that he enjoyed playing
outside, playing with legos, and going to see Bubbles. Bubbles in the school
psychologist’s pet fish. Richard also talked about liking to color and draw. The observer
also noticed a strong interest that Richard had towards a game Mrs. Vencel recently
brought in. The game is called Winomino.
The observer decided to come up with three favored reinforcers for Richard, as
well as a fourth that could stand for anything he wanted it to within reason. The three
that the observer chose were legos, Winomino, and coloring. These are all secondary
reinforcers. The observer attempted to use Bubbles as a reinforcers, but later found out
he is a therapeutic need for Richard, and cannot be taken away if he doesn’t earn the
opportunity to go see or feed the fish. The reinforcer of candy during the bonus portion
of time (if necessary) will be candy. This is a primary reinforcer. The observer found that
Richard’s favorite type of candy is Dots. This will be the candy used.
II-C: Schedules of Reinforcement
The schedule of reinforcement used for this intervention was a fixed schedule.
This is because there was a set amount of time for Richard to earn his token, and he
would be rewarded the token after three minutes of compliant behavior. It was a token
that was expected to be given to him as long as he exhibited wanted behavior. He knew
when the time was restarted that he needed to be compliant in order to get a token at
the end of the three minutes.
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The observer chose to use a fixed interval schedule because she wanted Richard
to have something to work for. A continuous schedule wouldn’t work because the
observer wanted to have the behavior last a longer time. A variable schedule would be
confusing for the student. He needs stability somehow. The fixed interval schedule
would extend the time of the behavior, and be expected and stable.
II-D: Direct Instruction
The day of the implementation of the behavior plan, Miss Johnson talked with
Richard about it in the morning. Richard was introduced to a board that said “I am
working for” on the top. Miss Johnson explained that she was going to try something
fun with him during language arts. She explained that he would get to choose what to
work for during language arts in order to have time to do it. She showed him he could
work for legos, blocks, or coloring. She also explained that there was a special picture (a
star) that could be anything. For example, if Richard wanted to work for candy or
computer time, he could choose the star and tell Miss Johnson what it was he wanted to
work for.
Miss Johnson then explained how he could earn these things. She showed him
that there were three spots on the board. She said if he was good for three minutes in
class he would earn a picture of what he wanted to work for. She told him he would need
to do this three times in order to earn a chance to get the thing that he had chose to
work for. She told him what types of behaviors she expected to see from him in order to
earn the token at the end of class. She told him that being “good” means raising your
hand and not talking out, looking at the teacher when the teacher is talking to him or the
class, following directions the teacher gives, doing what is asked of him by the teacher,
and using emotion words like happy, sad, and mad. She told him that if he won’t work in
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class, talks out, uses hurtful words, or doesn’t listen to the teacher when being asked to,
the timer will have to restart. When the timer restarts, Richard has to try to comply for a
solid three minutes to earn a token on the board. This will help to show Richard the
unwanted behavior.
Miss Johnson explained (later in the intervention process) that Richard could
earn candy too if he earned all of his tokens. She told him that once he earns his tokens,
he needs to remain having good behavior to earn candy. If the teacher catches him three
times demonstrating non-compliant behavior then candy cannot be earned. This will
continue to motivate Richard to have good behavior in the classroom.
Miss Johnson plans to continue to instruct Richard during the process of the
plan. When an unwanted behavior restarts the timer, Miss Johnson will tell Richard
what made the timer restart and how he can fix the behavior to make it better. If
Richard doesn’t know how to replace the behavior, the behavior can’t change. At the end
of every session, Miss Johnson will talk with Richard about his behavior and remind
him of ways to make unwanted behavior better. She will also praise him for good
behaviors he exhibited in the class period. Praise will also be granted throughout each
session to point out the good behavior to Richard.
II-E: Project (Intervention) Data
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Measuring Non-compliant Behavior
Baseline
Token Economy
40
35
Number of Behaviors
30
25
20
Baseline: Afternoon Behavior
15
Intervention: Afternoon
Behavior
10
5
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Days
II-F: Anecdotal Summary
Monday- November 8, 2010
Data was collected from 12:20p-12:40p by the observer (Miss Johnson). The data
was recorded using event recording procedures. For this session, Richard chose to work
for a chance to play with legos. Richard had difficulty beginning his work in class. He
started saying things like, “I can’t do this.” Refusal to work was the undesired behavior
that Richard displayed. Miss Johnson had to restart the timer seven different times for
this specific behavior. This helped to show Richard the undesired behavior he was
demonstrating. He began to realize that no matter how many times he refused to work,
he wasn’t going to receive an opportunity to play with legos. He began working, and
immediately Miss Johnson praised him for it saying, “Richard, you are working so well!”
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Every time Richard would make it through the trial of three minutes without
demonstrating an undesired behavior, Miss Johnson would have him put the lego
picture on the board. He ended up earning the opportunity to play legos. At the end of
the class period, Miss Johnson talked with Richard about his behavior in class. She told
him that he couldn’t earn lego time if he wouldn’t do his school work. She also praised
him for turning his behavior around and working well.
Tuesday- Novemeber 9, 2010
Data was collected from 12:20p-12:40p by the observer (Miss Johnson). The data
was recorded using event recording procedures. For this session, Richard chose to work
for a chance to play with legos. Richard’s main unwanted behavior that he demonstrated
this session was talking out. He would say things such as, “when do we go back to class?”
Miss Johnson had to restart the timer seven different times for this specific behavior.
This helped to show Richard the undesired behavior he was demonstrating. About the
fourth time the timer was restarted, he began apologizing and saying that he’d work.
Miss Johnson would say, “it’s okay Richard, just try again.” She wanted him to just
begin again. Miss Johnson would verbally praise Richard when he would raise his hand
in instruction. She would also point out how she loved that he was being quiet when the
teacher was speaking. At the end of the class period, Miss Johnson talked with Richard
about his behavior. She pointed out that he made the right choice when he was raising
his hand, and that is what began to earn him lego time.
Wednesday- November 10, 2010
Data was collected from 12:20p-12:40p by the observer (Miss Johnson). The data
was recorded using event recording procedures. For this session, Richard chose to work
for a chance to color. Richard lost focus a few times during the beginning of the session.
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Richard stated many times how he was tired. Miss Johnson decided to tap into his
sensory processes. She did this because she is aware of how sensory Richard can be.
Richard loves working with his hands, going for walks, and playing outside. Miss
Johnson decided to go up and down the stairs a few times with Richard. She told him
this might help him wake up a bit. She also thought that this would help to stimulate his
sensory needs. She also had Richard squeeze his hands together.
Richard went through three successful trials with no unwanted behaviors
exhibited after returning from the walk. After the coloring pictures were awarded, and
he knew he’d already earned coloring, he started to talk out. It was at this time that Miss
Johnson needed to implement a bonus for continuous wanted behavior. Miss Johnson
offered candy as a reward to Richard if the timer didn’t need to be restarted more than
three times. This helped to refocus Richard back to working. The timer needed to be
restarted once, and when this happened Miss Johnson reminded Richard that he
wouldn’t be able to earn candy if the timer need to be restarted more than two times.
Richard apologized and worked well the remainder of the class period. At the end of the
class period, Miss Johnson talked to Richard about his behaviors in the classroom, and
the newly added factor after earning all of his pictures he was working for. She made
sure that Richard fully understood.
Thursday- November 11, 2010
Data was collected from 12:20p-12:40p by the observer (Miss Johnson). The data
was recorded using event recording procedures. For this session, Richard chose to work
for a chance to color. Richard was having a rough day today due to home factors.
Richard was talking out in a negative way during the beginning of class. He said things
such as, “I don’t want to do this anymore,” and “This is stupid, I hate it!” These
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behaviors triggered the timer to start again. Miss Johnson tried to talk Richard out of
his behavior by saying, “Richard let’s just get our work out of the way, then you can
color. I know you can do it, you’re really good at working hard.” The behavior took place
at the beginning of the class, and after resetting the timer a few times, and trying to
refocus Richard back to his work, he began to work. Miss Johnson knew that a lot was
going on at home in Richard’s family, so at the end of the class period Richard received a
lot of positive praise and a candy reward for doing his best to get himself back to work.
Monday- November 15, 2010
Data was collected from 12:20p-12:40p by the observer (Miss Johnson). The data
was recorded using event recording procedures. For this session, Richard chose to work
for a chance to go for a walk. Miss Johnson had a conversation with her cooperating
teacher earlier in the day about taking Richard for a walk and incorporating counting to
help Richard with his counting fluency. It is a goal for Richard to count up to 20, but he
has trouble going anywhere past the number 10. Richard was excited to work for a walk.
There was a small amount of talking out behavior at the beginning of the class period,
but Richard apologized whenever the time was restarted. Miss Johnson told him just to
try again, and that it was ok. Throughout the lesson, Richard displayed great behavior
and, it was verbally praised by Miss Johnson. This helped Richard see what wanted
behavior was, and not just getting an idea of what unwanted behavior was. Richard also
earned a piece of Candy for maintaining wanted behavior even after earning his walk.
Miss Johnson told him what a great job he did getting into his work during class.
Tuesday- Novemeber 16, 2010
Data was collected from 12:20p-12:40p by the observer (Miss Johnson). The data
was recorded using event recording procedures. For this session, Richard chose to work
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for a chance to go on another walk. Richard seemed to really enjoy walking the day
before. Miss Johnson and him walked around the school and counted items up to the
number 11. Miss Johnson wanted to give him an understanding of the number that came
after 10. Trying to get him to count to 20 right away would be too much information to
handle for him, and he would become frustrated.
Today, Richard had trouble transitioning to work. He started class by refusing to
work. Miss Johnson tried to tell him that refusing to work was going to cost him his
walk, and she was excited to go on another walk to count things. He replied by saying, “I
don’t care.” Miss Johnson told Richard, “Oh I’m sorry to hear that Richard. I was really
excited to go for a walk again today, because I thought it was fun.” Richard replied that
he didn’t care again, and Miss Johnson asked Richard to try to work because there was
something she wanted to show him on the walk. Richard asked what it was, and Miss
Johnson told him it was a surprise. This immediately got Richard to begin his work. He
became curious as to what it was that Miss Johnson wanted to show him. At the end of
the class period, Richard earned his walk. Miss Johnson talked with him about how he
needs to earn his rewards by doing his work when he comes to class, and that she knows
he can work hard.
Wednesday- November 17, 2010
Data was collected from 12:20p-12:40p by the observer (Miss Johnson). The data
was recorded using event recording procedures. For this session, Richard chose to work
for a chance to go for a walk. Richard had a great day today. He was caught talking out a
few times by saying, “when do we go back to class?” When the timer was restarted, he
would immediately raise his hand. Miss Johnson thanked him for raising his hand. He
wanted to know when they went back to class however because it was early release that
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day, and he wanted to go home. Richard earned a walk by paying attention and
participating in instruction. He also earned candy at the end of the class. Miss Johnson
talked with Richard at the end of class about how she was proud to see him participating
and raising his hand in class. He didn’t need a whole lot of refocusing from her.
Thursday- November 18, 2010
Data was collected from 12:20p-12:40p by the observer (Miss Johnson). The data
was recorded using event recording procedures. For this session, Richard chose to work
for a chance to go for a walk. Richard had another good day today. He wasn’t responding
verbally to questions being asked of him at the beginning of the class period, but the
timer was restarted to help him see that this wasn’t the right kind of behavior to choose.
It helped to see other students starting to respond to questions, and it seemed to
encourage Richard to do the same. It seemed that he wanted to know that he was apart
of something instead of being singled out. Richard was able to earn a walk and a piece of
candy by the end of the class period. Miss Johnson feels that if she were to continue the
intervention further, that it would be appropriate to extend the time to 5 minute
intervals. Richard just seems to have trouble transitioning to work, but once he does, the
timer helps to keep him motivated and rarely needs reset. He needs to begin to be more
challenged. At the end of the class period, Miss Johnson told Richard about the
awesome job he did participating in class by answering questions, and raising his hand
to be called on. She told him this was great to see him do in class.
II-G: Evidence of Data Based Decisions
There were many decisions that needed to be made to implement and change the
intervention to make it work right for Richard. Within the process, Miss Johnson
decided to keep in mind de-escalation procedure steps due to the fact that Richard is
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easily frustrated. She also utilized sensory strategies to help Richard better focus in
class. She also gained advice from Shannon Miller, the special education coordinator at
Lincoln K-8 School. The advice was to have Richard work for a bonus if he ever earns all
his tokens, and then begins to exhibit the unwanted behavior. These decisions derived
from data from professional sources.
The first decision was to study and keep in mind the rules for de-escalation of
heightening behaviors. The rules are to always behave as a solid subject (L. Gongola,
2010). By doing this, you need to be calm, confident, centered, and focused (L.Gongola,
2010). L. Gongola states that you need to find positive in all students before and during
a crisis (2010). Gongola continues by saying that it is important how you act and say
things around the student when the behavior s heightening (2010). This was found to be
helpful information when working with Richard, because his behaviors would heighten
at times, and although they might not have gotten violent, they escalated in more
internal ways. For example, Richard would sometimes become uncontrollable with his
language or body usage when behaviors were escalating. Miss Johnson kept in mind
that positivity needed to be present whenever a behavior began to continue and worsen.
She also kept in mind that her expectations should not be lowered due to worsening
behavior (L. Gongola, 2010). The student should never gain control due to a change in
behavior, and a lowered expectation could give the student free reign. Whenever
Richard’s behavior would worsen, Miss Johnson would not lower her expectations for
compliant behavior. She also tried to gain a positive outlook for the student by
reminding him of his rewards, and how well he’s been doing to earn them.
Another data based decision Miss Johnson had to make was to tap into Richard’s
sensory processes. This was done on a day that Richard was dragging due to extreme
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drowsiness. Miss Johnson had him climb up and down the stairs, and squeeze his hands
together. She tried to do things to stimulate his tactile senses. This would stimulate
Richard’s need for environmental senses (L. Gongola, 2010). Miss Johnson wanted to
try this, because she knew that student’s can have behavioral issues when the sensory
needs are not always met. She decided to try this to see if there would be a behavioral
change. Richard was able to make it through three straight trials once he did this, and he
did not complain anymore about being tired.
The final decision that Miss Johnson made was taken from advice of Shannon
Miller. Ms. Miller works at Lincoln K-8 School as a special education coordinator. She is
an excellent source of best practice information, and is great source of information for
this field. Miss Johnson sat down and talked with her one day about the intervention,
and she interjected, “there might need to be a positive reinforce after Richard earns his
tokens for the three trials (S. Miller, personal communication, November 9, 2010).” She
described how Richard needs to have a positive reason to keep working with good
behavior. She said that interjecting something small such as candy could help to keep
Richard’s behavior compliant. This seemed to be a great idea to keep Richard
continuously working with compliant behavior.
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Melissa Johnson
Behavior Management Project- Part III
Site: Warren City School District: Lincoln K-8
Grade Level 4: Mrs. Mary Ellen Vencel
Supervisor: Dr. Leah Gongola
Youngstown State University
December 1, 2010
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III-A: Summary of All Areas
Richard was the student chosen for this behavior management plan. Richard is a
nine-year-old student who has been placed in a fourth grade inclusion classroom at
Lincoln K-8 School. Richard comes from a large family. He is a very kinesthetic and
tactile type of learner. He likes to be able to manipulate things and move around. He
loves to draw, play outside, and go for walks. Richard was tested in the first grade for
possible learning and behavioral deficits. Richard was found to have hearing loss and
speech delay. He also had behavioral tendencies such as moodiness, impulsivity, and
aggressiveness. Richard was put into an autistic school for almost three years, but there
was debate that he was truly autistic. He now displays some autistic tendencies possible
from learned behavior. Richard’s IQ is 56 (low). He has been diagnosed with PDD-NOS,
Mild Mental Retardation, and ADHD.
Richard has trouble with his ability to be compliant to his teacher or authority
figure. He has low self-esteem in school, and this may be a reason for his behavior.
Positive behavioral supports are necessary to help Richard to learn compliance, and to
work at his education more. To be compliant, Richard is expected to make eye contact
with the speaker, do his work, use appropriate words to express himself, show the
teacher respect, and follow directions. Normally, non-compliant behavior is recognized
in Richard when he is frustrated or there are family factors that are bothering him.
Richard’s classroom at Lincoln is a fourth grade inclusion classroom. The
teachers in the classroom have a great rapport with one another, and have been teaching
for many years together. Their experience reflects in their teaching. The teachers both
give each other opportunity to teach, they use technology in instruction, and they share
feedback with one another frequently. Students in the classroom range from general, at-
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risk, and special education learning needs. Students are encouraged to work in
cooperative groups during instruction. This helps to shape learning and behavior.
Grouping students is a priority of the teachers of the classroom. They make sure to keep
groups heterogeneous. They also try to put certain students who they think will help one
another together in a group. The students with special needs are placed in the room
towards the back so they are easily accessible for the special education teacher to assist
them during instruction. These students are still spread out among the classroom
however so they are not singled out from the general education students. It is a great
learning environment.
Gathering baseline on Richard proved to show that his behavior was highly
variable when there was no intervention in place. Behaviors that were seen were lots of
talking and shouting out, hurtful word usage, minimal eye contact, and refusal to do
work. Also, the “if, then” principle was seen in usage as well as a response cost system.
The resource room teacher put this in place. Richard was noted to be upset or frustrated
a lot during baseline. The functions of his behavior proved to be both escape and
attention at different instances in the sessions observed.
After all this information was gathered, it was time to begin the intervention. A
token economy with a fixed interval schedule was planned to be used to obtain Richard’s
behavioral objectives. The token economy would keep a positive motivation for Richard,
and the fixed interval would help to elongate the compliant behavior. The behavioral
objectives were:

Richard will maintain eye contact for three seconds with the speaker 2 out of 3
trials with no prompting for 3 consecutive sessions.
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Richard will follow directions given to him without refusal 2 out of 3 trials with
verbal prompting for 3 consecutive sessions.

Richard will use feeling words to express himself 2 out of 3 trials without
prompting for 3 consecutive trials.

Richard will raise his hand before speaking and wait to be called on 2 out of 3
trials without prompting for 3 consecutive sessions.

Richard will give a verbal response to the speaker when asked a question 2 out of
3 trials with verbal prompting for 3 consecutive sessions.
Miss Johnson talked with Richard as well as observed him throughout his day to
determine what might be good to use as reinforcers. She found that legos, blocks
(Winomino), and coloring would be good reinforcers. These would satisfy Richard need
to manipulate things as a kinesthetic and tactile learner. There was also a wild card
reinforce that could be anything that Richard might want to work for that may not be
offered. The fixed interval that these would be offered on would also help to give
Richard some stability in his day.
Miss Johnson was able to pull Richard aside the morning of the day that she was
going to implement the plan. She felt this would be necessary to explain the concept
closer to when it would happen so Richard would remember it. She explained the
intervals of time, the amount of tokens Richard needed to earn, the reinforcers, and the
behaviors that were expected of him. Miss Johnson planned to continue to remind
Richard of wanted and unwanted behaviors that he would exhibit. He would earn praise,
and learn what behaviors to replace unwanted behavior with. This was Miss Johnson’s
main goal. She wanted Richard to figure out a better way to behave instead of showing
him that he couldn’t behave. Richard’s self-esteem needed to be boosted, not shot.
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When implementing the intervention, Richard’s behavior immediately changed.
He began to realize that certain unfavored actions and behaviors were not going to earn
him what he wanted. During the sessions, Miss Johnson had to make certain decisions
and changes to better create a plan for Richard. She incorporated de-escalation
principles in her actions, she incorporated sensory practices to help Richard become
more stimulated for learning, and she took advice from a superior about adding in a
bonus after Richard earned his reward from the token economy. Positivity was a must.
Richard needed to be refocused in a positive way to de-escalate his behavior. Miss
Johnson would tell him how well he was doing up until the unwanted behavior, and
would ask him to try again because she knew he could do it. She showed belief and
support for him. She went on walks with him, and incorporated counting during the
walks. She added the bonus reward in when she realize Richard would not be able to
keep continuous compliant behavior after earning all his necessary tokens for his initial
reward. This proved to keep the compliancy continuous.
III-B: Learning about Self
I feel good about the results of my behavior management plan. I feel I was mostly
consistent with my procedures. A few things jumped out during my plan. For example,
throwing in the bonus candy idea seemed to show that I was not fully prepared for what
might happen if Richard completed his trials and there was still the extra class time.
There was also a second part to my plan that I had to cut out at the beginning of the
intervention. I wanted to have Richard work throughout the day to see Bubbles, but I
had to emit that plan since I found out that Bubbles was a part of Richard’s therapy in
his daily schedule.
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I enjoyed my plan of a fixed interval schedule involving a token economy. I love
token economies the most as an intervention strategy due to their positivity. They keep
students more motivated. I have seen this strategy in constant use at Lincoln. I wanted
to use a continuous reinforcement schedule for my plan. However, with further thought,
I realized that might not be such a good idea. The reason was that I wanted Richard to
aim for a long period with compliant behaviors. That was my goal with this plan. I feel
that continuous or variable schedules would be a lot easier when managing a bigger
classroom. The reason I feel this way is that it is difficult to monitor a timer, a student, a
classroom, and instruction. I did however, use reinforcement for compliant behavior by
having Richard earned tokens for successful intervals without non-compliant behaviors.
By earning three tokens, he was able to earn a reward that he chose. I feel including
Richard in selecting what he was working for was a great way to involve him in the plan.
He needed to have something that was really going to motivate him. No one knows what
will motivate Richard more than Richard would.
I feel that I could improve on collaboration with those around me. I tend to take
control of matters, and have trouble letting others help me. I need to work on this
because I this is something I know will be a huge part of my career in the future. I feel I
need to improve on this because I should have discussed my behavior plan with both my
teacher’s in detail before implementing it. I should have also asked for their feedback. I
also should have interviewed them to ask about Richard’s requirements in his day that
are a part of his current behavior plan. It would have been helpful to talk with Ms.
Shelton about all of this as well. She sees Richard almost as much as Mrs. Vencel does,
and it was in her class that I was going to be implementing it along with my unit plan.
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All in all, I felt that I did at least make a good effort to discuss things with them, but I
feel I could improve.
Finally, I feel I need extended learning in making more attainable behavioral
goals. I feel my plan went well, but I still wish I could have broken the targeted behavior
down to something more simplistic. I have quite a long definition for compliant
behavior. Not only that, but it was difficult to create the objectives for the plan. I realized
I needed to break down each behavior, but I feel there may have been ways to create
more attainable goals. I was happy with my eye contact goal saying that three seconds
was needed to make eye contact. I just wanted to try to be that specific with each
behavior. To seek out information about this topic, I will have to research ABA. I can
also gain advice and opinions of teachers who have been in the field and have had more
experience in this area. I feel having someone like Mrs. Vencel as a cooperating teacher
helped me immensely. I enjoyed working with her and learning from her.
III-C: Knowledge Gained About Student
It was interesting to see the different reinforcers that Richard chose throughout
the plan. The first day I helped him to pick out one I thought he might like which was
legos. The next day he chose legos again. However, the following days he was interested
in coloring. He was excited to use the Crayola Twistables ® crayons that I had bought
for him. Even outside of language arts, Richard wanted to earn a chance to color. This
reinforce was a great motivator for Richard outside of language arts, and helped him
throughout his day.
It was the walk, however, that really got Richard motivated to work. I can tell that
his behaviors lessened the second week of the plan over the first week. This is because
the entire second week, Richard worked to go for a walk around the school. In
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instruction when I would reset the timer and tell him about his behavior, he would
apologize and tell me how he was trying to be good. I told him that he was doing well,
and that he just needed to either raise his hand or whatever the replacement behavior
might have been at the time. Richard made sure he would get his walk. It was a really
good way to continue to stimulate his sensory needs as well.
III-D: Future Modifications
Compliant behavior is necessary in everyday life. Citizens need to be compliant to
the law, their bosses, their teachers, and their family. This behavior needs to be changed
across different settings so that it is improved in different settings and situations besides
inside a classroom. This would require Richard’s teachers to work with his parent(s) to
progress Richard’s compliant behavior. In the community, Richard would need to be
compliant in places like the library, the store, or the park. He would definitely need to
stay quiet when needed, and to follow instruction. These behaviors would need to
transfer into different areas and settings of his life.
I feel the best way to transfer the behavior changes across different settings is to
have those who have contact with Richard use the intervention that I have been
implementing. When working with the parent(s), home and community settings would
need to be taken into consideration. The intervention would need to be modified in
different settings such as going out into the community. For example, if Richard was
going to the store, a parent could wear a timed watch to set and monitor his behavior. If
Richard makes it through three successful trials with compliant behavior than he can
earn what he wanted to work for. Then the parent could implement the bonus reward
for Richard’s remaining behavior. I feel that the parent could implement this at home as
well when working with Richard on homework, or having Richard perform a task like
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cleaning his room. I feel that the intervention would need to be used during specific
tasks such as a small community outing or a task at home. The parent would also need
to be trained on how to implement the intervention correctly within daily life. The
teacher could assist with this. In addition, the systematic process would be helpful for
the parent as well. I feel that the parent and teacher would need to be able to
communicate to discuss how the intervention is going and how to change it to challenge
Richard’s behavior in the future. For example, Richard’s time of three minutes would
need to begin to increase.
Richard’s teachers, Mrs. Vencel and Ms. Shelton, would also need to be trained to
understand the intervention so that she can use it with Richard in certain areas of the
day. They both work with Richard in the day, and would both need to use the
intervention the same way. This would give Richard stability throughout his school day.
It would also transfer that stability home. If the teachers and parent(s) of Richard
worked together to implement this in his day, Richard’s behavior would definitely have a
dramatic change I’d believe. Having the constant intervention and reinforcement in his
daily life, Richard would have no trouble keeping the understanding of compliant
behavior in his repertoire.
I thought about suggesting that collaboration would be at its easiest through
phone calls, but I feel that a log of communication would work best since there would be
more than two parties reporting on the intervention and Richard’s behavior. If a log
went home with Richard, and came to school and followed Richard through his day, this
would really help everyone to see how progress is going, and to give one another
feedback or ask questions. I feel that continuing the intervention will help the time
interval to grow larger and soon fade.
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When the day would come that the interval intervention would fade, maintenance
would need to remain to keep the behavior continuously in Richard’s repertoire. This
could be done by having Richard self monitor his behavior throughout his day. He could
have a checklist at the end of each class at school, and throughout tasks that he
completes at home. These checklists could remind him of the behaviors he needs to
exhibit within certain situations.
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III-E: Effectiveness of Intervention
Graph #1- Number of Data Points
Data Points:
A1= 8 points
B1= 8 points
Statement 1: A total of 8 sessions were held to measure the student’s non-compliant
behavior without intervention. The same amount of sessions were held with
intervention.
Statement 2: The behaviors were recorded by number of occurrence in a single session
daily.
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Graph #2- Calculating Mean Levels
A1= 24+34+23+17+18+6+37+24=183÷8≈23
B1= 7+7+7+10+3+7+4+4=49÷8≈6
Statement 1: The average occurrence of Richard’s behavior without the intervention of a
token economy is 23 non-compliant behaviors in a class period.
Statement 2: The average occurrence of Richard’s behavior with intervention of a token
economy is 6 non-compliant behaviors in a class period.
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Graph #3- Variability and Stability
A1= 23 x .15=3.45≈3 / 23+3=26 and 23-3=20 (Variable)
B1= 6 x .15=0.9≈1 / 6+1=7 and 6-1=5 (Neutral)
Statement 1: The baseline proves to be variable, showing Richard’s non-compliant
behavior is unpredictable without intervention in place.
Statement 2: The token economy helped to move Richard’s behavior to a more neutral
state. This shows that the intervention is working, and Richard is getting closer to stable
behavior.
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Graph #4- Trend and Data
A1= Descending
B1= Descending
Statement 1: Both series’ showed a dissension in Richard’s non-compliant behavior.
Statement 2: The token economy proved to have lower, unwanted behavioral
occurrences. Due to the fact that behavioral occurrences still remained descending
shows that the intervention was effective in helping to lower non-compliant behavior.
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Graph #5- Immediacy of Change
A1
B1
X
Yes
Statement 1: The end point of A1 (24) and the start point of B1 (7) showed a significant
change in the amount of non-compliant behaviors being exhibited by Richard. This
shows that there is a functional relationship between these sets of data.
Statement 2: Due to the immediacy of change in a positive way (less non-compliant
behaviors), the intervention proved successful.
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Work Cited
Gongola, L. Ph. D., BCBA-D. (2010). De-escalation Procedures. [PowerPoint slides].
Youngstown State University. Youngstown, OH.
Gongola, L. Ph. D., BCBA-D. (2010). Sensory and Behavior. [PowerPoint slides].
Youngstown State University. Youngstown, OH.
NIMH · Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). (n.d.). NIMH · Home.
Retrieved November 7, 2010, from
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/attention-deficit-hyperactivitydisorder/complete-index.shtml
Rudy, L. J. (n.d.). What Is PDD-NOS - PDD-NOS and Autism . Autism - Signs,
Symptoms, Treatments, Resources, Support for Autism. Retrieved November 7,
2010, from http://autism.about.com/od/whatisautism/f/whatispddnos.htm