Behavioral basics
Thinking about behavior . . .
• Why do people behave as they do?
• Why do we care about behavior?
– If we know how people may behave under certain
conditions, we may be able to provide or avoid these
conditions.
– A teacher’s job is to change behavior.
• To understand, predict, and change behavior, we
must first understand how it works.
Alberto & Troutman, 2013
Behavioral explanations
• The behavioral explanation states that human
behavior, both adaptive and maladaptive, is
learned.
• Learning occurs as a result of the
consequences of behavior.
• Who is primarily responsible for the science of
behaviorism?
Alberto & Troutman, 2013
Behaviorism, simplified
• Behavior followed by pleasant consequences
tends to be repeated (thus learned).
Likely to water plants in the future
• Behavior followed by unpleasant
consequences tends not to be repeated (thus
not learned).
Unlikely to lick flagpoles in the future
Alberto & Troutman, 2013
Predicting behavior
• We use the three-term contingency as a way
to explain, predict, and change behavior.
• If we can identify what precedes a behavior
and what follows a behavior, we have a good
chance of being able to predict future
occurrences of that behavior.
– And we may be able to influence the occurrence
of that behavior!
The three-term contingency
Antecedent:
Behavior:
Consequence:
Any stimulus that
precedes a behavior
Any observable
and measurable
act of an
individual
(response)
Any stimulus
presented
contingent on a
particular response
Alberto & Troutman, 2013
Positive reinforcement
• Positive reinforcement describes a functional relation
between two environmental events:
– A behavior (any observable action) and
– A consequence (a result of that action)
• When a behavior is followed by a consequence that
increases the behavior’s future rate of occurrence, that’s
positive reinforcement.
• It’s positive reinforcement because something is added to
the environment.
• What are some examples?
Alberto & Troutman, 2013
Negative reinforcement
• Negative reinforcement describes a
relationship among events occurring when a
behavior’s frequency increases after an
aversive or unpleasant environmental
condition is removed or reduced.
• Examples?
– Opening a window to reduce unpleasant odor
– Turning off the alarm clock
Alberto & Troutman, 2013
Punishment
• Punishment describes the relationship between a
behavior and a consequence when the consequence
decreases the future rate of a behavior.
– Remember: A stimulus is a punisher only if it reduces the
future occurrences of a behavior.
• Like reinforcement, punishment can be either positive
or negative.
– Positive: Something is added to the environment.
– Negative: Something is taken away from the environment.
Alberto & Troutman, 2013
What’s going on here?
• Rafael is often late to class. When he arrives, his peers
often clap and make statements like, “Glad you finally
showed up, Rafa.” Rafael smiles and sits down but not
until he has high-fived a few friends.
– What, behaviorally, is going on here?
• Roger doesn’t care for his math teacher. During class,
he often swears and tears up his work, which results in
him getting sent to the principal’s office, where he
chats with the secretary and other rule breakers.
– What, behaviorally, is going on here?
Reinforcement and punishment
Take
away
Add
Positive
reinforcement
Negative
reinforcement
Increase
Increase
Behavior:
Observable and
measurable act
Add
Positive
punishment
Decrease
Take
away
Negative
punishment
Decrease
Why do we care?
• What do the concepts of reinforcement and punishment
have to do with classroom management?
• A few things:
– Knowing the mechanisms behind how behavior works can help
you shape behavior: Tricks can fail you, but the science never
will.
– Understanding that reinforcement and punishment are
scientific phenomena that affect rates of behavior will help you
select consequences based on your observations (rather than
on what you think will work).
– If we know certain consequences increase the likelihood of
behaviors we want to see, we can plan to have those
consequences follow the behaviors we want to see.
Other behavioral concepts: Extinction
• Extinction occurs when a previously
reinforced behavior is no longer reinforced.
• For example, after a month of reacting when
Rafael shows up late, his peers stop giving him
attention when he arrives. Eventually, he
starts to come to school on time.
– His behavior was no longer reinforced by his
peers’ attention, so it was extinguished.
Alberto & Troutman, 2013
A little more about extinction
• What happens when . . .
– You go into a room, flip the light switch, and the
light doesn’t come on?
– You go to a store that you frequent regularly, only
to find that it went out of business?
– You put money into a vending machine, make your
selection, and nothing comes out?
Alberto & Troutman, 2013
Why do we care?
• What does the concept of extinction have to do
with classroom management?
• A few things:
– If you plan to ignore a challenging behavior in the
hope that it will go away, you must be committed:
• No attention at all (No looks! No comments!) contingent on
the problem behavior
• Be prepared to withstand the extinction burst.
• Give ample attention contingent on appropriate behavior.
Other behavioral concepts:
Antecedent control
• An antecedent that occurs immediately before a
behavior is said to “occasion” (i.e., set the
occasion for) the behavior.
– The functional relation between the antecedent
stimulus and the behavior is called stimulus control.
– The antecedent that occasions a behavior is called the
discriminative stimulus, or SD.
• While the relation developed, consequences
were present, but the antecedent condition now
serves as a signal for the behavior.
Alberto & Troutman, 2013
Antecedent control
• We use caller ID to see who is calling us. If it is someone we want to
talk to, we answer the phone. The caller ID info of someone we like
is an SD for answering the phone. (We have been reinforced for
answering the phone in the presence of that SD before.) We are
under stimulus control of the caller ID.
• As children, we learn that if we convert text on a page into words,
people get very excited (i.e., they reinforce us). We continue to turn
text into words (i.e., we “read”) and earn reinforcement (which
eventually transitions to natural reinforcement). We are under
stimulus control of text.
• What does it look like?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaweXw03kQI
Why do we care?
• What does the concept of stimulus control have
to do with classroom management?
• A few things:
– We want our classroom to be the SD for appropriate
behavior.
– In order for that to happen, we have to establish the
relation (i.e., manipulate consequences until it
develops and maintains over time).
– We want to make sure our students are not under
inappropriate stimulus control.
Other behavioral concepts:
Setting events
• A setting event is a condition or event that
occurs simultaneously with a discriminative
stimulus, or even hours or days before.
– Setting events temporarily alter the value of a
consequence.
– Setting events are usually based on satiation or
deprivation.
– Setting events can be social, environmental, or
physiological.
Alberto & Troutman, 2013, p. 14
Setting events
What’s a setting event?
Setting
event
Antecedent
Behavior
A SETTING EVENT is a condition or event
that temporarily alters the reinforcing
value of the consequence of a behavior.
Consequence
Examples of setting events
• A student who has just come in from playing
kickball in 90-degree heat is more likely to
respond to a cold soda as a reinforcer than a
student who has just been sipping soda in the
cool school cafeteria.
• A student is less likely to worry about receiving a
failing grade on a test (potential aversive
consequence) when the Texas Department of
Family and Protective Services (DFPS) removed
his sister from the home over the weekend.
Why do we care?
• What does the concept of setting events have to
do with classroom management?
• A few things:
– What are some setting events that our students might
encounter?
– Knowing about setting events can help us prevent
inappropriate behaviors.
– Parents and guardians can provide valuable
information about setting events.
Putting it all together
The three-term contingency
Antecedent
Behavior
What do these terms mean?
Consequence
Let’s practice! 
• Oscar is a student in your third-grade
classroom. Often when you ask him to partner
with his neighbor to review an assignment, he
says, “I don’t want to,” and puts his head
down on his desk. When he does this, you let
him work alone. He is particularly grouchy and
likely to engage in this behavior on days when
he hasn’t been able to get enough sleep.
Breakdown of
• Antecedent (SD):
• Behavior(s):
Asking Oscar to work with his neighbor
Oscar says, “I don’t want to,” and puts head down.
• Consequence:
Teacher removes demand (he works alone).
– Adding or taking away (+ or –):
– Effect:
Demand is TAKEN AWAY.
Oscar continues to display this behavior in the future.
• So the consequence functions as:
Negative reinforcement (SR-)
• Was there a setting event?
Lack of sleep the night before makes grouchiness more likely.
“Come on, Eileen”
During transitions, Eileen will make
inappropriate comments, make noises, and
touch others. When she engages in these
behaviors, her peers scream at her (i.e., they
give her attention). She is more likely to engage
in these behaviors following periods of time
with limited attention (e.g., following
independent seat work).
Breakdown of example: Eileen
• Antecedent (SD):
• Behavior(s):
• Consequence:
Transition
Inappropriate comments, noises, and touching
Peers scream at her.
– Adding or taking away (+ or –):
– Effect:
Eileen is GIVEN attention.
The behaviors continue in the future.
• So the consequence functions as:
Positive reinforcement (SR+)
• Was there a setting event?
Yes: Periods of time with limited attention
More practice
• You have asked your 11th-graders to write
poems based on recent dreams. Dorothy
writes a beautiful poem, and you ask her to
share it with the class. She says, “No, thanks.”
She does not complete the next several
assignments. When you call home, you find
out that Dorothy has been working long hours
on the farm, fighting with Auntie Em, and is
embarrassed because she doesn’t have nice
clothes like the other kids.
Clue: That’s the
behavior!
Breakdown of
• Antecedent (SD):
• Behavior(s):
Poetry assignment
She writes a beautiful poem.
• Consequence:
Teacher asks her to read poem.
– Adding or taking away (+ or –): Attention is GIVEN for behavior.
– Effect:
The behavior (poem writing) decreases in the future.
• So the consequence functions as:
Positive punishment (SP+)
• Was there a setting event?
Yes: Farm, family dispute, embarrassment about gingham dress
Why do we care?
• What do these scenarios have to do with classroom
management?
• A few things:
– Behavior is predictable. If we understand how it works, it’s
more likely that we can manipulate the environment to
increase the likelihood of the behaviors we want to see
and decrease the likelihood of the behaviors we don’t
want to see.
– If we are thinking about what is occasioning the behavior
and maintaining the behavior, we are more likely to be
proactive and less likely to take behavior personally.
Thinking about the function of behavior
• All behavior serves a purpose.
– We call this the “function” of behavior.
• There are only two possible functions of any
given behavior:
1. To get something (obtain)
2. To get away from something (escape/avoid)
• What might someone be trying to obtain or
avoid?
Why is function important?
• All behavior exhibited by students serves
one of these two functions.
• Even inappropriate behavior serves a
function.
• If we can identify the function of the
inappropriate behavior, we can teach an
appropriate replacement behavior that
serves the same function.
Summary thus far
• So far, we have learned about:
– The three-term contingency
• Antecedents
• Behavior
• Consequences
–
–
–
–
Reinforcement and punishment
Setting events
Extinction
Function
• Do you have any questions?
OUTCOMES
Supporting
Decision
Making
PRACTICES
And now a word from our sponsor:
DATA
Data is not a four-letter word.
• For every element of CWPBIS that you
implement, you should have an outcome.
– What do you want to achieve?
• How will you know if you’ve reached this
outcome?
• Data collection is a vital part of any CWPBIS
system.
Data collection in the classroom
• Teachers already collect some data.
• Collecting data on student behavior can be a
challenge, but you need data to guide your
decision-making process.
• The first step is operationally defining the
behavior on which you wish to take data.
Simonsen & Myers, 2015
Data collection in the classroom
• The kind of data we collect depends on the specific
behavior of interest and the relevant dimension of that
behavior.
• Possible dimensions of interest include:
– How often the behavior occurs (frequency)
– How long the behavior lasts (duration)
• You can also collect data on the antecedents and
consequences that occur with behaviors of interest,
which can give you information about predictors and
the possible function of an inappropriate behavior.
Simonsen & Myers, 2015
Data collection tools
• There are several data collection tools
available, and you can always create your
own.
• You can go low-tech or high-tech.
• What matters is that the data you collect are
helpful to you for making decisions about your
classroom management practices.
Simonsen & Myers, 2015
Using data to make decisions
• Before implementing any intervention or
practice, you should collect baseline data.
• You should collect data regularly to ensure that
your practices are having the desired effect and
to see if you need to adjust any aspects of your
classroom management system.
• You can also take data on your own behaviors.
Simonsen & Myers, 2015
What does data collection look like?
• Let’s look at page 10 of the activity handout.
Sample data collection plan (adapted from Simonsen & Myers, 2015, p. 88)
Outcome: (must list condition [antecedent], behavior, and criterion for success)
Outcome that includes condition, behavior,
When finished with independent seat work (condition), students will take out a book
and criterion for success
or another approved quiet activity (behavior) during eight out of 10 sampled
opportunities across the first marking period (criterion).
Data:
Operational definition of behavior (include examples and non-examples)
After completing his or her independent seatwork assignment, a student will put the
assignment on the corner of his or her desk, take out a book or another
approved quiet activity (e.g., crossword puzzle, word search) from his or her
desk or bag, and engage in the activity until the rest of the class is finished with
the task.
Operational definition of the behavior
Examples of this behavior:
Student puts his assignment on the corner of his desk, reaches into his bag quietly,
removes a book, and reads until his peers are finished.
Student puts her assignment on the corner of her desk, quietly opens her desk to
take a word search out of her folder, quietly closes her desk, and works on the
word search until her peers are finished.
Non-examples of this behavior:
Examples and non-examples of the
behavior
Student raises his hand and says, “I’m done. What do you want me to do?”
Student rustles loudly in bag and then in his desk, looking for an activity.
Student gets out of seat to turn in assignment and asks teacher if he can use the
computer.
Relevant dimensions of the behavior
Frequency (how often the behavior occurs); convert into percentage by dividing the
number of times the behavior occurs by the total number of opportunities for
the behavior. (For example, students take out a book or quiet activity 12 times
across 17 observed opportunities: 12/17 = 0.706, or 71%)
Relevant dimension(s) of the behavior
Measurement system
Tally marks on a sticky note, app, or other data sheet (keep track of total
opportunities observed and opportunities with desired behavior).
Summary and graph
Measurement system & graphing
Teacher enters data into Excel spreadsheet that graphs the frequency of the behavior
Using data to make decisions
If data are below desired goal of 80%, reteach the expectation and increase
reinforcement for desired behavior. If students meet goal, continue the current
approach and collect data periodically to ensure maintenance of behavior.
Using data to make decisions