How Does an Interfering Behavior Develop?
Slide 1: Introduction
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To effectively support the student with ASD we must determine the function of the
interfering behavior.
The Behavior Chain:
o The event that sets up a behavior is referred to as a setting event.
o The event that sets off a behavior is referred to as an antecedent.
o The event that maintains a behavior is referred to as a consequence.
In this presentation we will discuss the following:
o What are setting events?
o What are antecedents?
o What are consequences?
As we have discussed, to effectively support the student with ASD we must determine the
function of the interfering behavior. Once it is determined why the behavior occurs, we can then
develop a plan that is positive and will result in reducing the interfering behavior.
To address interfering behavior, there are other things we must know and understand. Behavior
does not occur within a vacuum. This means that there are events that set up, set off, and
maintain the occurrence of behavior in a variety of settings. In this presentation we are going to
examine what is called the Behavior Chain. It is made up of the following:
The event that sets up a behavior is referred to as a setting event.
The event that sets off a behavior is referred to as an antecedent.
The event that maintains a behavior is referred to as a consequence.
Each works together to develop or impact interfering behavior. For us to understand how to
implement an effective intervention we must be aware of what these are, how they impact the
student, and how they may be modified to reduce or stop the behavior.
In this presentation we will discuss the following:
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What are setting events?
What are antecedents?
What are consequences?
Slide 2: The Behavior Chain
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On Friday, on my way home from work, I hit terrible traffic. I was anxious to get home
as I was expecting friends for dinner. I sat in traffic on the highway for over 20 minutes.
Typically, when I arrive home my son greets me at the door. I give him a hug and some
tickles and we talk briefly about the day. On Friday, however, when I arrived home, my
son and daughter both ran screaming through the hall as I opened the front door. Still
frustrated from the delay caused by traffic, I snapped, “Go play!” Both my children in
turn ran away as quickly as they could, leaving me alone in a quiet hallway.
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Problem behavior Set up behavior
snapping at my
hitting traffic and
children
being delayed by 20
minutes
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Set off behavior
my children running
and screaming
through the hall
Maintained behavior
my children running
to the other room
leaving me with a
quiet room
All three of these events worked together to create the problem behavior.
Before we move forward, let’s look at a personal example of how something may set up, set off,
or maintain a behavior.
On Friday, on my way home from work, I hit terrible traffic. I was anxious to get home as I was
expecting friends for dinner. I sat in traffic on the highway for over 20 minutes. Typically, when
I arrive home my son greets me at the door. I give him a hug and some tickles and we talk briefly
about the day. On Friday, however, when I arrived home, my son and daughter both ran
screaming through the hall as I opened the front door. Still frustrated from the delay caused by
traffic, I snapped, “Go play!” Both my children in turn ran away as quickly as they could,
leaving me alone in a quiet hallway.
In this example, the problem behavior is snapping at my children. Can you determine what set
up, set off and maintained the behavior?
The event that set up the behavior was hitting traffic and being delayed by 20 minutes. The event
that set off the behavior was my children running and screaming through the hall. The event that
maintained the behavior was my children running to the other room leaving me with a quiet
room. All three of these events worked together to create the problem behavior. In the future, I
may be likely to snap again when I want some peace and quiet. In the upcoming slides, we will
explore each of these terms so you have a clear understanding of how they work together.
Slide 3: What is a Setting Event?
Setting event
Woke up late,
missed the bus
Antecedent
Behavior
Math assignment
Laid head on desk
Setting events are known as slow triggers. Slow triggers happen a period of time before the
interfering behavior. They are conditions that set up the possibility that a behavior may occur,
but do not set off the behavior at that very moment. For example, Vivienne woke up late one
morning before school and had to rush to get ready. She barely got to eat any breakfast and
didn’t get to watch her favorite television show before leaving for the bus stop. The bus was
early and she had missed it when she arrived at the bus stop so her mom had to drive her to
school. During her math class which is her second class of the day and her favorite, Vivienne
refused to complete the class assignment and instead laid her head down on her desk. The
teacher in this case may think that the presentation of the math assignment was the cause of
Vivienne’s refusal to do the work when in actuality she was feeling overwhelmed by her
morning and needed a break. The morning events were the setting events that set up Vivienne’s
behavior during her math class.
Slide 4: Examples of Setting Events
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Setting events can be physical, social, or biological.
Insert table
It is helpful to know when a setting event is occurring in order to effectively intervene.
There will not always be a setting event when there is an interfering behavior.
Setting events can be physical, social, or biological. Here are some examples.
Setting event
Physical –
Owen is over stimulated by the
cafeteria.
Social –
Jaquan got in a fight on the playground.
BiologicalKatherine has a head cold.
Behavior
After lunch he goes to history class. During the first 20
minutes of class, Owen fidgets with a string he has in
his pocket and walks around the room.
During science he was really angry and was unable to
focus and do his work.
Throughout the entire day, Katherine is frequently
observed putting her head on her desk and began
crying during reading.
It is helpful to know when a setting event is occurring in order to effectively intervene. However,
it is important to note, there will not always be a setting event when there is an interfering
behavior.
Slide 5: What is an Antecedent?
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Antecedent events happen right before the behavior occurs.
Antecedents are considered to be fast triggers.
Setting event
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Antecedent
Behavior
Grammar
assignment
Crumpled paper
Antecedents are powerful and should be addressed anytime there is problem behavior.
The antecedent and/or setting event are not always easily identified and will require
observation and assessment.
The next item in the behavior chain is the antecedent. These events happen right before the
behavior occurs. It is considered to be a fast trigger. That is, interfering behaviors follow
them immediately. When Becca is presented with a grammar worksheet in English class she
crumples the paper and throws it to the floor. The antecedent or fast trigger in this situation is
the presentation of the worksheet. The behavior of crumpling the worksheet happened
immediately after its presentation.
Antecedents are powerful and should be addressed anytime there is interfering behavior. As
with functions of behavior, the antecedent and/or setting event are not always easily identified
and will require observation and assessment.
Slide 6: Examples of Antecedents
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Antecedent
Clay walks into PE class where
children are cheering loudly
Antoine is asked a question by the
teacher about the history lesson
Patty’s classmate starts talking to her
The principal tells the students to be
quiet in the hallway
Behavior
Clay begins crying and runs out of the gym
Antoine begins playing with the lace on his shoe
Patty walks away from her classmate
Ebony begins to cry
Here are examples of antecedents.
Antecedent
Clay walks into PE class
Antoine is asked a question
Patty’s classmate starts talking to her
The principal tells the students to be
quiet in the hallway
Behavior
Clay begins crying and runs out of the gym
Antoine gives a response to the question
Patty turns away from her classmate
Ebony stops talking
As you can see from these examples, the antecedent happened immediately before the interfering
behavior.
Slide 7: What is a Consequence?
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Setting event
Antecedent
Behavior
Consequence
Test on the
following day
Asked to go out by a
friend
Stayed home to
study
Good grade on test
The consequence occurs after the behavior.
Consequences act as reinforcers or punishers to the behavior.
Consequences maintain the behavior and make the behavior “work” for the student with
ASD.
Consequences compete!
The last part of the behavior chain is the consequence which occurs after the behavior.
Consequences act as reinforcers or punishers to the behavior. Remember that reinforcers increase
the likelihood that the behavior will occur in the future. Behavior that is reinforced is made
stronger. Consequences maintain the behavior and make the behavior “work” for the student
with ASD. When Emmaline throws her learning materials and is allowed a five minute break
while the supplies are cleaned up she is more likely to do the same behavior the next time work
is given to her. The consequence, which was a 5 minute break, “worked” for her. It gave her
something she desired.
When supporting a person with ASD, we must understand what happens after the behavior and
what is reinforcing the behavior because consequences compete! What does this mean? Have
you ever had a situation when you were torn about what to do and you had to consider the
consequences of your actions? Think about when you were in school. Was there ever a time
when you had a test to take and the night before the test you had to decide whether to stay home
and study or whether to go out with your friends? If you chose to stay home and study the
consequence was likely a good grade. If you decided to go out with your friends, then perhaps
you received a poor grade or failed the test all together. These consequences compete! If
studying was the choice you gained access to good grades. If going out with friends was the
choice, you escaped work. – Which consequence did you like and what behavior would you
more likely exhibit next time?
Slide 8: Examples of Consequences
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Behavior
Aiden poked his classmate in the shoulder over
and over
Jenna got into a physical fight with another
student
Peter didn’t do his homework
Dana ran out of the loud cafeteria
Raoul hit another student
Consequence
The classmate walked away
Jenna was suspended
Peter got a an “F”
Dana’s teacher took her to the class so she
could eat lunch alone
Allen had to miss recess
Here are examples of consequences.
Behavior
Aiden poked his classmate in the shoulder over
and over
Jenna got into a physical fight with another
student
Peter didn’t do his homework
Dana ran out of the loud cafeteria
Raoul hit another student
Consequence
The classmate walked away
Jenna was suspended
Peter got a an “F”
Dana’s teacher took her to the class so she
could eat lunch alone
Raoul had to miss recess
As you can see, the consequences happened after the behavior.
Slide 9: Example of a Positive Consequence
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Jamal is a student with autism.
Jamal enjoys listening to books on the computer.
He has difficulty getting his work done in a timely manner.
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Jamal is learning that when he completes his work in a timely fashion that he then has
time to listen to the book on the computer.
The consequence of gaining access to the computer increases the likelihood that Jamal
will complete his work in a timely manner.
Consequences don’t just reinforce or maintain interfering behavior, but consequences maintain
positive and good behaviors too. Let’s look at an example.
Jamal is a fifth grade student with autism. He thoroughly enjoys listening to books on the
computer in the classroom. Jamal has had difficulty in getting his work done in a timely manner.
His teacher decides to work on this problem behavior. On the occasion that Jamal finishes his
work on time, the teacher allows him access to the computer to listen to a book before moving to
the next task. Jamal is learning that when he completes his work in a timely fashion that he has
time to listen to the book on the computer. The consequence of gaining access to the computer
increases the likelihood that Jamal will complete his work in a timely manner the next time.
Slide 10: Think about it!
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Mikiah is a third grade student with autism. He attends the general education setting for
Math since Math is a strong area for him and he seems to enjoy it. Math class is his
second class of the day and immediately follows gym class. Lately Mikiah has been
having difficulty staying focused in math and is becoming increasingly distracting to the
class. When Mikiah needs the teacher’s help he will get up and find her regardless of
what else she may be doing, including helping another student. The teacher always
reprimands Mikiah and tells him he has to raise his hand to get her attention then she
proceeds to ask him what he needs.
Now it’s your turn. Let’s take a few minutes and look at the case study of Mikiah. In your
documents find the Think about it! document titled: Behavior. Now find the question titled:
Mikiah’s Story.
Listen to the case study and see if you can pick out the behavior chain including the:
Behavior
Function
Setting Event
Antecedent
Consequence
Mikiah is a third grade student with autism. He attends the general education setting for Math
since Math is a strong area for him and he seems to enjoy it. Math class is his second class of the
day and immediately follows gym class. Lately Mikiah has been having difficulty staying
focused in math and is becoming increasingly distracting to the class. When Mikiah needs the
teacher’s help he will get up and find her regardless of what else she may be doing, including
helping another student. The teacher always reprimands Mikiah and tells him he has to raise his
hand to get her attention then she proceeds to ask him what he needs.
Slide 11: Thoughts!
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Behavior: out of seat behavior
Function: attention seeking
Setting event: gym class before math class
Antecedent: presentation of a task or assignment
Consequence: gains teacher attention
First, let’s identify what the behavior is that Mikiah is demonstrating. If you thought it was out
of seat behavior you are correct.
What function do you think the behavior is serving for Mikiah? Mikiah’s out of seat behavior is
probably attention seeking since he is seeking out help from the teacher.
Can you identify a setting event in this case study? The setting event could possibly be that
Mikiah has gym right before math class. As we all know gym tends to be arousing because of all
the movement that is involved. This might put Mikiah into an overaroused state which makes it
difficult for him to stay seated and focus on the task at hand in math class.
Next, is there a fast trigger or antecedent to Mikiah’s behavior? The fast trigger in this case
would be the presentation of a task or assignment. This prompts his out of seat behavior.
What is the consequence for his out of seat behavior? First, the teacher provides him attention in
the form of a reprimand but she also continues to give him attention by asking him what he needs
help with. The attention seeking behavior is reinforced and maintained because Mikiah gets
what he is seeking.
Slide 12: How to Determine the Pieces of the Behavior Chain
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It is ultimately the responsibility of the supervisory teacher and IEP team to determine the
function and identify the pieces of the behavior chain.
This information can be identified when conducting a Functional Behavior Assessment.
As a part of the student’s team, your input will be helpful to determine the pieces of the
behavior chain.
It is critical for you to frequently communicate with the supervisory teacher anytime
problem behavior occurs.
As previously noted, it is ultimately the responsibility of the supervisory teacher and IEP team to
determine the function and identify the pieces of the behavior chain. This includes determining
the setting event if there is one, the antecedent, and the consequence. This information can be
identified when conducting what is called a Functional Behavior Assessment. This is a
process where the educational team gathers data about a problem behavior so they can determine
what to do about it. Information from a functional behavior assessment will help the teacher to
develop a plan to address the problem behavior. However, as a part of the student’s team, your
input will be helpful to determine the pieces of the behavior chain. It is critical for you to
frequently communicate with the supervisory teacher anytime problem behavior occurs so you
can figure out why it is happening and what to do about it.
Slide 13: Summary
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Interfering behavior can present many challenges in the school setting.
When examining behavior it is always important to break down the behavior chain in
order to develop interventions.
Interfering behavior can present many challenges in the school setting. The events that happen
before, during, and after a behavior are especially important in figuring out why the behavior
occurs. When examining behavior it is always important to break down the behavior chain in
order to develop interventions.