UNDERSTANDING
&
CHANGING BEHAVIOR
FEBRUARY 25, 2011
SASED Institute Day
Facilitated by:
Diane Gould, LCSW, BCBA
Social Worker, Behavior Analyst
&
Kathy Gill, Ph.D.
Psychologist
Visual Schedule of the Day
8:00 – 8:15ish
8:15 – 10:00
10:00 – 10:15
10:15 – 12:00
12:00 to 12:15
12:15 to 1:30
1:30
Introductions
Rethinking behavior or “Why is this so
difficult?”
Break
Functional Analysis and Behavior Plans that
really work.
Getting good (or better) at Data Collection
Break
Interventions and things that can go wrong
Questions and discussion
Turn in evaluations, Distribute certificates
& Enjoy the afternoon
Expectations

Laugh at least one time

Use at least one idea on Monday

Respect your colleagues
Rewards & Reinforcements

Note cards



Write name on one card and turn in for raffle prizes
Can obtain additional cards/chances
 Participating – commenting
Raffle prizes will be given:
 Drawing following breaks (positive reinforcement for
returning on-time)
 Every ½ hour, (Fixed-interval)
A Bit About Us
A Bit About You



Profession
Setting
Years of Experience
What you hope to learn today
Our Objectives



Reinforce what you already know or think about
behavior in a different way (Understand behavior
function).
Share and take home a few specific strategies
(To use before, during and after challenging behavior
occurs).
Convince some of you to start taking data in place of
guessing and take away some specific and easy data
collection strategies.
Behavior Basics

You really need to understand a behavior before you
try to get rid of it.

The purpose (a.k.a.) FUNCTION of a behavior is
either to get something or avoid something.

Every behavior serves a legitimate FUNCTION or
purpose for your students.

It is just the FORM that needs to be changed.
Behavior Basics

So those challenging behaviors need to be substituted
with new behaviors that make the old ones irrelevant,
ineffective and/or inefficient.

Just looking at rewards and consequences is usually
not enough for long-term, permanent change.
Yikes, get your heads around this

It really isn’t about changing the student. It is about
changing the environment in such a way that the
student makes different choices about their behavior
(Schramm).
Figuring out the Function

1 – OBTAINMENT (a.k.a.: TOWARD)




2 – ESCAPE/AVOIDANCE (a.k.a.: AWAY)



Obtain something
Get attention (even yelling is attention)
Control something
Avoid something or someone
Escape a situation or request or task demand
3 - SENSORY or AUTOMATIC


Seek or avoid sensory input
Activity itself is reinforcing
Obtainment
Attention
 Reaction
 Food
 Control
 Pleasure
 Tangibles

Obtainment Characteristics







Seek attention, tangibles, or control.
Want to direct themselves and others.
Skilled negotiators.
Often do not follow direction or routines.
May use challenging behavior to access interaction
from adults or peers even though interaction is a
negative.
The more we focus on and give attention to this
challenging behavior, the more we INCREASE the
likelihood that the behavior will reoccur.
Children that fit this OBTAINMENT function are
often emotionally exhausting.
Adapted from C. Dahlquist & L. Chandler 8/98
Obtainment –
General Interventions


The key to reversing the cycle of misbehavior for
Obtainment is to STOP ENGAGING WITH THE
CHILD DURING MISBEHAVIOR. Instead direct
actions, energies and words to redirection of the
activity at hand.
Reinforce and focus on all appropriate behavior of
the student (even small approximations of appropriate
behavior).
Adapted from C. Dahlquist & L. Chandler 8/98
Obtainment –
Specific Interventions






Firmly redirect the child back to the task instead of allowing
the child to distract you away from the task when they engage
in conversation, arguments or negotiations.
Ex: “Tommy, I’ll be glad to talk to you after you go back to
your table. ”
Focus on reinforcing appropriate behavior instead of
reprimanding or correcting inappropriate behavior
(Balance scale in your head).
Lengthy reprimands, negotiations, and explanations actually
reinforce the misbehavior. Use only necessary words to
redirect the child.
Remain calm and use neutral tone of voice.
Tell child what to do instead of what not to do.
Use a reinforcement system at school that provides external
rewards for appropriate behavior.
Adapted from C. Dahlquist & L. Chandler 8/98
Beware…

We can accidently reinforce behaviors of students
when we reprimand.
Escape/Avoid
Certain peers
 Specific teachers/staff/therapists
 Tasks
 Settings
 Demands

Escape/Avoidance Characteristics
Seek to escape from tasks, persons, or places.
 Often refuse to begin an activity or may leave an area
or refuse to engage with certain materials, adults, or
activities.
 Have difficulty engaging in peer or adult interactions.
 Often have a history of failure or negative
interactions.

Adapted from C. Dahlquist & L. Chandler 8/98
Escape/Avoidant –
General Interventions



The key to reversing the cycle of misbehavior for
Escape/Avoidance is to make changes in routines and
activities to make them less aversive from the
perspective of the child.
Provide for immediate success as well as frequent
incremental successes.
Establish a reliable system that the child can indicate
a need to temporarily escape.
Adapted from C. Dahlquist & L. Chandler 8/98
Escape/Avoidant –
Specific Interventions



Make activities and tasks easier, shorter, more successful or interesting.
Intersperse easy tasks within more difficult tasks .
Provide opportunist to make CHOICES in everything.






Choice of materials (Do you want to use pen or pencil?)
Choice of amount (Do you want to do 4 or 5?)
Choice of order (Do you want to do the facts sheet or problem solving sheet first?)
Choice of location (Do you want to want to work at your desk or at the table on the side
of the room?)
Reinforce each SMALL step of the appropriate response
Guide the response to ensure success




Use schedule
Guide child what to do next
Give child step-by-step model
Provide support to ensure success
Reinforce ANY part of piece of effort that is successful
Anticipate frustration and end the task on positive note before child engages in
challenging behavior
 Make it easy of student to request assistance or breaks


Adapted from C. Dahlquist & L. Chandler 8/98
Sensory regulation
Increase level of sensory input
Decrease level of input
Diane Gould, LCSW, BCBA
22
Sensory – Increase
or Sensory Seekers
Out of Seat
 Wiggly
 Impulsive
 Rocking
 Kicking or sitting on their legs

Sensory Regulation –
Interventions to Increase Input for
Sensory Seekers






Create opportunities for movement breaks
Adapt movement to be functional
Decrease wait times
Increase stimulation level
Break down long tasks
Use sissels, therapy balls, and other fun stuff from
your OTs
Sensory Decrease
or Sensory Avoiders
Cover their ears
 Put head down on desk
 Startle easily
 Show signs of stress/anxiety

Sensory Regulation –
Interventions to Decrease Input for
Sensory Avoiders







Provide structure to all situations
Use quiet social reinforcement
Provide less stimulating alternatives (hint: P.E.,
recess)
Provide menu of break opportunities
Be aware of high sensory events or activities (e.g.,
fire alarms)
Begin to teach coping skills
Ear phones, head phones in certain situations
Reminder of Basic Principles
Behavior is changed using proactive interventions
that…
CHANGE THE ENVIRONEMNT
TEACH APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR
ACHIEVE THE SAME FUNCTION (the new
appropriate behavior has to work just as or more
effectively than the inappropriate behavior)
So…
We – yes us – the adults in control of the environment
and reinforcements need to change (ugg!)
And this is hard…
Very hard
Take a step back…
Setting the Stage
"When you have well-organized routines and
procedures, you model and prompt organized behavior
from your students.“--Randy Sprick (Safe and Civil
Schools)
The Most Effective Teachers:
Establish smooth efficient classroom routines
 Directly teach students how to be successful
 Interact with students in positive, caring ways
 Provide incentives, recognition, and rewards to
promote excellence
 Set clear standards for classroom behavior and apply
them fairly and consistently

Classroom Rules





Rules should be stated positively
Rules should be specific and refer to observable
behaviors
Teach your rules using positive and negative examples
Applicable throughout the entire class period
Posted in a prominent, visible location.
What is Structure ?
Structure
ISN’T
Punitive!
Structure
IS
WELL
Orchestrated Care!
Randy Sprick
Characteristics of Effective Rules

Stated positively.

Should be specific and refer to observable
behaviors.

Teach your rules using positive and negative
examples.

Should be applicable throughout the entire time
students are there.

Post them in a prominent, visible location.
It’s not the SEVERITY of your
consequences that will make them
effective, it’s the CERTAINTY.
Randy Sprick (Safe and Civil Schools)
Keeping Things in Order
Precorrection - remind of expected behavior
for activities that have the potential for problems.
Gentle reminders – short, one or two sentences, state
expected behavior, walk away.
Proximity- move towards the students who are
engaged in misbehavior.
Why is this so difficult?
Challenging behavior is:
Frustrating
Exhausting
Confusing
Makes us feel incompetent
Makes us feel helpless
Worry that we will be judged
Fear for safety of our students and self
Embarrassing
Last but NOT Least…Emotion

Keeping calm (easy to say, hard to do)
Keep this in mind

No more than 2 emotional reactions in a school year,
never within first six weeks, or with individual
student.
Why is this so difficult?
Precipitating Factors:
Internal or external causes of an
acting out behavior over which a staff
member has little or no control.
Rational Detachment
Ability to stay in control of one’s own
behavior and not take acting out
behavior personally.
Something to think about…
PUNITIVE PROCEDURES
POSITIVE APPROACHES
Rapidly stops behavior
Slowly stops behavior
Provides immediate relief to teachers
Provides no immediate relief to
teacher
Teaches the student and peers what
not to do
Teaches the student and peers how to
behave
Decreases positive self concept
Increases positive self concept
Decreases positive attitudes towards
school and school work
Increases positive attitudes towards
school and school work
Causes withdrawal (non-task, tardy,
truancy drop out)
Promotes enhanced participation
Causes aggression (against property
and others
Decreases likelihood of aggression
Teaches students to respond in a
punitive manner
Teaches students to recognize the
positive
Dianna Browning
Wright Diagnostic
Center, Southern
California
Results in suppression of undesirable
behaviors, not elimination
Results in alternative, positive behavior
to replace maladaptive behavior.
Visual Schedule of the Day
8:00 – 8:15ish
8:15 – 10:00
10:00 – 10:15
10:15 – 12:00
12:00 to 12:15
12:15 to 1:30
1:30
Introductions
Rethinking behavior or “Why is this so
difficult?”
Break
Functional Analysis and Behavior Plans that
really work.
Getting good (or better) at Data Collection
Break
Interventions and things that can go wrong
Questions and discussion
Turn in evaluations, Distribute certificates
& Enjoy the afternoon
Functional Analysis
&
Behavior Plans that Work
Visual Schedule of the Day
8:00 – 8:15ish
8:15 – 10:00
10:00 – 10:15
10:15 – 12:00
12:00 to 12:15
12:15 to 1:30
1:30
Introductions
Rethinking behavior or “Why is this so
difficult?”
Break
Functional Analysis and Behavior Plans that
really work.
Getting good (or better) at Data Collection
Break
Interventions and things that can go wrong
Questions and discussion
Turn in evaluations, Distribute certificates
& Enjoy the afternoon
What is a Functional Analysis?

An attempt to look beyond the obvious interpretation
of behavior as "bad" and determine what function it
may be serving for a child.

Way to truly understand why a child behaves the way
he or she does to aid in developing strategies that
prevent and reduce the behavior.
What is a Functional Analysis?

The process involves identifying the most critical
target behaviors, the antecedents and consequences.

It is also critical to identify other factors that
contribute to the target behaviors.


Settings: Who (with whom), what, when, where.
Environmental variables: Medication, diet, sleep, schedule.
Goals of Functional Analysis

Prevent target behavior by manipulating
environmental variables.

Provide/teach alternative behaviors that achieve
same function.

Teach coping skills.
Good Questions to Ask

If you wanted to make sure an observer witnessed
the challenging behavior how would you set that up?

If you wanted to make sure an observer did not see
the challenging behavior, how would you set that up?

These give great information about the behavior.
Describing Behavior/Operational
Definition

Topography – what are the physical characteristics of
behavior – what does it look like, sound like, smell like,
taste like, feel like.
From Willis & LaVigna, 1999
Describing Behavior/Operational
Definition

Cycle – At what point has the behavior/episode
started and stopped. This will guide the recording of
the behavior.
From Willis & LaVigna, 1999
Describing Behavior/Operational
Definition

Course – From the beginning to the end describe what
the person does. Describe the precursors, the early
signs that the person is likely to engage in the
behavior, to the actual demonstration of the
behavior, and de-escalation.
From Willis & LaVigna, 1999
Describing Behavior/Operational
Definition

Strength




Rate – Frequency of the behavior in a period of
time (Ex. 1 time per hour, 4 times per week)
Duration – Longest, shortest, average
Severity – Describe the impact of the behavior on
the student and others (damage, injuries,
exclusion, stigmatization)
Other – Any other important measures
From Willis & LaVigna, 1999
Getting Good
(or Better)
At Data Collection
Visual Schedule of the Day
8:00 – 8:15ish
8:15 – 10:00
10:00 – 10:15
10:15 – 12:00
12:00 to 12:15
12:15 to 1:30
1:30
Introductions
Rethinking behavior or “Why is this so
difficult?”
Break
Functional Analysis and Behavior Plans that
really work.
Getting good (or better) at Data Collection
Break
Interventions and things that can go wrong
Questions and discussion
Turn in evaluations, Distribute certificates
& Enjoy the afternoon
Data Collection

Why do we take data?
Deciding What & How to Collect

Useful
Relevant
Priority

Painless as possible


Deciding What Data to Collect
Amount of work turned in
 Talk-outs
 Discipline referrals
 Grade report
 Frequency of time-outs or direct intervention
 Student report
 Parent report
 Structured observation

Data Collection Techniques

ABC Recording
 Antecedent- what happens before behavior (loud
noise, transition, request from teacher)


Behavior- actual behavior (whining, hit desk with
palm of hand, bit self on back of hand)
Consequence- result of behavior (verbal
redirection from teacher, peer response, received
pencil)
Data Collection Techniques

ABC Recording
 Time consuming
 Use for helping determine function or baseline
recording
 Use of ongoing sampling of behavior
Data Collection Tools

Frequency Recording - Record each time the
behavior occurs over specific period of time.




Use when goal is to increase or decrease
occurrence of behavior (Jack will decrease number
of prompts required to stay on task during 20
minute free-reading from 10 to 2)
Good for clear onset/offset behaviors
Problem if behavior is high-rate
Don’t use with non-compliance
Data Collection Tools

Duration Recording - Total time the student
engages in target behavior.




Good for open-ended behaviors you are trying in
increase (Ex. Jack will increase the time he is able
to sit in circle without a prompt from 30 seconds
to 3 minutes)
Time consuming
Need stopwatch
May want to use estimate or rating system
Data Collection Tools

Proportion Recording – What percentage of
time the target behavior occurs in relation to
opportunities for target behavior.



Typically used for behaviors that occur in given
time frame (Ex. Jack will increase correct
identification of body parts from 50 percent to 90
percent)
Good for academic behaviors
Good when tracking quality of behavior
Data Collection Tools

Latency Recording


Time between two events
Ex. Jack will decrease the amount of time to start
a work assignment after a direction is given from 4
minutes to 30 seconds.
Data Collection Tools

Time Sample - Frequency of behaviors within
a given amount of time

Good for attending behaviors
Data Collection Tools

Anecdotal Recording - A description in plain
language and in detail

Be careful to be objective, not subjective
Baseline

Use the data you take from the before
intervention period to serve as a baseline so
you know if your interventions are working.
Now that you have some data…

Writing clear objectives
Probably Not:
Jack will decrease aggressive behavior.
Jack will improve his social skills.
Better:
Jack will reduce his aggressive behavior* toward
peers from 4 episodes per week to 1 episode per
month by the end of May/within 12 weeks.
*Define aggressive behavior toward peers in BIP
Behavior Plan




Use the information that you have from the
functional analysis to write a plan.
You will find out if your hypothesis was correct about
the function of behavior
If the interventions work.. great.. congratulate
yourselves and consider if prompts need to be faded
and reinforcement schedules thinned.
If interventions aren’t working, figure out what is
wrong. You may need to go back and redo the analysis.
Behavior plan
Best when written as a team
 Be very specific about who will do what
 Figure out what new interventions you are going to do
 Figure out how data will be taken and be who
 Plan when you will review the data and compare it to
baseline
 It is a continuous process

Ideas to Incorporate Data Collection



As communication with parents
As behavioral contract
As a self monitoring
Reminders
Once a skill is mastered…Generalize
 New place
 New person/people
 New materials
 Varied (and more natural) cue
Follow-up

Explain and TEACH plan to all people working with the
student.







Student
Parents
Teachers
Support staff
Bus drivers
Security
Other students
Follow-up

Monitor adherence to plan.

3 to 5 key components that can be tracked
Visual Schedule of the Day
8:00 – 8:15ish
8:15 – 10:00
10:00 – 10:15
10:15 – 12:00
12:00 to 12:15
12:15 to 1:30
1:30
Introductions
Rethinking behavior or “Why is this so
difficult?”
Break
Functional Analysis and Behavior Plans that
really work.
Getting good (or better) at Data Collection
Break
Interventions and things that can go wrong
Questions and discussion
Turn in evaluations, Distribute certificates
& Enjoy the afternoon
Interventions and
Things That Can Go Wrong
Visual Schedule of the Day
8:00 – 8:15ish
8:15 – 10:00
10:00 – 10:15
10:15 – 12:00
12:00 to 12:15
12:15 to 1:30
1:30
Introductions
Rethinking behavior or “Why is this so
difficult?”
Break
Functional Analysis and Behavior Plans that
really work.
Getting good (or better) at Data Collection
Break
Interventions and things that can go wrong
Questions and discussion
Turn in evaluations, Distribute certificates
& Enjoy the afternoon
NOW, the Nitty Gritty of Changing
Behavior


The rest of the presentation will be spent on how to
prevent, reduce or stop the challenging behaviors.
We will end with a list of what can go wrong so if the
behavior change methods are not working, you know
where the breakdown may be.
Behavior changes through 5 channels
Reinforcement
 Extinction
 Motivation
 Punishment
 Stimulus Control

Things you can do




Strategies that can make a difference
Before the misbehavior (proactive)
After the misbehavior (reactive)
Again everything is dependent on your students being
very clear on your expectations.
Changing Behavior



We want to reinforce the behaviors we want more of
so they increase
We want to punish or withhold reinforcement for
behaviors that we don’t want to they will decrease
Need to think through how we want to do this which
is our plan.
Situational Management Strategies

Antecedent control – remove seductive objects,
people or unnecessary demands, eliminate provocative
statements and actions, rearrange environment.

Planned ignoring/Differential attention – Ignore lowlevel attention seeking behaviors (hint: ignore
behavior NOT student).

Introduce humor – Laughter, a humorous reaction
that complete with the challenging behavior.
Situational Management Strategies

Active listening – Respond in a way that is
nonjudgmental and non-directive.

Redirect/Distract– Interrupt the behavior.

Stimulus Change – Introduce a novel and sudden or
unexpected change in stimuli.

Proximity control – Increase OR decrease space
between you and student (BOTH preventative &
reactive)
Reinforcement
You need to make sure that the behavior you want is
in the child’s repertoire if not, it won’t work. Adding
reinforcement cannot make individuals perform
behaviors that they cannot do. (Fouse and Wheeler
1997)
 You may have to teach new skills

Differential reinforcement




DRA (alternatives to the misbehavior)
DRI (incompatible with the misbehavior)
DRO (any other acceptable behavior)
DRL (lower rates of responding)
Behavioral momentum

Directing a persons energy towards the desired
response.
Teaching Self Regulation
Antecedent control
 Relaxation training
 A quiet area
 Props that assist with calming
 Physical activity for agitation
 Teaching self awareness

Discussions


Discussions- save them until a time that works later
when you are more calm and the child is likely to be
less defensive.
Problem solve better ways to handle the situation.
Consequences
You need to figure out what you want to do consistently
for rule violations
Time owed
 Timeout
 Restitution
 Positive practice
 Response cost
 Lottery
 Detention

Contracts
Involves placing contingencies for reinforcement on a
piece of paper that is agreed to and signed by the
individuals involved.
 Can be used to increase positive behaviors or
decrease problem behaviors- individuals or group.
 They need to be very specific
 Child should help pick reinforcers
 Define expectations and negotiate until agreement
 Plan when it will be reviewed
 Make time lines clear

Diane Gould, LCSW, BCBA
93
Self Monitoring
A process where the student observes and collects
his or her own data on behavior. Monitoring one’s own
behavior is an important part of self-management.
 Select a target behavior
 Have child record on a specific form
 Define time period
 Summarize and maybe graph
 Reinforce
 Can connect with a contract

Class wide systems




Marble jar
Coloring tower/picture
Behavior of the day or week
Mystery motivator
Reinforcement Tower
Diane Gould, LCSW, BCBA
96
Video modeling




There is self modeling and peer modeling
Self modeling works much better
Be careful not to record any errors in the video or it
will increase that behavior
Have watch the video before a potentially challenging
activity or time of day.
Keeping a positive atmosphere


Positive to negative ratios
Intermittent celebrations
Things that can go wrong
Not defining the behavior clearly enough
 The data to hard to collect
 Reinforcement schedules incorrect
 Data collection ends after the BIP is created
 Data taken but not broken down and reviewed in
detail
 Not enough time to work as a team and review

Diane Gould, LCSW, BCBA
99
Things that can go wrong
Focusing on too many things at once
 Making things too complicated
 Having too strong an emotional response
 Taking misbehavior personally
 Too much down time
 Not paying enough attention to the environment

Diane Gould, LCSW, BCBA
100
Visual Schedule of the Day
8:00 – 8:15ish
8:15 – 10:00
10:00 – 10:15
10:15 – 12:00
12:00 to 12:15
12:15 to 1:30
1:30
Introductions
Rethinking behavior or “Why is this so
difficult?”
Break
Functional Analysis and Behavior Plans that
really work.
Getting good (or better) at Data Collection
Break
Interventions and things that can go wrong
Questions and discussion
Turn in evaluations, Distribute certificates
& Enjoy the afternoon
References


Jenson, Rhode & Reavis, The Tough Kid Tool Box.
Fouse and Wheeler, A Treasure Chest of Behavioral
Strategies for Individuals with Autism
Visual Schedule of the Day
8:00 – 8:15ish
8:15 – 10:00
10:00 – 10:15
10:15 – 12:00
12:00 to 12:15
12:15 to 1:30
1:30
Introductions
Rethinking behavior or “Why is this so
difficult?”
Break
Functional Analysis and Behavior Plans that
really work.
Getting good (or better) at Data Collection
Break
Interventions and things that can go wrong
Questions and discussion
Turn in evaluations, Distribute certificates
& Enjoy the afternoon
Enjoy the Afternoon