Welcome to Week 2 of
Functional Curriculum
• Updates to Wiki- Textbook available at the
MISL on the 3rd Floor
– All links should be working, please let me know if
they are not
– Article Review #1 Due April 13th Next Week,
Articles posted Remember in Assignment Section
Article Reviews
• Look at the rubric to ensure high probability of doing well.
• Make sure you complete each section with complete
sentences.
– Do not include Yes or No in your answer.
– Write that “the author did or did not……”
• Be concise, but make sure that you answer the question well.
• If you feel like the author did not explain something well, tell
me what would have been helpful to know.
• Remember that they usually have limited space which editors
make even more limited!
• Most articles have an email address for correspondence with
the author, use this for topics/tools you are interested in
– People do email the authors & authors do respond!
Treatment fidelity/integrity
• How the author(s) measured the degree to which
the intervention was implemented the way it was
designed.
• Examples: Checklist of steps conducted in an
intervention, an observer recording the presence
of the intervention
• Not to be confused with inter-rater reliability or
agreement (IOA)- this is having 2 observers
record the dependent variables (outcomes,
behaviors)
APA format for citations of Journal
Articles
Author Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial., & 2nd
Author Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year).
Title of article with only the first word capitalized
unless followed by colon: Then next word capitalized.
Name of Journal Italicized & All Major Words
Capitalized, Volume # Italicized, page #s.
Loman, S.L., Rodriguez, B.J., & Horner, R.H. (2010).
Sustainability of a targeted intervention package: First
step to success in Oregon. Journal of Emotional and
Behavioral Disorders, 18(3), 178-191.
Assessing Students with
Significant Disabilities
Guiding Principles for Designing
Instruction
• Self-determination: honor students’ preferences
• Family- & culture-centered planning
• Educational accountability: all students can learn & deserve
high quality instruction
• Personalized curriculum: draw from both adaptations of
academic curriculum & life skills the students need for current
& future environments
• Inclusion: enhance participation in inclusive settings
• Functional & age-appropriate skills: daily living and
appropriate to students chronological age
• Choice: encourage choice-making
• Research as a resource for practice: data-based intervention
research provides resource for what & how to teach
Team Process
• Collaboration by a team of professionals is
essential
• Must take into consideration the
characteristics of the individual:
– strengths & needs
• Consider the environment in which student
functions and will function in the near future
• Include objectives for the student that are tied
to the general curriculum
Yearly
Individual
Student
Planning
Meeting
(MDT)
Functional
Assessment/
Ecological
Inventory
Instruction/
Collect Data
Co-Plan/
Design
Instructional
Plan
Monthly/
Quarterly
Daily/
Weekly
Individual Student Planning

Multi-disciplinary Team approach




“One Voice”
Involving GE, SPED, other services
Review data, schedule and outline actions to
better support student
1 time per/ mon. until establish success


No longer than 45 minutes
Agenda with action plan
Purpose of Assessment


Capacity Building vs Deficit Finding
Capacity Building (O’Brien & Mount, 1991)



Focus on strengths and preferences
Avoid use of standardized assessments that
are not appropriate to a student because of
physical or sensory impairments or cultural
differences
Use of observations & interviews
Deficit-finding Perspective

“Rebecca Ferguson has an IQ of 21 and a
mental age of 1 year, 18 mos. Her scores on the
Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales were below
basal levels. She has Down’s syndrome and
severe mental retardation. R cannot use the
toilet or eat independently and will require
lifelong assistance for personal care. She is
nonverbal except for some random
vocalizations. R sometimes engages in
aggressive behavior including spitting, and
slapping
Capacity-building perspective

“Rebecca is a 16-year old girl with brown eyes
and black hair who has been medically
classified with Down’s syndrome. Her scores
below basal levels on the Vineland and the
Weschler Intelligence Scale support her ongoing
eligibility for special education services. R is
highly social and greets others using eye
contact, smiles, a wave, and an occasional hug.
She makes her needs known by moving to an
area or obtaining materials (e.g, her bathing suit
to go swimming). She can sign “eat” to request
food. She has strong preferences is assertive….
Ecological Assessment:
A process


Method to identify instructional priorities
based on a student’s current and future
environments and the student’s and
family’s preferences (Browder, 2001)
AKA:


“Functional assessment (Linehan & Brady,
1985)”
“Life skills assessment (Browder, 1991)”
Research on Ecological
Assessment


Arose out of dissatisfaction with failures in adapting
standardized assessments for students with significant
disabilities
 Information obtained had minimal impact on
educational planning
 (Sigafoos et al., 1987; Blankenship, 1985; Cole et al.,
1985)
Ecological reports result in:
 Higher ratings of expected educational outcomes
(Linehan & Brady, 1985)
 Educators more likely to recommend related services
and less restrictive placements
Steps in Ecological Assessment
Process





Step 1: Plan with Student & Family
Step 2: Summarize what is known about
the student
Step 3: Encourage Self-Determination/
Assess Student Preferences
Step 4: Assess student’s instructional
program
Step 5: Develop ecological assessment
report
Step 1: Plan with Student &
Family


Use a person-centered process
Encourage student & family involvement in
planning assessment & instructional goals
Step 2: Summarize What is
Known About the Student





Summarize student’s strengths & positive
attributes
Use Capacity building statements (vs
deficit building statements)
Notes from educational records
Summary of progress on IEP
Goal: Describe the purpose of
assessment
Step 3: Encourage Student SelfDetermination/ Assess Preference


Strengthen the student’s influence on their
education
Student may need to try new options
through systematic preference
assessment (Lohrmann-O’Rourke &
Browder, 1998)


Note student’s typical choices, talking with
others who know the student, & new options
Student preference enhanced by offering &
honoring choices (Kern et al., 1998)
Planning for Self-Determination &
Quality of Life Outcomes

Self-determination and Quality of Life are
critical learning outcomes (Schalock, 1994;
Wehmeyer, 1996).

Take a look at the Arc’s Self-Determination
Scale (1995).

Quality of Life Planning: Home and
community functioning, employment, & health
and safety
Step 4: Assess Student’s
Instructional Program


Student’s instructional program should be
individualized, but should not prevent a
student from participating in general
education.
Rather it should define how to make this
participation meaningful for a student
whose reading & math skills are far below
grade level
Developing an instructional
program


Begin with broad assessments, then move
to specific assessments
Conduct:




1. Ecological Inventory of different domains
that a student experiences OR will experience
2. Conduct an activity analysis (discrepancy
analysis)
3. Conduct a situational analysis/task analysis
4.Functional behavioral assessment (FBA; if
needed)
Start with looking at the student’s
school environment



In defining the LRE, start with general
education….
Look at a student’s goals/objectives
defined by the team and take an inventory
of where in the student’s schedule those
skills can be taught.
Infused Skills Grid
Infused Skills Grid
School Name
Infused Skills Grid
Student Name:
Age:
Grade:
Parent/Guardian:
Advocate Teacher:
Class Schedule:
Room:
Phone:
Phone:
Infused Skills

Focus on Goals.

Increase Participation
Activities/Subjects/Environments
Check here if the
infused skill has
been identified by:
Family
Student
Peers
School
Case Study :

Objectives for Isaac:
1.
Use picture schedule to
follow class routine.
Use sign language, PECS to
communicate (make
requests, label objects)
Write words from left to
right
Correctly identify
letters/sounds/words by
pointing
Engage in reciprocal play
(taking turns, sharing
objects with others)
Count & add numbers up to
30
Use a calculator to perform
multiplication, division

Isaac is one of your students
in your 4th grade class.

He loves music- especially
reggae
2.

He is a visual learner, likes
puzzles, blocks, and riding
bike
3.

Isaac has very limited verbal
language and is learning to
use picture exchange
communication (PECS) and
sign language to
communicate with others as
well as picture schedules to
participate in his general
education classes/ activities.
Isaac
4.
5.
6.
7.
After you have determined where those skills
can be met, conduct an ecological inventory
of:





Environments: (e.g., High school classes)
Sub-environment: (e.g., Consumer math)
Activities: (e.g., work problems in text, lecture,
computer simulations, group projects, etc.)
Natural supports available: (e.g., computer for
each student, teacher gives 1:1 feedback
Target Skills: (e.g., number recognition, use of
calculator)
Group Activity: Think about your current
placement and outline the:

Environments: (e.g., High School, Job)

Sub-environments: (Classes, Locations)
Activities within sub-environments:
 Natural supports within sub-environments:


Do this for all of the sub-environments
(e.g., classes, locations) a student may
access in a day within your school
Next, Conduct an Activity
Analysis
Activity Analysis
Name: _______________________________
Date: _______________________________
Sub-environment/Class: _________________________
Time
Classroom Activity
Steps/ Natural Cues
What Other Students Are Doing
Target Student
Performance
(+/-)
Comments
Skills in Need
of Instruction
Bryant, D.P., Smith, D. D., & Bryant, B. R. (2008). Teaching students with special needs in inclusive classrooms. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
A
ASK:
What am I
requiring
students to
do?
D
DETERMINE
the prerequisite
skills of the
task.
A
ANALYZE
the student’s
strengths
and needs.
P
PROPOSE
and
implement
adaptations
T
TEST to
determine if
adaptations
helped the
student
Standards/
Lesson
Plan
Observe steps
ALL students
are doing to
achieve the
standard
Observe
what
TARGET
student is
doing—
what steps
can do.
Identify
TARGET
STUDENT
outcomes
and
adaptations
needed
based on
observation
Create a
DATA
collection
plan.
Bryant, D.P., Smith, D. D., & Bryant, B. R. (2008). Teaching students with special needs in inclusive classrooms. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
ADAPT Framework/ An Instructional Planning
Framework





Ask: What am I requiring the student to do? (Lesson
Plans, Co-Planning)
Determine the prerequisite skills (Task analyze-What all
students are doing)
Analyze the student’s strengths and needs (Task
analyze-What is the target student doing)
Propose and implement adaptations (Identify objectives
and adaptations)
Test to determine if the adaptation helped the student
accomplish the task (Data collection plan)
A- Ask what am I requiring?




In general education settings, “What are
the standards for all students?”
Collaborate with GE teacher to obtain
schedule, activities, homework, etc.
Lesson Plan to ensure participation and
success towards objectives
Multi-Disciplinary Team- Individual student
planning
Curriculum Co-Planning
Curriculum Co-Planning
Teacher(s): _______________________
Time and Dates:
The class/unit/project/activity……
At the end of this class/unit/ project/activity the learner should be
able to…..
Planning Materials:
What major instructional strategies will be used to engage the learners?
Projects
Hands-on Activities/ Activity-based Instruction
Writing/Illustrating
Computers
Games
Demonstrations/Simulations/Role-playing
Partners/Cooperative Groups
Presentations/Lectures
Reading/ Partner Reading
Large/Small group Discussions
Guest Lecturers/Instructors
Independent Practice/Exercises/ “Seat Work”
Community Instruction
Students Presentations
Homework
Other____________________________________________________________________________________
______

What a FEW of my
students will know.

What MOST of students
will know.

What ALL my students
will know.

Further modifications
Determine the prerequisite skills



Directly observe what ALL students are
doing.
Activity Analysis- steps they take to
achieve the standard
During observation:



Are students successful
Are they good models
Can the provide support to others
Analyze target students strengths
and needs


Directly observe the target student’s
performance (compared to the task
analysis of what typical students are
doing)
Look for natural supports

Ask: are there things within the room that
would provide natural adaptations for the
student (i.e. class schedule, organizers,
peers)
Next, conduct Situational/Task Analysis
for Skills in Need of Instruction
Activity Analysis
Name: _______________________________
Date: _______________________________
Sub-environment/Class: _________________________
Time
Classroom Activity
Steps/ Natural Cues
What Other Students Are Doing
Target Student
Performance
(+/-)
Comments
Skills in Need
of Instruction
Task Analysis/ Routines
Monitoring
 Guides the sequence of steps for completing
a specific routine/task
 Guides student progress on specific
routines/tasks
 Guides instruction to include generalization
& maintenance of all skills used within the
routine
 Review of student progress at-a-glance for
instructional decisions
Step 5- Develop an ecological
assessment report




Recommendations can be developed for
the student’s instructional plan
Outline goals/objectives
Proposed Adaptations
Instructional Plan


Includes Participation Plan for School Day
Data-Plan: how you will assess student
progress
Participation Plan
Name:
Grade:
Participation Plan
What the class does:
Listening to lecture
(taking notes)
Class is reading out loud
Writing (in journal or on their laptops):
Responding to reading or class topic:
Math assignments
Answering questions related to passage
Receiving instruction on laptops
How to provide support:
How student participates:
Participation Plan
Name: Justin
Participation Plan
What the class does:
Listening to lecture
(taking notes)
Class is reading out loud
Writing (in journal or on their laptops):
Responding to reading or class topic:
Math assignments
Answering questions related to passage
Receiving instruction on laptops
How to provide support:
Peer/ Adult makes simplified notes related to
lecture.
1) Peer/ adult takes notes on who, what,
where, and other important key words
or concepts from the passage.
2) Student practices ahead of time a
particular sentence to read in class or
3) Adult identifies 1-2 key words and
creates 1-2 questions with pictures.
Provide sentence shell. Example: The story
takes place in _________ (Chicago, Africa),
have him choose the correct response to write in
the blank.
Collaborate with teacher to prepare a statement
or response ahead of time related to reading.
Provide math and word problems that are
simplified, but still related to curriculum. Use
coins, cubes, or other manipulatives to
demonstrate concepts. Have him match
numbers with actual number of objects
Shorten and provide 2-choice questions to
student. Use sentence shell and have student fill
answers. Provide written or verbal choices to
fill in blanks
Have peer help him follow along with lecture.
Ask him for topics to look up. If no answer,
then give him a choice (age-appropriate)
How student participates:
Student listens and takes notes from peer/ adult.
Student works on related work while teacher is lecturing
Student will follow along in book.
Student will find 3-4 key words.
Student reviews key words and concepts after reading is
completed.
Identify 1-2 pictures in the classroom text and answer
questions created by staff.
Write correct response in blank and then recpy the sentence
when complete.
Uses pictures to add to his writing.
Student will raise his hand and respond to a question when
asked by the teacher.
Have him calculate problems using calculator and/ or
manipulatives, then turn in adapted assignment to teacher
when complete.
Have him answer simplified and/or multiple choice
questions orally and then recopy or rewrite the answer.
Have student use pictures to demonstrate knowledge of
subject matter.
He will listen to lecture and press buttons that peer directs
him to.
He will look up on the internet by copying address from
paper on his laptop.
Propose Adaptations

Based on observations:




Define the outcomes for the student during
each activity.
Are there natural supports available?
Are there adaptations/modifications to the
curriculum that can be made in order for the
student to achieve the outcomes?
Is explicit instruction on specific skills or
supports needed?
Plan how you will test to
determine if plan is working

Data collection plan



What will you collect?
How are you going to use the data?
When do you make decisions using the data?
Steps in Ecological Assessment
Process





Step 1: Plan with Student & Family
Step 2: Summarize what is known about
the student
Step 3: Encourage Self-Determination/
Assess Student Preferences
Step 4: Assess student’s instructional
program
Step 5: Develop ecological assessment
report
Activity #2
• Take the time to complete an ecological
inventory of 3 sub-environments
(subjects/classes) in your current placement.
Systematic Instruction
Behavioral Principles &
Teaching Applications
Systematic Instruction:
Guiding Principles
• These principles guide educators in
developing instructional plans that have the
greatest likelihood of student learning:
1. Teaching meaningful and functional skills,
2. Facilitating attention to relevant stimuli,
3. Providing frequent opportunities to respond
4. Providing a positive learning environment
Halle et al., 2004
Teaching Applications
Stimulus Control
Prompting
Fading
Shaping
Chaining
Teaching

Teaching is the process of arranging
instructional stimuli that result in behavior
change for the learner.



Teaching requires the establishment of a
learning context.
Teaching requires behavior change on the part
of the learner.
Teaching students to respond to specific
stimuli is a teacher’s basic job.
Basic elements of behavior analysis
Behavior (response)
 Antecedent (antecedent stimuli)
 Consequence
 Setting event


These describe the behavior within an
environmental context

Summary statement or testable hypothesis
Basic elements of behavior analysis
Setting event
Antecedent/
Stimulus
Response/
Behavior
Consequence
The Technical Arts of Teaching and
Behavior Support

5 basic elements of behavior


9 principles of behavior


Response, Antecedent stimulus,
Consequence, Contingency, Setting Event
Stimulus control, positive reinforcement,
negative reinforcement, positive
punishment, negative punishment,
extinction, transfer, generalization,
maintenance,
Applications to teaching and behavior
support
Five Elements of Behavior



(1) Response, (2) Antecedent Stimulus,
(3) Consequence, (4) Contingency,
(5) Setting Event.
5
2
1
3
Setting Event --> Stimulus--> Response--->Consequence
(Contingency)
4




Illness
-->
Demand
-->
Whine --> Escape Demand
(3 out of 5 times)
Nine Principles of Human Behavior
Stimulus Control
 Positive Reinforcement
 Negative Reinforcement
 Positive Punishment
 Negative Punishment
 Extinction
 Transfer
 Generalization
 Maintenance

Stimulus Control

Stimulus control refers to change in the
likelihood of a response when a
stimulus is presented.


The stimulus is a signal that if the response
is performed, a predictable outcome
(consequence) is likely.
If a person responds one way in the
presence of a stimulus and another in its
absence, than that stimulus is said to
“control” behavior.

A traffic light is an example
Stimulus Control Terms
Stimulus: Any event, action or object
perceptible to the senses.
 Discriminative Stimulus (Sd):



Any stimulus that signals that a specific response is
more likely to be followed by a reinforcer (S+) or
punisher (S-).
Delta Stimulus (S ):

Any stimulus that signals that a specific response is
unlikely to be followed by a reinforcer.
Sd or (S-delta): ??

A baby learns that saying “mama” is:



(a) reinforced in the presence of the adult with
glasses and curly hair &
(b) usually results in the disappearance of the
adult with a beard.
For the Response, “Mama”


Sd= __?
S-delta= ___?
Identify the Discriminative Stimulus (Sd)

1st grader says “went” in the presence of a
flashcard with the letters W-E-N-T, which
results in teacher praise.

1st grader says “went” in the presence of
the letters C-A-M-E, which does not result
in teacher praise.
Why is stimulus control important?
For each example define a response and its controlling stimulus
Reading
 Math
 Social initiations
 Joining a playground game
 Getting help from an adult
 Getting a cookie at snack
 Following the instruction to “line up”

Discrimination Learning

Discrimination based on relatively informal or imprecise
patterns of reinforcement usually develops slowly and is
often imperfect.

Ex. Babies calling all men with beard “daddy”




Student says went when sees “w-a-n-t” or “w-e-t”
Stipulation
Importance of teaching range of positive and negative
examples.
Salient features of stimulus should be emphasized

Often times students learn based on some other feature than
what wanting them to focus on

Ex. Student says the word “went” because that flashcard has a
smudge on it, or the word “came” because it starts with a C.
How to develop stimulus control
(Note what you ADD to the natural context)

Begin by pretest, then defining (a) the
new response[R], (b) the stimulus that
should control the response[S1], and
(c) the natural reward [Sr+].





Pretest to document absence of Sd  R
Present the stimulus (S1)
Prompt the new response (R)
Deliver a reward (Sr+) + extra reward
Withhold the reward when either
 R1 occurs when S1 has not be presented, or
 R1 does not occur when S1 is presented.
Stimulus control and teaching
For any skill, teach a) what, b) when, c)
why.
 What = the new response (skill)
 When = the stimulus that signals when to
perform the new response
 Why = what is the likely consequence
(reward)

Examples:
Target Response/Discriminative Stimulus
T ---> /t/
( b --> /b/, /d/ )

---> “triangle” (
 Child cries --> parent picks up and
comforts
 Smile --> social initiation
 Student raises hand -> teacher calls on
student

)
Building Stimulus Control

Teach saying “thank you” when
someone gives you something.



Test to determine if skill exists
Identify “pre-requisites”
Define “natural” behavioral elements


What do you add to teach




receive --> “thank you” --> “you’re welcome”
Add prompt (“say thank you”)
Add reward (“excellent job saying thank you”)
Multiple opportunities to practice (fade
extras)
Test to determine if skill is learned
Teaching and Stimulus Control

Define the naturally occurring pattern

Setting Event -> Stimulus -> Response -> Consequence

Define what you will “add” to assist learning.

Setting Event -> Stimulus -> Response -> Consequence
Prompt
Extra Reward
or Correction
Teaching and Stimulus Control:
Examples


Setting Event -> Stimulus -> Response->
Consequence
None
info from
-> “car”

reading
 What do you add?
-> /car/
->
Consequences
Setting Event -> Stimulus -> Response -> Consequence
(Contingency)
Consequences follow a target response
 Contingent consequences are delivered
only after the target response occurs.
 Consequences affect the future likelihood
of the response.



Rewarding consequences increase the
likelihood of the target response.
Aversive consequences decrease the likelihood
of the target response.
Consequences

There are 5 major classes of
consequences






Positive reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
Positive punishment
Negative punishment
Extinction
To determine the type/class of
consequence:


Examine the effect on future occurrence of
the behavior (increase or decrease?)
Examine the action involved in the
consequence (give/remove/withhold)
Consequences
Action
Effect on Future Occurrence of Behavior
INCREASES
DECREASES
Give
Positive Reinforcement
Positive Punishment
Remove
Negative Reinforcement
Negative Punishment
Withhold
Extinction
Consequences
Examples
• Define the target response
• Define the consequence
• Define the effect on future occurrence of the
behavior.
• Define the type of action involved in the
consequence (give, remove).
• Define the behavioral principle
demonstrated
Consequences
Examples (target response is underlined)
• Over time, Darin (age 5) has become more
likely to line up when given the instruction
“time to line up” as a result of contingent
praise from Ms. Dawson when he lines up.
• Darin screamed, and Ms. Dawson said
“Darin you be quiet.” He immediately
stopped screaming and smiled. Over time,
however, his rate of screaming in class has
increased.
Consequences
Examples (target response is underlined)
• Over time Ellen’s talking out in class
decreased during instructional presentations
as a result of everyone ignoring her talkouts (previously she received a lot of peer
attention).
• Over time Ellen has become more on task
during independent seat work periods since
Mr. Evan’s started giving out “Worker
Rewards” for students who were on-task.
Consequences
Examples (target response is underlined)
• Over time Jim (age 9) has become less
likely to push his way to the front of the line
during recess since the teachers took away
recess time for each instance of pushing.
• Elaine volunteered answers in class when
the teacher asked for volunteers, but about
25% of the time she would be wrong, and
the teacher would scowl and tell her she
was wrong. She now volunteers less often.
Consequences
Examples (target response is underlined)
• Over time Elaine was more likely to scream
when given a math assignment as a result of
the assignment being removed as soon as
she screamed.
• Tyron became more likely to become quiet,
look down and whimper when other
children would talk to him as a result of
other children leaving him alone when he
engaged in these behaviors.
Consequences
Examples (target response is underlined)
• Gwen’s attendance at choir has decreased as
a result of Ms. Emerson’s repeated
congratulations on Gwen’s “wonderful
voice.”
• Eric (age 8) has become more likely to tease
and taunt Angelissa even though Angelissa
consistently hits or yells at Eric when he
teases her.
Effective Instruction of New
Behaviors
Teaching New Behaviors can be Thought of as
Developing Stimulus Control
Errorless Learning
 Prompts and Cues
 Response Shaping
 Chaining

Effective Instruction:
We Must Determine the Nature of the
Problem
Focus
1
Behavior not in repertoire of student
-SKILL DEFICIT
Teach HOW
Student can do behavior but does not
-PERFORANCE DEFICIT
teach WHEN & WHY
Does the student not know how or do
they know how but choose not to?
2
Discrimination Learning

Discrimination based on relatively informal or imprecise
patterns of reinforcement usually develops slowly and is
often imperfect.

Ex. Babies calling all men with beard “daddy”




Student says went when sees “w-a-n-t” or “w-e-t”
Stipulation
Importance of teaching range of positive and negative
examples.
Salient features of stimulus should be emphasized

Often times students learn based on some other feature than
what wanting them to focus on

Ex. Student says the word “went” because that flashcard has a
smudge on it, or the word “came” because it starts with a C.
Errorless learning
Definition

Using prompts to preclude a student from
making an incorrect response
Use

when students are not learning effectively and
efficiently with other procedures
Rationale
1
2
3
4
effective
positive teacher/student interaction
fewer inappropriate social behaviors
students learn little from repeated errors
SUCCESS BEGETS SUCCESS AND FAILURE BEGETS
FAILURE
Errorless learning


Train discrimination without errors
(shaping stimulus control)
Refined form of decreasing prompts




Alterations of features of the stimulus (Sd)
OR Stimulus property
Student’s name on white card other student’s
name on black card.
Card gradually darkened.
No incorrect choices and discriminated on
relevant stimulus properties.
Error Correction

When errors occur, correct immediately
with minimal feedback

Provide a second opportunity to respond
correctly

Reinforce (reward) immediately!

Must be explicit / specific.
Teaching Applications:
Prompts
 Defined:
 Any
antecedent stimulus ADDED to the
presentation that increases the likelihood of
correct responding.
 Examples:
 Verbal, gesture, physical, embedded (visual,
auditory)
 Modeling
 Precorrection
Types of Prompts

Verbal Prompts




Visual



Rules: “Nouns are a person, place, or thing”
Instructions—when specific
Hints
Pictures, examples of correct answers, number lines,
multiplication charts, visual schedules, diagram of steps,
scripts
Modeling
Physical Prompting/ Guidance

Partial, Full
Prompts increase teaching efficiency

Use extra cues to increase number of
correct responses
Increased Responses=
 Increased Reinforcement=
 Increased Speed of Learning Behavior

What makes a good prompt?
Increases likelihood of correct responding
 Focuses attention on relevant features of task (Sd)
 Ease of delivery
 Ease of removal across trials
 Good prompts are determined by the demands of the
task AND the presenting skills of the learner.
 As weak as possible (least intrusive)
 Should be faded as rapidly as possible

Guidelines for Selecting
Prompts
1) select the least intrusive, effective prompt
2) combine prompts if necessary
3) select natural prompts and those related
to the behavior
4) provide only after students are attending
5) provide in a supportive, instructive
manner before response
6) fade as soon as possible
7) plan fading procedures beforehand
Prompt Examples:
What prompts might be useful?
Natural Sd  Target Behavior  Consequence
 (Prompt)

Teaching cursive writing
 Teaching swallowing
 Teaching Carl how to ask to enter a wall ball game.
 Teaching Emily to move from one task to another
without help.
 Teaching Phil to wait at snack without grabbing food.

Fading

Defined: Stimulus Fading


The gradual reduction or removal of a prompt.
Fading is a process for transferring stimulus control.
As soon as you decide to use
reinforcement you need to begin planning
how to get rid of it -- fading
 Examples:




Change in physical features (dashed lines)
Change in specificity of verbal prompts (“pick up the
screwdriver”…to… “what’s next”)
Time delay (“Prompt+Sd”….to… “Prompt….Sd”)
Establishing Stimulus Control

Time delay:

begin with a prompt that works and then increase the
DELAY between presentation of the target stimulus and
the added prompt





fixed
Progressive
Sd +Prompt  response
Sd ….Prompt  response
Sd ….response
Fading Prompts

Increasing Assistance (Least-to-Most Prompts)—start with
least intrusive and add more intrusive if necessary.

Graduated Guidance (Hand-over-hand, physical
guidance)—reducing full guidance to “shadowing”.

Time Delay—wait several seconds before prompting to
allow student to respond.

Decreasing Assistance (Most-to-Least Prompts)—move to
less intrusive prompt when behavior occurs reliably
How would you fade these
prompts?
Verbal prompt “move it to the tens” during two digit
addition to prompt carrying.
 Verbal prompt “ask nicely” when prompting Elsie to
ask for toys/food, etc.
 Physical prompt “touch on arm” as student points to
communication board.
 Gesture prompt, pointing to the correct color when
asked to touch “yellow, etc”
 Embedded prompt, dashed lines for writing

Teaching Applications:
Shaping


Defined

Teaching new behaviors through differential reinforcement
of successive approximations of correct responding.

Differential reinforcement for shaping means that
responses that meet a certain criterion are reinforced, while
those that do not meet the criterion are not.
The Sd and reward are constant. What changes is the
rule for delivering the reward. The goal is to improve
the precision of the new skill.
Response Shaping
1. Behavior is present, but not fluent in the
presence of the “signal”
2. Focus on CONSEQUENCES
-requires powerful reinforcers
-use differential reinforcement
3. Systematic reinforcement of successive
approximations toward the target
behavior
-specify dimensions of the target/goal
behavior
-reinforce slight improvements/changes
-takes time
-avoid practicing errors
Establishing Stimulus Control: Teaching
New Behaviors
Shaping:
Students learn new things when a teacher “shapes” an
existing response into the desired behavior.
Advantages of shaping:



faster than waiting for a correct response
learner succeeds at a high rate
still kind of slow because you are waiting for the
learner
Designing Successful Shaping Programs
Identify the terminal behavior (end result)
 Identify the initial behavior
 Identify intermediate behaviors
 Determine the size of steps toward the
goal
 Reinforce successive approximations of
the behavior
 Monitor progress


Example student accessing a switch
Shaping Example

Problem behavior: Students are off-task about
80% of the time when working with a partner.
Off-topic conversation occurs and work is not
completed.

Define the terminal behavior.

Define the initial behavior.

What will our “successive approximations” be?
Shaping:
How would you use shaping to..

Develop skill of saying “thank you” (in different
ways) to peers.

Develop skill of reading third grade material at 150
words correct per minute.

Develop ability of a pre-schooler to stay in morning
circle for 10 min without screaming
Chaining

A procedure to teach complex skills.




Requires a “task” that is organized into a sequence of
“responses.” Each of the responses serves as a “link” in “chain
of behavior”
Main idea


Reinforce combinations of simple behaviors so they become an
integrated, whole.
Based on “task analysis” logic
The reward at the end of a chain will maintain all the other
responses in the chain. The goal is to teach that each step
has an Sd-> R. Each R generates a new Sd until the final step
which ends with a Sr+ (reward).
Two approaches


Forward chaining
Backward chaining
Forward Chaining
1.
2.
3.
4.
Student does FIRST STEP, teacher does
the rest of chain.
Keep adding steps until student
completes entire chain.
Reinforce student for completing the
desired number of steps requested by
the teacher.
Useful when prompting is difficult.
Backward Chaining
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Teacher does all but last step, student
completes LAST STEP.
Keep adding steps until student
completes entire chain
Reinforce student for completing the
desired number steps requested bythe
teacher.
Often used with functional skills
Student can perform steps with prompts.
Functional Communication Training

Carr, E.G., & Durand, V.M. (1985).
Reducing behavior problems through
functional communication training. Journal
of Applied Behavior Analysis, 18(2), 111126.
Picture Exchange Communication
System (PECS)

Frost, L. A. & Bondy, A.S. (1994). The
Picture exchange communication system:
Training manual. Cherry Hill, NJ: Pyramid
Educational Consultants.
TEACCH
• Treatment and Education of Autistic and
Communication related handicapped CHildren
-http://www.teacch.com/
-Established in the early 1970s by Eric Schopler
-Structured Teaching Model
-Physical organization, scheduling, visual
(picture and color) approach, use of
reinforcement strategies
Discrete Trial Training (DTT)
• Strategy based on ABA principles
• Breaking skills down into smaller components
and teaching those smaller sub-skills
individually
• Mass Trials and Repeated Practice
• Use of prompting when necessary
Leaf, R., & McEachin, J. (1999). A Work In Progress. New York, New York: DRL Books
Green, G., Luce, S., & Maurice, C. (1996). Behavioral Intervention for Young Children with Autism: A Manual for
Parents and Professionals. Austin, Texas: Pro-Ed.
Smith, T. (2001). Discrete Trial Training in the Treatment of Autism. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental
Disabilities, 16(2), 86-92.
“Discrete Trial”
1. Initial Instruction (“Touch your nose”)
2. A prompt or cue given by the teacher to help
the child respond correctly (Teacher points to
child’s nose)
3. A response given by the child (Child touches
nose)
4. An appropriate consequence (“Nice job
touching your nose” + sticker)
5. Pause between consecutive trials (1-5
seconds before next trial)
Pivotal Response Training &
Verbal Behavior Approach
• “How to Teach Pivotal Behaviors to Children
with Autism: A Training Manual”
– http://www.users.qwest.net/~tbharris/prt.htm
• Barbera, M. & Rasmussen, T. (2007). The
Verbal Behavior Approach: How to Teach
Children with Autism and Related Disorders.
Philadelphia, PA: Kingsley Publishing.