Identifying Describing and Assessing Behavior Week 2 October

Terms You Need to Know as an RBT Environment - situation and surroundings, which includes the people in them Stimulus – a change in environment, either before or after the behavior Target Behavior - behavior that has been selected for change Decrease or increase, get rid of or improve Deceleration or Acquisition

Definition of Behavior be·hav·ior /bəˈhāvyər/ noun Shorthand = bx Anything a person says or does Involves movement and has an impact on the environment Is influenced by environmental events Can be observed, described, and recorded Needs to pass the dead man test If a dead man can do it, then it IS NOT behavior Phrase coined by Ogden Lindsley in 1965, Examples of non-behavior: being quiet, staying in seat, laying down, not eating junk food, sitting quietly during story time, non-compliance

Behavior Can Be … Verbal - sounds, words, or speaking or Non-verbal - made up of tone of voice, body language, gestures, eye contact, facial expression and proximity Overt -directly observable Respondent - “readymade” behaviors where no “learning” is required (e. g. reflexes) or Operant - "operates" on the environment or is controllable by the individual or Covert - inside the skin (e. g. thinking)

Operational Definition: Describing Behavior & Environment in Observable and Measurable Terms (B-01) In order to measure behavior, you must first be able to describe behavior… … in observable terms – What does the behavior look like? … in measurable terms – What dimension of the behavior are you going to measure? Operational definitions should be clear enough that anyone reading it can demonstrate the target behavior after reading the definition NOTE: Personal opinions are NOT valid when operationally defining target behaviors

Important Components of Operational Definition Topography: what it looks or sounds like Intensity: the physical force involved in the behavior (how hard or how loud) Temporal Locus – When the behavior occurs Temporal Extent – the length of time the response lasts (duration) Repeatability – How often the behavior occurs (Rate/Frequency Count)

Examples of Operationally Defined Target Bxs Hitting: any occurrence of making contact with any part of another person’s body with an open or closed hand from a distance of six inches or more, with enough force to cause pain and an audible sound Property destruction: damaging personal or public property (e. g. , breaking an object into two or more pieces, using an object to break other objects, ripping objects or parts of objects from walls, floors, or furniture, and denting cars, objects, or walls. ) Episodes of property destruction are scored as a single response unless at least x (e. g. , 30 or 60) seconds has elapsed since the last break, rip, or dent.

Defining A Behavior

All Bx Serves a Function Behavior is functionally related to the environment in which it occurs Function - why a behavior continues, what keeps it around Undesired & Desired, Appropriate & Inappropriate, Adaptive & Maladaptive The environment is everything that happens before and after the bx.

Determining the Function of a Behavior Enables us to Change the Environment, Which is How We Change bx!

4 Functions of Behavior

When-Why-What When a situation arises Why a behavior persists • We determine function of a behavior analyzing the data to determine what antecedents precede the behavior and what consequence(s) are maintaining it. • We call this the ‘function’ of behavior • What happens in the environment We can determine the function using our A-B-Cs…. Which will expand upon later in this powerpoint.

B-02 Conduct Preference Assessment Preference assessments are conducted to determine a stimulus that the child prefers, and the value of that preferred stimulus. Assess what motivates the client to perform desired tasks, and continue to reassess as implementation continues because motivational stimuli may change over time. However, a preference assessment differs from a reinforcer assessment A reinforcer assessment determines which stimuli will increase and maintain the future frequency of a behavior over time. A preferred stimulus does not always mean it is also a reinforcer.

Reinforcement vs. Punishment Reinforcement: that which happens immediately after a behavior that increases the future frequency of a behavior Positive reinforcement – adding a stimulus immediately after a behavior that increases the behavior over time Negative Reinforcement removing a stimulus immediately after a behavior that increases the behavior over time Punishment: that which happens immediately after a behavior that decreases the future frequency of a behavior Positive punishment– adding a stimulus immediately after a behavior that decreases the behavior over time Negative punishmentremoving a stimulus immediately after a behavior that decreases the behavior over time

Reinforcement vs Punishment

B-02 Conduct Preference Assessment How to conduct a preference assessment. 1. Choose up to 10 possible reinforcers based on interviews and observations. 2. Place items in linear array. 3. Choose Sd (discriminative stimulus - the stimulus that will initiate the skill through reinforcement) pick one and block attempt to grab more than one. 4. After child has had reinforcer for about 10 seconds, re-arrange array and repeat with remaining items 5. Document each as it is chosen 6. Repeat for 3 trials 7. Divide total score by number of trials each item was included in.

Preference Assessment

B-03 Assist with Individualized Assessment Procedures Observe, Observe! Observe what the child does in their natural setting, what they can and cannot do independently, what they attempt to do or show interest in doing, what the child asks or wants to learn, and what is done for the child by their caregiver.

B-04 Assist with Functional Assessment Procedures FBA (Functional Behavior Assessment) needed for Behavior Intervention Plan. FBA’s are conducted for students whose problem behaviors interfere with their learning or the learning of others. It is a multi-step, problem solving, assessment process designed to determine the function of behavior.

B-04 Assist with Functional Assessment Procedures Functional Assessment Methods: Direct Observation and Informant methods. Direct Observation is observing and recording ABC of target behaviors. Informant Methods are interviews and questionnaires. How would RBT Assist in assessment procedures? Take ABC data to gather information for the supervisor Provide preference assessments and reinforcer assessments with the client Report what they observe in session notes

Functional Behavior Assessment

A-B-C Contingency Provides a Snapshot of Bx

A-B-C Analysis of Behavior

Review B-01 Describe the behavior and environment in observable and measurable terms. B-02 Conduct preference assessments. B-03 Assist with individualized assessment procedures (e. g. , curriculum-based, developmental, social skills). B-04 Assist with functional assessment procedures.