EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEPARTMENT

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
RESEARCH QUESTIONS - SET 2

NAME OF INTERN: ___________Claire Lucille H. Caresosa_____________ DATE: _8/3/23_

1. Describe behavior modification and how do you use it in the pediatric setting?
Behavior Modification is an approach used to encourage good or desirable behavior and
decrease maladaptive behaviors. The purpose of BMT is to remove undesirable behavior and
change that behavior into adaptive ones, as well as, to change the triggers or antecedents of
behaviors in the environment. In the pediatric setting, behavior modification is used to teach
the child a new behavior, increase the likelihood of the behavior or stop a behavior and modify
that one. This is done through BMTs such as positive reinforcements, negative reinforcements,
punishments, and restructuring the environment. I believe that in the pediatric setting, we have
to identify first the function or purpose of the behavior that they are showing (i.e., control,
escape, gratification, revenge, etc.) and that is when we decide on what approach to give the
client given the behavior manifestation. Some examples of these would be not giving in, using
their preferred activity or toy as rewards, removing child from desirable task or activity, and
using the right TUS.
2. Enumerate and describe the different positive and negative approaches for Behavior
Management.
The positive approaches for Behavior Management Techniques are the following:
● Positive Reinforcement: this is when there is provision of pleasant or desirable stimulus
immediately after the manifests (i.e. social, tangible, activity, and primary)
● Token Economy: wherein you emphasize the repetition of the behavior in order to get
something pleasurable in the end.
● Behavioral Contract: setting up of house rules for the child to follow by the end of the
session to get a desirable reward.
● Shaping and Chaining: this is for the children to learn new behaviors or skills that are
needed.
The negative approaches for Behavior Management Techniques are the following:
● Response Cost: removal of previously won reward because child showed maladaptive
behavior
● Extinction: putting a halt or stop giving rewards to previously rewarded behavior, so the
child doesn’t continue showing the behavior
● Overcorrection: the child performs an effortful behavior for a longer period and the
punishment is related to the undesirable behavior
● Time out: child is removed from a reinforcing activity or environment
 3. Define visual perceptual skills in your own words.
Visual perceptual skills are the skills wherein you make sense of what you see in the
environment. It is the ability to interpret and process the visual stimuli and produce an adaptive
response to that stimulus. These skills are very much helpful in academic activities, self-care,
and safety awareness.
4. What are the 7 visual perceptual skills and give at least 3 examples of each subskill.
● Visual Memory
○ Looking at photos that are unrelated and trying to remember them from memory
○ Recalling details of a simple map of a building
○ Remembering a phone number in the correct order after reading
● Visual Sequential Memory
○ Recalling the dance steps of the baby shark song after viewing it once
○ Recalling the order of cards presented by the therapist
○ Saying the correct order of animals after therapist verbalizes it first
● Visual Form Constancy
○ Telling the difference between letters b and d and p and q
○ Ability to read the word and recognize it correctly even in different orientations
○ Ability to label the objects correctly even in different sizes
● Visual Figure Ground
○ Being able to get red colored balls from a red colored background
○ Ability to get spoon from a container full of utensils
○ Being able to find favorite shirt in cabinet
● Visual Spatial Relations
○ Being able to identify where the cat is located in different places in relation to
the house
○ Ability to place materials in right orientation when asked to put “behind”,
“beside”, etc.
○ Properly placing puzzle pieces
● Visual Closure
○ Being able to recognize that it is still a zebra even though there are hidden parts
of the animal
○ Being able to recognize that that is your missing sock sticking out of the drawer
○ Being able to complete the picture even though half of it is only showing
● Visual Discrimination
○ Finding the differences between two pictures that are almost the same
○ Being able to recognize the difference between a 5 peso and 1 peso coin even if
they have the same color
○ Being able to differentiate two shapes that are overlapping
5. What is Social Learning Theory (Bandura) and how do you see it in the clinic?
The social learning theory would say that children learn the needed social behaviors through
observing and imitating the behavior of others. In the clinic, I see it whenever the teachers
would first execute the social skill or behavior that they want the kid to do. In the clinic, the
teachers would usually do modeling for the child to learn.

6. What is the cognitive behavior approach and how do you use it in the clinic?
In my own understanding, the cognitive behavioral approach is when our thoughts and feelings
affect our behavior or how others view you. In the clinic, we focus on rearranging or
restructuring one’s thoughts or feelings about one instance or circumstance then with this, our
behaviors will also change.
7. Enumerate and describe the different domains in handwriting.
● Writing in both uppercase and lowercase letters
● Copying (both near-point and far-point): near point copying is when you let the child
copy from the same page or the same position where the notebook is located (ex.
copying from my classmate’s notebook on the table) whereas far point copying is
copying from a different orientation and place (copying on blackboard)
● Transitioning to cursive writing
● Writing by dictation
● Composition: where the child is asked to write sentences or words from own mind
(requires higher level cognitive skills)
8. What are the legibility components in handwriting?
● Letter Formation
● Alignment
● Spacing
● Size
● Slant
9. Differentiate handedness/ hand preference and hand dominance?
● Hand Preference: usually between 2-4 years wherein the child would favor or prefer the
use of one hand
● Hand Dominance: usually between 4-6 years wherein the child would use one hand
more often than the other
● Handedness: usually 6 years old wherein the child has an established dominant hand
that is used in more refined or skilled movements
10. Describe the progression with pencil grip.
● Palmar Supinate (1-1.5 y/o): Wrist slightly flexed and supinated away from mid position,
Arm moves as a unit, and Held with fisted hand
● Digital Pronate (2-3 y/o): Held with fingers, wrist straight, pronated and slightly ulnarly
deviated, forearm moves as a unit
● Rr
● Static Tripod (3.5-4 y/o): Held with crude approximation of thumb, index and middle
fingers, Continual adjustments by other hand, Ring and little fingers only slightly flexed,
Grasped proximally, No fine localized movements of digit components; hand moves as a
unit
● Dynamic Tripod Grasp (4.5-6 y/o): Held with precise opposition of distal phalanges of
thumb, index and middle fingers, Ring and little fingers flexed to form a stable arch,
Wrist slightly extended, grasped distally, MCP joints stabilized during fine, localized
movements of PIP joints
11. Enumerate and describe the different Language Facilitation Techniques. Give examples
in using such techniques.
● Infotalk: talk to the child about things happening and activities he does at the moment
like providing information to the child of what is happening around him
○ “Wow! Lucille got the yellow car. Okay, can you try rolling the car to me?”
● Echotalk: start acquiring physical communication, gestures, or body language but is not
yet speaking by pairing words to actions.
○ “Lucille wants the candy? **while doing palms up** okay, give cookie. Give
cookie.”
● Obstacles: for children not that motivated to speak. You have to let the child verbalize
what they want before giving their requests through asking as if we can’t understand
what they want.
○ If the child is pointing at the doll, “Oh you want the lego blocks? Okay here it is!
Oh not this? What do you want?”
● Filling In: Use of songs to stimulate the child’s speech wherein we leave a word or
phrase for them to complete.
○ “Where is ____ oh sino raw? Where is ____! Here I am! Teacher is here! How are
you _____?”
● Expansions: If the child says the word, repeat the word and add some more to stimulate
the child into knowing different concepts as well.
○ (The child is asking “Give crayon”) “Ace wants crayon? You want crayon, the RED
crayon? What do you want? (Wait for the child to verbalize, and look out if the
child adds RED to his request. If not, correct the child and say) “RED crayon? You
want RED crayon?
● Extensions: the child establishes a topic and and we add to that topic to complete the
sentence.
○ “car kasya”, the caregiver will say “Oh! The car is too big! Hindi kasya!”
12. When do you refer a child for Speech Therapy? What are the factors to consider?
OTs will be referring to SLPs if the child’s problem would mostly be in expressive
language or language delays that affect other occupations. We would also consider the
client’s receptive language or comprehension and we let the STs handle these clients
first. Moreover, we also refer to them in feeding problems, fluency problems, difficulty
engaging in social cues and nonverbal communication.