Challenging Behavior

ABC 3-term Contingency

Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence
•Antecedent: anything that happens before the
behavior
•Behavior: any observable act of the individual
•Consequence: anything that happens after the
behavior
 Notes on Reinforcement
• Any change in the environment that
increases the future probability of behavior.
• Can include the addition of good things.
• Can include the removal of aversive things.
• Undesirable attention such as reprimands
can be reinforcing.
• Reinforcement can be delivered by others
and can result from engaging in activities
that do not involve other people.
 Instructional Control
Definition
•The likelihood that your instructions will
generate a correct response from your learner.
•Conditioning the instructional setting as a
source of reinforcement for the learner.

Resource:
•www.pattan.net
 Behavior and Cooperation

• Problem behavior often occurs because the

teaching environment has been paired with
worsening conditions for the student.
• Learners will be more likely to cooperate if
the environment where teaching occurs has
been paired with their favorite things and is
reinforced, bettering conditions.
 Things to Avoid
• Free access to motivating items/reinforcers.
• Placing too many or too difficult demands.
• Reinforcing problem behavior.
• Not reinforcing quickly enough.
• Misidentifying motivating items (preferences
vs. reinforcers)
• Introducing too many new/unknown tasks -
introducing new/hard tasks before
instructional control has been established!
 Preference Assessments
• Choices that are activities create limited
options and create a challenge to use as a
reward.
• In one study the total accuracy of asking a
student what they like and the item actually
serving as a reinforcer was 57%.
• Preference assessments are not the same as
reinforcer assessments, they are just a
prediction.
Descriptive and Functional
Assessment
 Why Behavior Occurs

• Curriculum Issues - too easy or too hard.

• Unclear expectations.
• Inability to communicate wants and needs.
• Environment has a history of negativity.
• Social challenges.
• Repetitive/Restrictive behaviors increase
resistance to change.
 Prevent Challenging Behavior

• Keep student engaged and busy.

• Plan for change and transitions.
• Use effective instruction.
• Make sure ongoing appropriate behavior
results in things getting better for child (use
reinforcement).
• Look at child when delivering reinforcement,
not when problem behavior occurs.
 Defining the Problem
• There are reasons for behavior (it is not
random).
• Problem behavior helps the individual in
some way (at least in the short run).
• Frequently there is no effective alternative
skill that works for the child.
• If the behavior makes things better, even for
a little while, the behavior will likely occur
again in the future.
 Descriptive Assessment

• Clearly Define Behavior

• FAST
• MAS
• Functional Assessment Interview (FAI)
• http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/
Function Based
Interventions
 Behavior Intervention Plans
Four areas to address
•Antecedent interventions – prevention.
•Training and teaching - alternative behavior
as a replacement.
•Consequence interventions - carefully
selected.
•Identify what to avoid - keep everyone
working with the student on the same page.
 Function of Behavior -
Gain Attention
• Possible causes?
• How is it reinforced?
• What can be changed?
 Behavior - Gain Attention
Prevention
• Non-contingent attention (give attention for
“free” on a schedule).
• Provide lots of reinforcement for
appropriately requesting attention or other
items, as well as for independently engaging
in activities.
• Be consistent and sincere.
• At first may need to reinforce gaining
attention appropriately every time.
• Once the appropriate behavior is occurring,
fade reinforcement gradually over time (may
not be able to ever completely fade all
reinforcement).
• Arrange the environment so that the child is
engaged during times when you cannot
provide direct attention
 Behavior - Gain Attention
Replacement
• Teach requesting skills across a broad range
of categories (items, activities, people)
• Teach waiting for attention
• Provide more valuable reinforcers for
engaging in appropriate attention seeking
behaviors or other appropriate behaviors
(preference ranking).
• Provide sufficient opportunities to
practice/contrive the environment
• Social Skills Training
 Behavior - Gain Attention
Consequence
• Differential Reinforcement
(DRO/DRL/DRA) - Resources here to find
more information/website
• Extinction (planned ignoring)
• Blocking/Interruption - following by
redirection or correction
• Time-out (teacher-initiated time-away-
teacher turns away)
 Behavior - Gain Attention
Avoid
• Avoid giving attention/reinforcers when the
child is engaging in problem behaviors.
• Avoid reinforcing as soon as the behavior
stops (wait a few seconds). When needed,
prompt an appropriate behavior, then
reinforce that behavior.
• Avoid direct eye contact and dialogue about
the problem behavior but monitor child. This
dialogue is non-productive and provides
added attention to the problem behavior.
 Function of Behavior –
Gain Tangible Item

• Possible Causes?
Behavior - Gain Tangible Item
Prevention
• Non-contingent access to an activity
(schedule time with these items)
• Utilize items as reinforcers (initially high
ratios, fade)
• Visual supports indicating when access is
available
• Use of a promise reinforcer
Behavior - Gain Tangible Item
Replacement

• Teach functional communication skills

• Requesting tangible items
• Requesting more time with an item/activity
-“Wh” Questions - When/What can I have?
• Teaching waiting (activity might be
available, but not immediately)
Behavior - Gain Tangible Item
Consequence

• Implement a token economy/response cost

• Blocking/Interruption
• Time-out from activity - loss of activity is a
result of challenging behavior
Behavior - Gain Tangible Item
Avoid

• Providing access to desired item following a

challenging behavior
• Passage of too much time or requiring too
many demands/tasks before allowing access
to tangible
• Assuming the learner knows when access is
coming/item is available
• Assuming the learner can ask for what they
want (even if they have asked in the past)
 Function of Behavior -
Escape
Possible Causes
•Things are too hard for the child and/or out of
developmental sequence. (i.e. language ability
does not support instructional or task level).
•Things require too much effort.
•Too many demands at once.
•Makes lots of errors and not successful.
• Activities and/or instructions are too long.
• Activity/event is slow paced.
• Activity has no value to the child.
• Demand results in interruption or delay of
preferred activity.
 Behavior - Escape
Prevention
• Gain instructional control.
• PAIRING - Pair yourself, desk, school,
materials, etc.
• Allow for reinforcers to remain in or near
work areas.
• Help the child be successful and experience
lots of reinforcement for success.
• Use developmentally sequenced curriculum
that is relevant to the child - use what they
like.
• Build on success and fade in demands.
• Make it easy for the child to respond -
gradually increase difficulty.
• Reduce errors by providing prompts if
necessary.
• Mix and vary effort -
easy/hard/intermediate.
• Be realistic with length of time the student is
expected to stay engaged - scaffolding and
visual supports.
• Offer choices (which work do you want to
do?).
 Behavior - Escape
Replacement
• Teach the student to request a break or time-
away appropriately - Teach student to accept
limited # of breaks
• Teach learner to ask for help (help with
specific)
• Teach student to make a choice
• Teach student to indicate yes/no
• NOTE: Make sure things are a lot better for
the student when he/she cooperated vs. when
problem behavior occurs.
 Behavior - Escape
Consequence
• When possible, do not allow the problem
behavior to result in removal of the task or
demand – modify the task.
• Redirect the student to take a break or
request help (reinforcing communication
even if assisted).
• Redirect to visual support indicating how
much work there is or time before a break or
the reinforcement.
A note on consequences:
You may need to reinforce the earliest (and less
problematic) problem behavior in a chain of
challenging behaviors.
 Behavior - Escape
Avoid

• Allowing access to preferred items during a

break.
• Removing all preferred items from area or
housing them in another room or location –
they should be on hand but unavailable.
• Requiring work that is too easy, too hard, too
slow, or too fast-paced.
• Requiring too many tasks/demands before
allowing access to a break/escape.
• Scheduling back-to-back less preferred
activities for the student.
 Function of Behavior -
Automatic Repetitive Sensory

• Possible Causes?
 Behavior – Repetitive Sensory
Replacement
• Keep student actively engaged.
• Identify competing reinforcers and
allow/provide many opportunities for
student to access other reinforcers.
• Minimize effects by using protective
equipment (gloves, arm guards, helmet, etc.)
• Identify and promote stimulus conditions -
behavior may be acceptable in some
scenarios, but not others (masturbation).
• Introduce sensory-related activities/diet
• Teach exercise routines or activities that
promote increased motor activity
• Teach an alternative behavior that simulates
challenging behavior, but is socially
acceptable
• Teach requesting of these activities
• Teach student how to request and access
sensory activities
• Teach stimulus discrimination
 Behavior – Repetitive Sensory
Consequence
• Blocking/Interruption - redirect to
competing activity.
• Sensory extinction (if access to reinforcer
can be prevented).
 Behavior – Repetitive Sensory
Avoid
• Verbally reprimanding the child for engaging
in the behavior
• Extinction (self-injurious behavior or when
engaging in activity can not be prevented)
 Behavior Plans

• Function matches intervention!

• Redeploy Card—adults have a signal or card
to indicate to another staff member that they
are having problems staying neutral with a
student during a crisis. Staff members trade
positions.