ABA

BUT FIRST:

LET’S TAKE A STEP BACK…IN HISTORY

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BEHAVIORISM: WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT ISN’T!

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A few years ago a relative of mine made what s/he believed to be an authoritative statement:

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‘Behaviorism doesn’t work. (So and so) didn’t respond as predicted.’

That thought may be common for many; however, it is a representation of a lack of understanding of what behaviorism is and what it is not.

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When I was young, there was a magazine which I read regularly and which contained true, short, humorous, anecdotes.

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The one story I remember best was about a young boy sitting next to his father in church listening to a lengthy and, at least for the boy, incredibly boring sermon.

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After what seemed to the boy like an interminable amount of time, the boy turned to his father, and rather loudly pleaded,

“Dad, please take me out and spank me!”

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That one story, for me, encapsulates what is most misunderstood about behaviorism by both professionals and the general public.

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The basic concepts of reward (reinforcement) and punishment, antecedents (to include setting events) are absolutely individual and change over time, and sometimes rather rapidly.

You simply cannot treat everyone the same, in all situations, and over time, and expect to get the same results.

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If someone was to make a meal for you, you may prefer steak to monkey brain, and may respond differently to the one offering than the other. (Someone else may prefer the monkey brain.)

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You may also react differently to steak, even if it’s the best steak in the world and you absolutely LOVE steak, if you’ve been eating it every night for a month and have already had it twice today. (Does not mean you would want the monkey brain, just the steak a little less.)

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And…what if you were a vegetarian? How would you respond to either offering, no matter if everyone around you was eating the one or the other

and loving it? ~~~~~

There are technical terms for these concepts; but that’s not what’s important here.

I often talk about how objectives must be individualized,

it is the same for the plan as a whole and

it is absolutely the same for antecedents, rewards, and punishments.

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Simply: think about it this way: Behavior is anything a person does. If

you are alive, you are always behaving in some way or another.

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An Antecedent is anything which occurs before a behavior,

it can be internal (within the individual like hunger, fatigue, or renal infection, et. etc.) or

external (cold, heat, bright lights, yelling, et. etc.)

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A reward (reinforcement) is anything which increases the chances that a particular behavior will reoccur.

(By now, you should understand that this is individualized and non static)

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A punishment is anything (after the behavior occurs) which decreases the chances that a particular behavior will reoccur.

(This also can change over time and be different by individual).

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In the case of the little boy (in church),

the spanking was not a punishment, IT WAS A RELIEF!

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One of the techniques used by the US government for enhanced interrogations was repeated and loud “Barney” music.

I can almost imagine someone pleading, please, ANYTHING, just no more of that stinkin purple dinosaur!

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On the other hand, my grandson would be just fine with repeated loud Barney music…

for I have no idea how long… because I can’t stand it and have to

leave the room, (the Sponge Bob laugh fits into the same category. Can you imagine listening to that laugh for hours on end?).

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My intention is not to make light of enhanced interrogations; but to provide a graphic example of how individualized punishment and aversion can be.

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THE NEXT ESSENTIAL CONCEPT TO UNDERSTAND IS

NATURAL REINFORCEMENT (REWARD).

This is simply receiving what one would normally receive for doing the behavior.

For example, if a child asks their parent for a hug, my hope is that they would typically receive a hug.

If someone pops popcorn, unless they are doing it for someone else, they would typically get to eat it.

This is Natural Reinforcement! ******

Unfortunately this simple concept is lost on many professionals.

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SO WHERE DOES BEHAVIORISM COME FROM?

Behaviorism as we know it today gets its beginning from people like:

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BF Skinner <

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.F._Skinner > John Watson <

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_B._Watson >

and even:

Ivan Pavlov <

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Pavlov >

(classical conditioning) … famous for his experiments with salivating dogs.

Yes, Classical Conditioning is alive and well in modern ABA…simply because, it

is…so powerful. ******

The basic concepts of behaviorism are many thousands of years old and can be found in our earliest writings from Greek philosophers to early government and religious writings.

In a nutshell it includes any change (based upon scientific observation and repeated experimentation) to environment, antecedents, rewards, punishments, interactions, and activities, for the purpose of changing behaviors or skills.

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ABA [APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS]

From behaviorism and the initial research of

Ivar Lovaas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ole_Ivar_Lovaas

(and many others) we get Applied Behavioral Analysis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_behavior_analysis

ABA HAS APPLICATION:

In work with children, adults, and animals.

It is not only used with children and adults with disabilities and/or behavioral problems;

BUT ALSO:

In the: home, school, business, organizations, and government.

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ABA is NOT just working with young children with autism.

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As implied in the name, ABA requires a scientific analysis of behavior and to be most effective, specifically a Functional Behavioral Assessment...plus a Functional Analysis of Behavior

When working with individuals with disabilities or behavioral problems, it requires an ongoing individualized assessment of behavior and adjustment of intervention as often as needed for best outcomes.

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NOW,WHAT IS EIBI, OR EARLY INTENSIVE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS?

EIBI is the application of ABA for young children with autism. It is a very specific; though individualized intervention.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE COMMON INTERVENTIONS/TECHNIQUES USED WITH ABA?

Most of the techniques and interventions provided at:

AUTISM INTERNET MODULES http://www.autisminternetmodules.org/index.

php Are based on ABA

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CRITICAL AND IMPORTANT COMPONENTS OF ABA

(Most of:) The following condensed version is taken from:

ABA Versus TEACCH: The Case for Defining and Validating Comprehensive Treatment Models in Autism

Kevin Callahan Æ Smita Shukla-Mehta Æ Sandy Magee Æ Min Wie J Autism Dev Disord (2010) 40:74–88 DOI 10.1007/s10803-009-0834-0 Published online: 1 August 2009 _ Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009

Best Practice in ABA will contain many of the following elements: (When working with children with Autism)

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The use of intensive instructional trials (teaching targeted skills within a highly structured, one-to-one format, providing clear and concise instructions and systematic reinforcement for correct responses)

Ongoing, individualized assessment of targeted skills (the collection of meaningful data) in order to measure skill acquisition, assess student progress, and plan for future instruction

Use of functional behavioral assessment and/or functional analysis by competent and knowledgeable… personnel

The systematic use of prompting, shaping, chaining, and fading to teach new skills

Use of frequent data collection and analysis of targeted skills in order to determine a (child’s) fluency or rate of responding and make necessary instructional modifications

The use of students’ preferences and/or obsessive interests as reinforcers for appropriate responses (including the use of child-selected or child-preferred materials for everyday teaching interactions)

The systematic use of stimulus control and reinforcement strategies (including antecedent-behavior consequence and/or stimulus-response-stimulus instructional technologies)

The use of differential reinforcement strategies (systematically reinforcing only alternative and/or incompatible target behaviors) in order to decrease or eliminate inappropriate behaviors

The use of progressive time delay and/or constant time delay (delaying the instructional prompt in order to allow the student to anticipate a correct response without assistance)

The use of adult-directed strategies (procedures in which adults systematically prompt or model) to ensure appropriate student responses

The use of systematic prompts and prompt hierarchies (including least-to-most-intrusive prompts and graduated guidance/constant contact physical prompts)

The use of modeling (including videotape modeling of self, peers, and adults) in order to teach imitation of new skills

An individualized program developed and implemented to provide meaningful educational benefits (including measurable and adequate gains …)

Assessment of all relevant domains (including social competence, communication,

environmental influences, physical functioning/motor skills…),

using a variety of methods, in order to develop individualized goals and objectives

Modifying the intensity, methods, and/or curriculum of a student’s program if there is a documented lack of progress over an extended

(not excessive) period of time

The use of specialized curricula/strategies to teach social skills

Individualized programming which addresses developmental content areas (including communication, social development, adaptive behavior, cognitive development, and adaptive physical education)

Individualized programming which addresses non-academic content areas (including attending to elements of the environment, imitating others, language comprehension, use of language, playing appropriately with toys, interacting socially with others, recognizing emotions, and self-help skills)

Direct involvement of parents and family members in their own child’s … program

Training parents to be significant providers of services and interventions in order to achieve more extensive generalization and better maintenance of treatment effects

Active engagement of children throughout the day in intensive instructional programming, with repeated planned teaching opportunities and frequent opportunities to practice new skills

(Should include interventions and objectives contextualized within the natural routines of the child, in the child’s natural environment, and including the child’s natural caregivers)

Intensive generalization programming (the use of materials, interventions, and environments designed to teach skills that are necessary for successful transitions and functioning in new environments)

The use of specific motivational procedures (preferred items and natural reinforcers) in order to increase responsiveness to social and environmental stimuli

The use of incidental teaching and/or naturalistic teaching (arranging the teaching environment to increase motivation and students’ opportunities to respond to a variety of stimuli in the child’s natural environment)

Peer-mediated interventions, including the involvement of typically developing peers in collaborative activities, including social skill training groups and play groups

The use of task variation (using a variety of tasks and/or the interspersal of tasks the child has already mastered when teaching new skills) in order to improve motivation and responding

The use of pivotal response training (teaching skills and behaviors that are central to wide area of functioning and produce generalized improvements)

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE IS RECOMMENDED FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO LEARN MORE ABOUT EIBI Comprehensive Synthesis of Early

Intensive Behavioral Interventions for Young Children with Autism Based on the UCLA Young Autism Project Model

http://www.springerlink.com/content/k138457075p645l2/fulltext.pdf

THE END!

Feel free to ask questions, discuss, or make comments.

You can make comments and ask questions at: http://bestoutcomes.blogspot.com/2013/11/q-and-discussion-for-associated.html