Behavior Change Intervention
Throughout the term you have explored the ways in which applied behavior analysis is grounded in practical and philosophical foundations of natural science. This week your readings and activities will prepare you to examine the ways in which that foundation continues to support professional practice in applied behavior analysis. For this discussion, review the (Behavior Analyst Certification Board, 2018) video on areas of professional practice in ABA. Then, please create a brief scenario in which you imagine yourself as a behavior analyst who is developing an intervention to help an individual change a socially significant behavior by creating a simple system of reinforcement to increase a desired behavior. For instance, you might develop an intervention where time spent in-seat at school is reinforced with teacher praise or tokens or an intervention to improve productivity in a factory by offering incentives. For best results, keep your scenario simple!
Please respond to the following:
- Provide a brief description of a simple behavior change intervention.
- Describe a simple plan of reinforcement to increase the desired behavior.
- Taking into consideration readings throughout the term on goals of science, philosophical assumptions of science, and the seven dimensions of applied behavior analysis, describe how the plan you are proposing is grounded in a scientific foundation.
- Finally, describe the scientistpractitioner model and discuss how it will guide your hypothetical intervention.
Review two of your classmates’ responses, using the following ideas as a guide and asking follow-up questions that promote further analysis and development:
- Does the plan presented appear to be an effective means to improve the behavior of interest?
- Is it important to change the behavior? Why or why not?
- Evaluate whether the behavior for change meets the Baer et al. (1968) definition of “socially valid”.
- Provide feedback on how the plan support the scientistpractitioner model.
Reply to Antonhy Vazquez: A simple behavior change intervention can be designed to increase a students on-task behavior during independent work time in a classroom. In this scenario, a behavior analyst collaborates with the teacher to support a student who frequently leaves their seat and becomes distracted during assignments. The target behavior is remaining seated and engaged with the assigned task during a 15-minute independent work period. Because on-task behavior is directly observable and measurable, it can be clearly defined and monitored over time.
To increase the desired behavior, a simple reinforcement plan can be implemented using a token system. Each time the student remains seated and works for a five-minute interval, the student earns a token accompanied by brief teacher praise. After earning three tokens, the student can exchange them for a preferred activity, such as drawing for a few minutes or choosing a small classroom privilege. Over time, the reinforcement schedule can gradually be thinned as the student demonstrates more consistent engagement in academic tasks. This reinforcement system is designed to increase the likelihood of the desired behavior by providing immediate, meaningful consequences.
The intervention is grounded in the scientific foundation of applied behavior analysis. Behavior analysis is based on the goals of science, which include describing, predicting, and controlling behavior (Cooper et al., 2020). By defining the target behavior clearly and measuring it over time, the intervention enables an accurate description of behavior patterns. As reinforcement is introduced and data are collected, practitioners can observe predictable changes in behavior and make adjustments that support effective behavior change. The plan is also consistent with key philosophical assumptions of science, such as determinism and empiricism, which emphasize that behavior is lawful and influenced by environmental variables that can be observed and measured.
In addition, the intervention reflects the seven dimensions of applied behavior analysis described by Baer, Wolf, and Risley (1968). The intervention targets a socially significant behavior, making it applicable. The behavior is observable and measurable, supporting the behavioral dimension. Data collection allows the intervention to remain analytic, as decisions are based on measurable outcomes. The use of reinforcement procedures reflects a conceptually systematic approach grounded in behavioral principles. The intervention is designed to produce effective improvements in classroom engagement, and the procedures can be described clearly enough to be technological and replicated by others. Finally, gradual thinning of reinforcement promotes generality, increasing the likelihood that the behavior will occur across settings and over time.
The scientistpractitioner model further guides this intervention. Within this model, practitioners use scientific knowledge to design interventions and collect data to evaluate their effectiveness in practice. The behavior analyst continuously monitors the students progress and adjusts the reinforcement schedule if needed. By combining scientific principles with ongoing data-based decision making, the intervention remains both evidence-based and responsive to the individuals needs.
Overall, this simple reinforcement system illustrates how behavior analysts apply scientific principles to produce meaningful changes in socially significant behavior.
References
Baer, D. M., Wolf, M. M., & Risley, T. R. (1968). Some current dimensions of applied behavior analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1(1), 9197.
Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2020). Applied behavior analysis (3rd ed.). Pearson.
Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (2018). Reply to David Perez: Throughout this term, I have not only gained knowledge on how I can improve and bolster my practice, but I have also learned of the foundations that make my intervention relevant. Relevant is a relative term, and in this post, I use it in leu of our 7 dimension, and scientific assumptions. The area in which I seek to impact socially significant change, and make a difference, is the aid of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). I have already learned so much, about how reinforcement strategies create new skills. The example I would like to use in this post centers around potty training. This comes from personal experience with a client, in my current role as an RBT.
The clients baseline data, in this example, has shown the bathroom as a conditioned aversive stimulus. They, fortunately, have not shown issues with the sensory aspect of underwear, and frequently change into them out of diapers. The largest area of task refusal comes from entering the bathroom itself, to administer any type of consistent potty-training schedule. In this situation, I lean on the tenants of radical behaviorism (Cooper, 2020). I recognize the validity of a potential private event in the clients view of that bathroom as a conditioned stimulus, but base my intervention on the antecedent-behavior-consequence model. The client is exhibiting behaviors of eloping, and crying outside of the bathroom door, while physically and verbally pushing back against entry. The client does, however, enjoy playing with water-based toys, and watching paw patrol (a preferred tv show).
Upon assessing this situation, and my use of those items, I have come up with a potential intervention plan. My first step is to alter the value of the water-based toys and tv show as a potential reinforcer. I will accomplish this by depriving them of the items throughout other parts of the session. I will them drive them into the bathroom in a toy car they prefer to ride in, and place the water toys in the sink. Upon entry, the client sees an already filled water bucket with the toys. Through a first-then statement, the client will be prompted to use the toilet. Upon toilet use, verbal praise is given, and the water toy reinforcer is accessed. While playing with the water toys, I will also show the client a couple minutes of paw patrol. These potential reinforcers are now used for prompting in future bathroom trips, and tacted when it is time to use the restroom.
This example meets tentpoles of the seven dimensions of ABA, philosophical assumptions of science, and goals of science. It meets important markers of the seven dimensions in that the behavior is socially significant, effective, based on success data, and physically observable (Cooper, 2020). The intervention meets the goals of science, because we have arranged the situation in a way where we have made the behavior more likely to occur. That exercise of control, and its success, has allowed us to predict it as a future behavior when conditions are unchanged. And finally, it is descriptive because the repetition of this example has consistently correlated with the same result.
My intervention also matches with the core philosophical assumptions of science, in that we have experimented with the three-term contingency, practiced objective observation, and replicated our process every time the client needs to use the restroom (Staddon, 2021). In addition, we have exercised parsimony by trying a simple reinforcement model first, and not taken its success for granted, by noting the reinforcers effectiveness during every visit (Staddon, 2021).
I also believe this intervention has perfectly integrated the scientist-practitioner model, in my use of experimentally successful processes to applied settings. My intervention perfectly utilizes Skinners stimulus-response-stimulus (S-R-S) model, and uses positive reinforcement consequences to shape the clients behavior (Skinner, 1938). Its use is the scientific application of research derived from the experimental branch of behavior (EAB). This guided my intervention, and should guide the intervention of any behavior analyst assessing an intervention plan.
References
Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2020). Applied behavior analysis (3rd ed.). Pearson.
Staddon, J. E. R. (2021). The new behaviorism: Foundations of behavioral science (3rd ed.). Routledge.
B. F. Skinner. (1938). The behavior of organisms: An experimental analysis. Appleton-Century-Crofts.
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