+

Behavior Fundamental: Filling the Behavior Tool Box

Behavior Works Part 3

WVC 2010SG FRIEDMAN, PHDDEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGYUTAH STATE UNIVERSITYWWW.BEHAVIORWORKS.ORG

1

+ Functional Misbehavior

- Behaviors are repeated because they produce outcomes -- to get, or get away

- Question is not: What’s wrong with my bird?

- Question is: What environmental events signal that a misbehavior will be reinforced and, what are those reinforcers?

2

2

+ A Simple Model of Behavioral Support

Increase frequency Decrease frequency

Setting eventsEstablishing Operations

Adding a cue

Setting events

Establishing OperationsDeleting a

cue

ReinforcementPunishment

NOT ENOUGH TOO MUCH BEHAVIOR BEHAVIOR

GOAL

ANTECEDENTCHANGES

CONSEQUENCECHANGES

3

+

- Setting events,- Motivating operations- Cues and signals

Changing Behavior: Antecedent Strategies

4

+ Setting Events

-The context, conditions, or situational influences that set the stage for particular behaviors. -Hand/perch too high or close relative to parrot’s feet.-Noisy environments-New people

5

+Make the right behavior easier than the wrong behavior

6

+Motivating Operations- Antecedent factors that change the frequency of a behavior

by temporarily altering the effectiveness of the consequence – motivational states, emotions, and environmental events

- Hunger or satiated- Fatigue or rested- Activity deficit or excess

- A run or fly about drains the value of running or flying

- Rare favorite treats are more reinforcing than commonly available treats

7

+ Cues and Signals

-Tell us which particular behavior, among all possible behaviors, will be reinforced, if emitted in the presence of the cue

-Door bell signals answering the door will be reinforced but not picking up the phone, climbing down the fire escape or opening the oven

-Offered hand signals: come close -> scratch-Food bowl: sit -> cue to eat

-A stimulus becomes a cue by repeatedly being present when a response is reinforced

-Strength of cue is related to strength of reinforcer

8

9

+

ProblemBehavior:

Antecedent Technique

Antecedent Solution

SettingEvents

Decrease effortfor right behaviorSetting

Events Increase effort for problem behavior

MotivatingOperations

Strengthen reinforcer for right behaviorMotivating

OperationsWeaken reinforcer for problem behavior

Antecedent Changes, Change Behavior

CuesRemove cue for problem behavior

Add cue for rightbehavior

10

+

‣Function - An observed increase or decrease over time‣Operation - The behavior serves to add a

stimulus or subtracts a stimulus

Two Dimensions of Interest

Changing Behavior:Consequence Strategies

11

+ Consequences: A Functional Definition

-Reinforcing consequences function to increase/maintain the strength of a behavior

-Punishing consequences function to decrease/suppress the strength of a behavior

-The only way to know if a behavior has been reinforced or punished is by observing its future strength (frequency, rate, intensity, duration.)

12

+Consequences: An Operational Definition

-Positive consequence - The change in the environment the behavior produces is the addition of a stimulus.

-Negative consequence - The change in the environment the behavior produces is the removal of a stimulus.

13

+

Increase Decrease

Positive Reinforcement

R+

PositivePunishment

P+

Negative Reinforcement

R-

NegativePunishment

P-

FUNCTION

Addition

Subtraction

OPERATION

Consequence Quadrants

14

+

Increase Decrease

RewardR+

Discipline/Correction

P+

EscapeR-

Fine/PenaltyP-

FUNCTION

Addition

Subtraction

OPERATION

Common Terms

15

+

Increase Decrease

Bites-> Head Scratch

R+

Bites-> Earthquake

P+

Bites-> Hand is

withdrawnR-

Bites-> Bowl is

withdrawnP-

FUNCTION

Addition

Subtraction

OPERATION

Examples

16

+ Key Questions to Pick the Principle

1. What is the focal behavior?

2. Do you predict the animal will do the behavior more or less in the future?

3. Is the consequence something added or removed (escaped something)?

17

+Pick the Principle

18

+ R+

19

+Pick the Principle

20

+ Factors Affecting Reinforcement

-Contingency – Dependency, If/Then-Contiguity – Immediacy

-Lattal (1995) 10 sec. delay vs. 1 second delay resulted in 40 days of 1 hour unsuccessful training vs. 20 min successful training.

-Response Characteristics-A balance between how much effort is expended to do the behavior and the quantity of reinforcement gained

21

+ Characteristics of Effective Reinforcement

‣Type, frequency, magnitude,

intensity, duration, availability

novelty, and variety

- Simmons (1924): Rats’ maze-running rate with bread and milk vs. sunflower seeds.

- Schneider (1973), and Todorov, Hanna, & Bittencourt de Sa’ (1973): Small, frequent reinforcers vs. larger, occasional reinforcers.

22

+

- tangible items:________________

- social interactions:_____________

- sensory experiences:____________

- physical activities:_____________

- escape from unpleasant stimuli:________

Types of Reinforcers

23

+ Individual Differences

-Any particular consequence may be reinforcing to one individual but not another.

-Consider species, age, behavioral history, physical health, availability.

-The proof of effective reinforcement is in the resulting behavior.

-Doesn’t matter what you intend.

-Every learner must be respected as an individual, and our teaching plans customized for them.

24

+ Establishing New Reinforcers

‣ Primary – reinforcers that are automatically reinforcing; often related to basic survival functions.-Food, water, relief from heat or cold, and control.

‣Secondary – once neutral stimuli that acquire their reinforcing function by being repeatedly paired with existing reinforcers, CS->US respondent pairing-Praise, favorite perches, sounds of clicker or whistle.

25

+Schedule Effects

‣ Continuous - Coke Machine‣ Intermittent - Slot Machine‣ Limited Hold

26

+

Persistence in LeanReinforcement Conditions

Schedules of Reinforcement

Extinction-Induced Aggression

IntermittentContinuous

27

+Schedule Effects

‣ Matching Law

28

+

29

+Schedule Effects‣Limited Hold

30

+ Positive Reinforcement Power Tools: Shaping & Targeting

31

+ The Most Versatile Training Tool-Can capture whole behavior at once but many behaviors don’t occur often enough or are too complex.

-Shaping is the training procedure of reinforcing successive approximations toward a target behavior.

-Successive approximations are a graduated sequence of responses, small improvements, that lead to the target behavior.

-Reinforce each approximation in succession, gradually shifting criterion for reinforcement from one approximation to the next, until the target behavior is performed.

32

+Shaping Plan: A Foot Wave1. Final Behavior: Waving with foot, open and closed.

2. Closest behavior animal already does: Moves foot.

3. Reinforcer for each approximation that meets the criterion: Praise and applause.

4. Tentative approximations:a. Any foot movement.b. Foot raised slightly higher.c. Foot raised moderately high.d. Foot raised high.e. Foot raised high and held up for a split second.f. Foot raised high and held up for a few seconds.g. Foot raised high, held, and some toe movement.h. Foot raised high, held, with claw closing.i. Foot raised high, held, with claw closing and opening.

33

+ Shaping Targeting‣ The behavior of touching an object with a body

part.

-By teaching birds how to target the end of a wooden dowel with their beaks or to go to a station, caretakers can predict and control the bird’s movements. -An untamed bird can be taught to target a stick while inside its cage.

-A biting bird can be quickly redirected to the target or cued to go to a station.

-Enrichment behaviors can be taught such as turning in a circle, climbing up and down ladders, and ringing a bell.

34

+

35

+

1

2

4

3

5

7

8

6

36

+

10

9

11

12

14

13

37

+

38

+

39

+ Punishment-Punishment is the process of decreasing the strength of behavior with consequences

-If the behavior doesn’t diminish, punishment has not occurred

-If the behavior is maintained at its current strength, or increases, reinforcement has occurred

-Regardless of your intentions

40

+Positive Punishment vs. Negative Reinforcement

P+ R-

-Behavior is more likely

-Behavior results in escape from an aversive stimulus

-Aversive stimulus can be escaped with behavior

-Behavior is less likely

-Behavior results in delivery of aversive stimulus

-Aversive stimulus cannot be escaped once the behavior is emitted

41

+Factors Affecting Punishment

-Contingency – if/then, accomplished by consistency

-Contiguity – immediacy; the closer in time punisher follows the behavior the better

-Availability of alternative sources of reinforcement for appropriate behavior - FAIR PAIRS

-Relativity of punishers and individuality

-Intensity – the stronger the more effective

42

+

‣ Four side effects– Increased Aggression– Generalized fear– Apathy– Escape Avoidance Behaviors

‣ Doesn’t teach learner WHAT TO DO instead‣ Doesn’t teach the caregiver HOW TO TEACH‣ Reduces overall level of reinforcement – double

whammy‣ Requires escalation or big-gun solutions‣ Reinforces the person doing the punishing

Problems with Positive Punishment

43

+ Alternatives to Positive Punishment, Coercion, And Force

- Differential Reinforcement of Alternatives (DRA) - DRI- DRO- DRL

- Negative Punishment- Time Out from Positive Reinforcement- Response Cost

- Extinction

44

- The process of increasing an alternative behavior with reinforcement while decreasing the problem behavior with extinction

- DRI - the alternative behavior is incompatible with doing the problem behavior

- Determine the function the behavior serves then select a replacement behavior that serves the same function, but in a more appropriate way

- The replacement behavior must give the animal at least the same amount of reinforcement as the unwanted behavior

- The replacement behavior should be one the animal already knows to increase the probability of being the default behavior when the problem behavior is ignored

DRA

45

+

-Can’t bite and stand tall with beak high

-Can’t scream and talk

-Can’t go to floor and forage on play tree

Decreasing Behavior Power Tool: DRI46

46

+Time Out from Positive Reinforcement

-Time Out is the process of decreasing an unwanted behavior by temporarily withholding access to positive reinforcement.

-To be effective, the animal must be removed from access to reinforcers with contingency and contiguity.

-Make it short-Allow the animal to come back and try again-Let the time out do the work

47

+ Extinction

-Extinction is the process of decreasing an unwanted behavior by permanently withholding the reinforcement that has maintained the behavior.

-When attention is the reinforcer, the frequency of the behavior it follows will decrease when attention is withheld, i.e., behavior is ignored.

48

+Problems with Extinction

-Extinction is slow; behaviors with an intermittent reinforcement history are the slowest to change

-Sharp increase in frequency and intensity before eventual decrease: extinction burst

-Frustration-elicited aggression is common

-Resurgence and Spontaneous recovery

-Imitation by other individuals

- Bootleg reinforcement can be a problem

49 50

+ 51

Science can only ascertain what is, but not what should be, and outside of its domain value judgments of all kinds remain necessary.

Albert Einstein

51