Week 3: Assessing & Teaching Functional Skills

Week 3:Assessing &

Teaching Functional Skills

Updates/Agenda• On Wed. for Functional Curriculum: Article Review #1 is

Due.

• Next Week April 18th, Two Assignments Due:– Ecological Inventory & Article Review #1

• Please Check Wiki for Readings & Assignments: Next week- read articles on Performance Assessments (Week 4)

• For Wed. from Wiki- choose to read 1 of the articles on paraprofessionals

Steps in Ecological Assessment Process

• Step 1: Plan with Student & Family • Step 2: Summarize what is known about the

student• Step 3: Encourage Self-Determination/ Assess

Student Preferences• Step 4: Assess student’s instructional program• Step 5: Develop ecological assessment report

The Arc’s Self-Determination Scale

• Take a look

After you have determined where those skills can be met, conduct an ecological inventory of:

Environments: (e.g., High school classes) Sub-environment: (e.g., Consumer math) Activities: (e.g., work problems in text, lecture,

computer simulations, group projects, etc.) Natural supports available: (e.g., computer for

each student, teacher gives 1:1 feedback Target Skills: (e.g., number recognition, use of

calculator)

Activity AnalysisName: _______________________________ Page: Date: _______________________________Sub-environment/Class: _________________________

Time Classroom Activity Steps/ Natural Cues

What Other Students Are Doing Target Student Performance

(+/-)Comments

Skills in Need of Instruction

AASK:

What am I requiring

students to do?

DDETERMINE the prerequisite skills of the task.

AANALYZE the student’s strengths and needs.

PPROPOSE and implement adaptations

TTEST to determine if adaptations helped the student

Standards/ Lesson Plan

Observe steps ALL students are doing to achieve the standard

Observe what TARGET student is doing—what steps can do.

Identify TARGET STUDENT outcomes and adaptations needed based on observation

Create a DATA collection plan.

Bryant, D.P., Smith, D. D., & Bryant, B. R. (2008). Teaching students with special needs in inclusive classrooms. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Bryant, D.P., Smith, D. D., & Bryant, B. R. (2008). Teaching students with special needs in inclusive classrooms. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Activity AnalysisName: _______________________________ Page: Date: _______________________________Sub-environment/Class: _________________________

Time Classroom Activity Steps/ Natural Cues

What Other Students Are Doing Target Student Performance

(+/-)Comments

Skills in Need of Instruction

Why Do You Answer the Phone?

Stimulus(Cue/Signal)

Prompt (Reminder)

Response(Behavior)

Consequence(Give/Take)

Effect(Up/Down)

Who could that

be?

Answer:

“Hello”

Attention and

conversation

More likely

to answer phone

in future

Phone Rings

Teaching Teaching is the process of arranging

instructional stimuli that result in behavior change for the learner.

Teaching requires the establishment of a learning context.

Teaching requires behavior change on the part of the learner.

Teaching students to respond to specific stimuli is a teacher’s basic job.

How do I achieve stimulus control (teaching)?

Associate correct response with antecedent stimuli.

Differently reinforce responding in presence of antecedent stimuli. Give positive reinforcement for correct

responding Withhold positive reinforcement for incorrect

responding (extinction)

Stimulus Control Stimulus control refers to change in the

likelihood of a response when a stimulus is presented. The stimulus is a signal that if the response

is performed, a predictable outcome (consequence) is likely.

If a person responds one way in the presence of a stimulus and another in its absence, than that stimulus is said to “control” behavior.

A traffic light is an example

Stimulus control and teaching For any skill, teach a) what, b) when, c)

why. What = the new response (skill) When = the stimulus that signals when to

perform the new response Why = what is the likely consequence

(reward)

Teaching and Stimulus Control

Define the naturally occurring pattern Setting Event -> Stimulus -> Response -> Consequence

Define what you will “add” to assist learning.

Setting Event -> Stimulus -> Response -> Consequence Prompt Extra Reward or Correction

How to develop stimulus control(Note what you ADD to the natural context)

Begin by pretest, then defining (a) the new response[R], (b) the stimulus that should control the response[S1], and (c) the natural reward [Sr+].

Pretest to document absence of Sd R Present the stimulus (S1) Prompt the new response (R) Deliver a reward (Sr+) + extra reward Withhold the reward when either

R1 occurs when S1 has not be presented, or R1 does not occur when S1 is presented.

Stimulus control and teaching For any skill, teach a) what, b) when, c)

why. What = the new response (skill) When = the stimulus that signals when to

perform the new response Why = what is the likely consequence

(reward)

Building Stimulus Control Teach saying “thank you” when

someone gives you something. Test to determine if skill exists Identify “pre-requisites” Define “natural” behavioral elements

receive --> “thank you” --> “you’re welcome” What do you add to teach

Add prompt (“say thank you”) Add reward (“excellent job saying thank you”)

Multiple opportunities to practice (fade extras)

Test to determine if skill is learned

Teaching and Stimulus Control: Examples Setting Event -> Stimulus -> Response->

Consequence

None-> “car”-> /car/-> info from reading

What do you add?

ConsequencesSetting Event -> Stimulus -> Response -> Consequence (Contingency)

Consequences follow a target response Contingent consequences are delivered

only after the target response occurs. Consequences affect the future likelihood

of the response. Rewarding consequences increase the

likelihood of the target response. Aversive consequences decrease the likelihood

of the target response.

Consequences There are 5 major classes of

consequences Positive reinforcement Negative reinforcement Positive punishment Negative punishment Extinction

To determine the type/class of consequence: Examine the effect on future occurrence of

the behavior (increase or decrease?) Examine the action involved in the

consequence (give/remove/withhold)

Consequences

Action Effect on Future Occurrence of Behavior INCREASES (+) DECREASES (-) Give (+)

Positive Reinforcement

Positive Punishment

Remove (-)

Negative Reinforcement

Negative Punishment

Withhold

Extinction

ConsequencesExamples Define the target response Define the consequence Define the effect on future occurrence of

the behavior. Define the type of action involved in the

consequence (give, remove). Define the behavioral principle

demonstrated

ConsequencesExamples (target response is underlined)

Over time, Darin (age 5) has become more likely to line up when given the instruction “time to line up” as a result of contingent praise from Ms. Dawson when he lines up.

Darin screamed, and Ms. Dawson said “Darin you be quiet.” He immediately stopped screaming and smiled. Over time, however, his rate of screaming in class has increased.


Over time Ellen’s talking out in class decreased during instructional presentations as a result of everyone ignoring her talk-outs (previously she received a lot of peer attention).

Over time Ellen has become more on task during independent seat work periods since Mr. Evan’s started giving out “Worker Rewards” for students who were on-task.


Over time Jim (age 9) has become less likely to push his way to the front of the line during recess since the teachers took away recess time for each instance of pushing.

Elaine volunteered answers in class when the teacher asked for volunteers, but about 25% of the time she would be wrong, and the teacher would scowl and tell her she was wrong. She now volunteers less often.


Over time Elaine was more likely to scream when given a math assignment as a result of the assignment being removed as soon as she screamed.

Tyron became more likely to become quiet, look down and whimper when other children would talk to him as a result of other children leaving him alone when he engaged in these behaviors.


Gwen’s attendance at choir has decreased as a result of Ms. Emerson’s repeated congratulations on Gwen’s “wonderful voice.”

Eric (age 8) has become more likely to tease and taunt Angelissa even though Angelissa consistently hits or yells at Eric when he teases her.

Effective Instruction:We Must Determine the Nature of the Problem

1 Behavior not in repertoire of student-SKILL DEFICIT Teach HOW

2 Student can do behavior but does not -PERFORANCE DEFICIT teach WHEN & WHY

Does the student not know how or do they know how but choose not to?

Focus

Errorless learning Train discrimination without errors

(shaping stimulus control) Refined form of decreasing prompts

Alterations of features of the stimulus (Sd) OR Stimulus property

Student’s name on white card other student’s name on black card.

Card gradually darkened. No incorrect choices and discriminated on

relevant stimulus properties.

Using prompts to preclude a student from

making an incorrect response when students are not learning effectively and

efficiently with other procedures

1 effective 2 positive teacher/student interaction3 fewer inappropriate social behaviors4 students learn little from repeated errors

SUCCESS BEGETS SUCCESS AND FAILURE BEGETS FAILURE

Use

Rationale

Definition

Errorless learning

Errorless learning Train discrimination without errors

(shaping stimulus control) Refined form of decreasing prompts

Alterations of features of the stimulus (Sd) OR Stimulus property

Student’s name on white card other student’s name on black card.

Card gradually darkened. No incorrect choices and discriminated on

relevant stimulus properties.

Error Correction When errors occur, correct immediately

with minimal feedback

Provide a second opportunity to respond correctly

Reinforce (reward) immediately!

Must be explicit / specific.

Teaching Applications: Prompts Defined:

Any antecedent stimulus ADDED to the presentation that increases the likelihood of correct responding.

Examples: Verbal, gesture, physical, embedded (visual,

auditory) Modeling Precorrection

Types of Prompts Verbal Prompts

Rules: “Nouns are a person, place, or thing” Instructions—when specific Hints

Visual Pictures, examples of correct answers, number lines,

multiplication charts, visual schedules, diagram of steps, scripts

Modeling Physical Prompting/ Guidance

Partial, Full

What makes a good prompt? Increases likelihood of correct responding Focuses attention on relevant features of task (Sd) Ease of delivery Ease of removal across trials Good prompts are determined by the demands of the

task AND the presenting skills of the learner. As weak as possible (least intrusive) Should be faded as rapidly as possible

Prompt Examples:What prompts might be useful? Natural Sd Target Behavior Consequence (Prompt)

Teaching cursive writing. Teaching swallowing when too much saliva in mouth. Teaching Carl how to ask to enter a wall ball game. Teaching Emily to move from one task to another

without help. Teaching Phil to wait at snack without grabbing food.

Ongoing Class Activity:Provide examples of these methods for teaching a basic skill in a content area Prompting

Modeling Verbal prompt Visual Prompt

Fading

Shaping

Chaining

Teaching Applications:Fading Defined: Stimulus Fading

The gradual reduction or removal of a prompt. Fading is a process for transferring stimulus control.

Examples: Change in physical features (dashed lines) Change in specificity of verbal prompts (“pick up the

screwdriver”…to… “what’s next”) Time delay (“Prompt+Sd”….to… “Prompt….Sd”)

Establishing Stimulus Control Time delay:

begin with a prompt that works and then increase the DELAY between presentation of the target stimulus and the added prompt fixed Progressive

Sd +Prompt response Sd ….Prompt response Sd ….response

Fading Prompts Increasing Assistance (Least-to-Most Prompts)—start with

least intrusive and add more intrusive if necessary.

Graduated Guidance (Hand-over-hand, physical guidance)—reducing full guidance to “shadowing”.

Time Delay—wait several seconds before prompting to allow student to respond.

Decreasing Assistance (Most-to-Least Prompts)—move to less intrusive prompt when behavior occurs reliably

How would you fade these prompts? Verbal prompt “move it to the tens” during two digit

addition to prompt carrying. Verbal prompt “ask nicely” when prompting Elsie to

ask for toys/food, etc. Physical prompt “touch on arm” as student points to

communication board. Gesture prompt, pointing to the correct color when

asked to touch “yellow, etc” Embedded prompt, dashed lines for writing

Ongoing Class Activity:Provide examples of these methods for teaching a basic skill in your content area. Prompting


Fading Shaping Chaining

Teaching Applications:Shaping Defined

Teaching new behaviors through differential reinforcement of successive approximations of correct responding.

Differential reinforcement for shaping means that responses that meet a certain criterion are reinforced, while those that do not meet the criterion are not.

The Sd and reward are constant. What changes is the rule for delivering the reward. The goal is to improve the precision of the new skill.

Establishing Stimulus Control: Teaching New BehaviorsShaping:

Students learn new things when a teacher “shapes” an existing response into the desired behavior.

Advantages of shaping: faster than waiting for a correct response learner succeeds at a high rate still kind of slow because you are waiting for the

learner

Designing Successful Shaping Programs Identify the terminal behavior (end result) Identify the initial behavior Identify intermediate behaviors Determine the size of steps toward the

goal Reinforce successive approximations of

the behavior Monitor progress

Example student accessing a switch

Shaping Example Problem behavior: Students are off-task about

80% of the time when working with a partner. Off-topic conversation occurs and work is not completed.

Define the terminal behavior.

Define the initial behavior.

What will our “successive approximations” be?

Shaping:How would you use shaping to.. Develop skill of saying “thank you” (in different

ways) to peers.

Develop skill of reading ninth grade material at 150 words correct per minute.

Develop ability of a 14 year old to stay in PE class for 10 min without screaming.

Ongoing Class Activity:Provide examples of these methods for teaching a basic skill in your content area. Prompting


Shaping

Fading

Chaining

Chaining A procedure to teach complex skills.

Reinforce combinations of simple behaviors so they become an integrated, whole.

Based on “task analysis” logic

Requires a “task” that is organized into a sequence of “responses.” Each of the responses serves as a “link” in “chain of behavior”

Main idea The reward at the end of a chain will maintain all the other

responses in the chain. The goal is to teach that each step has an Sd-> R. Each R generates a new Sd until the final step which ends with a Sr+ (reward).

Two approaches Forward chaining Backward chaining

Forward Chaining Defined:

Teach step 1 Perform the rest of the steps so student experiences the

final outcome. Gradually have the student do more and more of the

task (step 1, then step 1 & 2, then steps 1, 2 & 3…)

Examples Shoe tying Making a sandwich Addition

Forward Chaining1. Student does FIRST STEP, teacher does

the rest of chain.2. Keep adding steps until student

completes entire chain.3. Reinforce student for completing the

desired number of steps requested by the teacher.

4. Useful when prompting is difficult.

Backward Chaining1. Teacher does all but last step, student

completes LAST STEP.2. Keep adding steps until student

completes entire chain3. Reinforce student for completing the

desired number steps requested bythe teacher.

4. Often used with functional skills5. Student can perform steps with prompts.

Backward Chaining Defined

Perform the initial steps of the task, and then “teach” the last step (which leads to the reinforcer). Gradually move backward until the student does all the steps.

Main idea is the same as forward chaining. Build the small steps into a large task. Focus on the terminal reinforcer. Identify how each step leads to the next step.

Activity:Provide examples of these methods for teaching a skill in your classroom Prompting


Shaping

Fading

Chaining

Maintenance Durability of performance over time

Durability of stimulus control over time

Continued performance when instructional conditions are removed

Examples Having learned to use hand-raises

to obtain teacher assistance during the first week of school, Caesar continued to use the appropriately strategy the rest of the school year.

After learning how to successfully use “look cool & walk away” during peer conflicts in 8th grade, Cleo continued to use the strategy in 9th & 10th grades.

Generalization Predictable/appropriate responding in

noninstructional or nontraining conditions Transfer of stimulus control from trained

to nontrained antecedent stimuli

Example Caesar learns to raise his hand to

ask for teacher assistance in homeroom. In social studies & math periods of the day, he also uses hand raises to ask for assistance. He doesn’t use hand raises at home at dinner table. Generalized responding

Documents

Week 3: Assessing & Teaching Functional Skills