Test 3 Lecture notes Addressing Undesirable Behaviors Sometimes referred to as challenging behaviors aberrant behaviors inappropriate behaviors problem behaviors disruptive behaviors harmful behaviors look at outline for one listed below You usually get a request to develop an intervention to deal with an inappropriate or disruptive or harmful behavior under the following conditions 1 after the behavior has become a serious problem to others 2 after a long history of occurrence of the behavior so the behavior is well established in the person s repertoire 3 after a variety of procedures have been tried to deal with the behavior and these procedures have not worked not implemented correctly not effective not used long enough 4 after the person making the request about the behavior has consulted with a number of other people who have proposed a number of possible solutions Some realities about the interventions for dealing with aberrant or disruptive harmful behavior an effective intervention probably will require substantial rearrangements of the environment of the person displaying aberrant behavior to prevent the aberrant behavior to minimize the possible harmful consequences of the problem behavior and to teach a more appropriate functional alternative behavior people in the environment of the person rather than the therapist will probably be required to change their behavior if the problem is to be solved progress in dealing with the aberrant behavior will require a long time period maintenance of low rates of aberrant behavior will require some sort of continued intervention perhaps for rest of the lifetime of the person displaying the aberrant behavior Why does behavior occur We do not know why all aberrant behavior occurs but there is good evidence available that a great deal of aberrant behavior occurs because it has a function in the life of the person displaying the aberrant behavior production of positive reinforcers social consequences attention from others Examples laughing by other people smiling by others looking at the person talking to the person reprimanding the person and providing rationales to the person why the behavior is inappropriate production of tangible consequences toys money Examples the person gets toys money edibles access to activities following the behavior production of stimulus change sensory Examples some forms of selfstimulation such as repetitive rocking and hand flapping are often thought to be maintained by sensory consequences such as proprioceptive consequences noise and or visual stimulation productions of physiological consequences drugs alcohol usage Examples drug and alcohol usage are often thought to be maintained by the physiological consequences the substances produce when taken into the body Two warnings a consequence that maintains the behavior for one may not have the same effect on another individual And many most aberrant behaviors are maintained by more than one type of consequence The Matching Law or survival of the fittest behaviors that are maintained by their consequences ON THE TEST 1 The behaviors that produce consequences e g positive reinforcement or escape most immediately with the shortest delay between the response and the consequence 2 The behaviors that produce consequences e g positive reinforcement or escape the most frequently with the highest probability 3 The behaviors that produce the greatest quantity of consequences e g of positive reinforcement or escape 4 The behaviors that require the least effort 5 The behaviors that produce the highest quality of consequences e g of positive reinforcement or escape behaviors that are intermittently reinforced are going to be stronger side notes Everyone is different and with reinforce Conclusion If a problem behavior is very effective in producing reinforcement very frequently immediately and with low effort the only behaviors than compete effectively with the problem behavior How do we address aberrant or problem behaviors Usually we consider four actions 1 prevention strategies 2 crisis management if needed 3 teach an appropriate functional alternative behavior or behaviors behaviors that will produce the same consequences as the problem behavior only more immediately and or more consistently 4 minimize the reinforcing consequences of the problem behavior 1 Prevention strategies minimizing the opportunity or likelihood that the problem behavior will occur a rearrange the persons environment so that it promotes engagement This is largely a matter of discovering through observation and interviewing other people who know the client well as to what activities the client does frequently or likes to do and then developing a daily schedule of activities so that the person b c has frequent opportunities to engage in these high probability behaviors Increase the frequency and immediacy of positive reinforcement what the client engages in these desirable daily activities Observe and take data on what environmental conditions or events seem to be correlated with the problem behavior and to whatever extent possible eliminate or reduce the number of these environmental conditions or events that occur daily see procedures for conducting a functional assessment to be discussed later 2 Crisis management or minimizing harmful consequences to the client to others and to the environment if the problem behavior occurs this largely involves developing back up procedures specific to the behavior to deal with the problem behaviors if they occur Ex Elopement run away from the program first need to detect it cameras set up in advance with authorities Aggressive behavior Self injurious behavior 3 Teach an appropriate functional alternative behavior a functional alternative behavior is a desirable behavior that will compete with the problem behavior To compete means that the functional alternative behavior will needs to produce the same consequences as does the problem behavior but with a more immediate consequences b a higher probability of consequences c a greater quality or quantity of consequences d or requires less effort than is required for the problem behavior to being find a functional alternative behavior you will need to do a functional assessment Functional Assessments a method to get essential information about the problem behavior What information do you want from the assessment 1 the characteristics of the problem behavior e g the topography the frequency the duration the