Assignment: Antecedent control procedures

Assignment: Antecedent control procedures

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Part one: After reading the section on antecedent control procedures, turn to page 340 in the Miltenberger digital text (p. 338 in the physical text), and select one of the six “misapplications” cases. In your main post, briefly recap the case and discuss the reason why the antecedent control procedure is not being used effectively. Provide an alternative plan.

Part two: Using the alternative plan that you have created, select one of the seven methods of promoting generalization discussed in the Miltenberger text, and discuss how you would incorporate this method of generalization into your corrected behavior management plan

MISAPPLICATIONS

· 1. A teacher in a special education classroom was working with a child with severe intellectual disability. The teacher was using small bites of food as reinforcers in a training program to help the child make correct letter discriminations. The teacher decided to arrange an establishing operation that would make food a more powerful reinforcer so that the child would be more likely to respond correctly in training sessions. Because training sessions were in the early afternoon, the teacher decided to keep the child from eating lunch at noon. The teacher reasoned that if the child did not eat lunch, food would be a more effective reinforcer in the afternoon. What is wrong with this antecedent control strategy? What would be a better antecedent control strategy to use in this case?

· 2. Milt wanted to start working out more often. He decided that the best way to get into a regular workout routine would be to join a health club. He joined a club that was a 30-minute drive away. Milt reasoned that once he paid the membership fee for a year, he would be more likely to drive there and work out at least a few times a week. And because he paid the fee for the full year, he believed that he would continue to work out at the club for the whole year. What is wrong with this strategy? What could Milt do to make it more likely that he would work out regularly?

· 3. Dr. Drake, a dentist, was concerned that many of her patients did not floss their teeth regularly and were therefore at risk for gum disease. Dr. Drake devised a plan to get her patients to floss every day. Every time patients came in for a 338339checkup or cleaning, Dr. Drake showed them awful pictures of people with gum disease and pictures of painful surgery that the people with gum disease had to endure because they did not floss regularly. Before the patients left the office, she told them that they could avoid the awful gum disease and the painful surgery by flossing their teeth for 2 minutes every day. What antecedent control strategy was Dr. Drake using to get her patients to floss their teeth? Why is this strategy, by itself, not enough to keep people flossing? What other strategies would you add to make it more likely that people would keep flossing their teeth regularly?

· 4. Sandy, a third grade student with learning problems, attended a special class. She usually engaged in disruptive behaviors in the classroom when required to complete math problems. The teacher conducted a functional assessment and found that the request to do math problems was the primary antecedent to the disruptive behavior. The teacher decided to use an antecedent manipulation and no longer asked Sandy to do math problems. The teacher reasoned that if Sandy was no longer asked to do math problems, the disruptive behavior would be less likely to occur. What is the problem with this procedure?

· 5. Phyllis and Fred, two medical students who lived together, had to study every day. They both liked to relax by watching TV. Fred watched baseball, football, basketball, and other ball games broadcast on cable channels. Phyllis watched old movies on cable. The problem started to emerge as Phyllis spent time watching movies instead of studying. Her work was suffering, but she continued to watch the old movies and convinced herself that she would catch up with her studying later. On the other hand, Fred watched his ball games only after he had his work done. Phyllis finally realized she had a problem and decided that one way to help her watch TV less often, and therefore study more often, would be to discontinue cable. If she got rid of cable, she would be eliminating the antecedent (movies on cable) for the problem behavior, so that the problem behavior would be less likely to occur. What is the problem with the antecedent manipulation in this case?

· 6. Patrick, an adult with intellectual disability, lived in a group home and worked in a community job. A problem that Patrick exhibited in the group home was refusal to complete training activities such as grooming and household tasks. He was most likely to refuse when younger staff made requests to him. When older staff made requests, he was typically compliant. Because requests from younger staff appeared to be a reliable antecedent to the problem behavior, the supervisor decided to have only the older staff work with Patrick. What is the problem with this antecedent procedure?

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Chapter Seventeen: Using Punishment: Time-out and Response Cost

How does time-out work to decrease a problem behavior? What are the two types of time-out What is response cost? How do you use it to decrease a problem behavior? Why is it important to use reinforcement procedures together with time-out or response cost

What issues must you consider when using time-out or response cost?

As discussed in Chapter 6, punishment is a basic behavioral principle. Punishment occurs when a behavior is followed by a consequence that results in a decrease in the future probability of the behavior. The consequence following the behavior may involve the presentation of an aversive stimulus or event (positive punishment) or the removal of a reinforcing stimulus or event (negative punishment). In both forms of punishment, the behavior is weakened.

A variety of punishment procedures can be used to decrease a problem behavior. However, punishment procedures typically are used only after functional interventions—extinction, differential reinforcement, and antecedent manipulations—have been implemented or considered. When these procedures are implemented and result in a decrease in the problem behavior, punishment procedures are unnecessary. However, if functional procedures are ineffective (or not completely effective) or if their use is limited or impossible for whatever reason, punishment procedures may be considered.

The use of punishment procedures can be controversial. Some people believe that using punishment, the contingent presentation of an aversive event or the removal of a reinforcing event, may violate the rights of the person being treated (e.g., see LaVigna & Donnelan, 1986). In addition, positive punishment involves presenting an aversive stimulus, which is often perceived to be painful or unpleasant; therefore, some people believe that punishment produces unnecessary pain or discomfort for the person receiving treatment. (Note, however, that an aversive stimulus is not defined by painful or unpleasant feelings. Rather, behavior modification adopts a functional definition, in terms of its effect on behavior: An aversive stimulus is any stimulus whose contingent presentation decreases the future probability of a behavior or whose contingent removal increases the future probability of a behavior; see, for example, Reynolds, 1968.)

For these and other reasons (see Chapters 6 and 18), punishment procedures usually are not the first choice of interventions for decreasing problem behaviors. If a punishment procedure is used, it is often a negative punishment procedure involving the removal of reinforcing events after a problem behavior. This chapter describes two common negative punishment procedures: time-out and response cost.