Basics of PBIS and ABA
Tier 1 essentials: (a) identify 3-5 positively stated expectations, (b) define and teach these expectations, (c) arrange environment to promote expectation-following and prevent expectation-violating, (d) implement a continuum of strategies to promote expectation-following, (e) implement a continuum of strategies to prevent expectation-violating, (f) use data to guide and evaluation.
Empirical support for PBIS: Tier 1 increases prosocial behavior, decreases problem behavior (7); Tier 2 support for small-group social skills training and check-in/check-out; Tier 3 support for function-based supports.
Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA)
Theoretical foundations of PBIS: behaviorism. Respondent conditioning focuses on reflexive (involuntary behaviors) that are conditioned to occur under different conditions. Operant conditioning focuses on voluntary behaviors. Applied behavior analysis: application of behavioral principles to change behavior.
Phases of learning: (a) acquisition (when I acquire a new skill, I initially make errors), (b) fluency (rate of responding, goal is to respond with greater speed), (c) maintenance (goal is to maintain skills over time), (d) generalization (able to apply skill to different contexts).
ABCs of Behavior: Antecedents (the stimuli that occur before the behavior), Behaviors (observable and measurable actions), Consequences (changes in stimuli that are contingent on behavior).
Types of antecedents. (a) Discriminative Stimulus (Sᴰ) -- an antecedent that is present when a behavior is reinforced -- e.g., I show a quiet sign (Sᴰ), students stop talking (behavior), and I praise them. (b) Stimulus Delta (SΔ) -- the antecedent that is present when a behavior is not reinforced. (c) Discriminative Stimulus for Punishment (Sᴰ-) -- an antecedent that is present when a behavior is punished.
More terms. Extinction = when the problem behavior stops. Setting events = antecedent events that temporarily alter the effectiveness of the consequences for a behavior. Shaping = reinforcing steps toward a goal.
Behavioral strategies involved in teaching. Prompts = antecedents you add to Sᴰ to obtain desired behavior. Shaping. Chaining.
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Maximize Structure and Actively Engage Students
Structure
Structure is the foundation for implementing CWPBIS. Structure includes the routines and physical arrangement of the classroom.
Structure is the foundation for implementing CWPBIS. Structure includes the routines and physical arrangement of the classroom.
Routines:
- When teachers establish and consistently follow routines, students know what to expect and can progress through the day with minimal prompting. Consider routines for entering class, turning in homework, going to the bathroom, etc.
- Embed choice whenever possible -- e.g., allow them to pick the type of writing utensil to use.
- Employ behavioral momentum. Begin each activity with activities likely to result in student success so that momentum increases the likelihood that students will attempt more difficult tasks. Intersperse routines that are easier among those that are harder.
- Post classroom routines. Post schedule, review it daily. Post directions for specific routines -- e.g., put homework in box, pick up daily materials, walk to seat, begin warm-up activity.
- Teach students routines -- teach, model, have students practice. Remind and monitor.
Arrange classroom environment to promote appropriate behavior:
- Minimize crowding and distraction. Minimize posters on wall so students are not distracted. Remove excess clutter from classroom.
Actively Engage Students
Two ways to actively engage students. (a) Deliver high rates of opportunities to respond (OTRs). Effective teachers use 3-5 OTRs per minute during teacher-directed instruction for simple responses (e.g., quick verbal or gestural responses) and 1 OTR if responses are more complex (e.g., solving a math problem on a whiteboard). (b) Use a variety of OTRs -- e.g., unison responding, cooperative learning, response cards, peer tutoring (where all students participate), computer-assisted instruction.
Two ways to actively engage students. (a) Deliver high rates of opportunities to respond (OTRs). Effective teachers use 3-5 OTRs per minute during teacher-directed instruction for simple responses (e.g., quick verbal or gestural responses) and 1 OTR if responses are more complex (e.g., solving a math problem on a whiteboard). (b) Use a variety of OTRs -- e.g., unison responding, cooperative learning, response cards, peer tutoring (where all students participate), computer-assisted instruction.
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Establish and Teach CWPBIS Expectations
Basics:
- CWPBIS expectations should be the same as SWPBIS.
- Develop matrix which contains examples (see example 118). Can ask students to help you design matrix.
- Evaluate CWPBIS. E.g,. can choose one expectation and one routine each day and sample a 15-minute window to measure students' expectation-following behavior.
- Use visual prompts (e.g., posters). Greet students as they enter class and remind them of expectations. Use specific praise to recognize expectation-following behavior. Or implement classwide recognition system in which students earn points on days they're caught following the "mystery" expectation during the "mystery" time; when they earn a specified number of points, they may earn access to a classroom privilege (e.g., listening to music during work, completing assignments w/ preferred materials).
Give explicit social skills lessons:
- Identify lesson focus -- that is, the expectation and routine.
- Write a learning objective which contains (a) the conditions in which the skill is expected, (b) the individuals expected to demonstrate a behavior, (c) a description of the expected behavior, and (d) the criteria for success. E.g., "During transitions (conditions), students (individuals) will demonstrate responsibility by cleaning up their spaces (behavior) during 9 out of 10 transitions sampled after the lesson (criteria)." The objective must be aligned with the evaluation.
- Plan for needed materials.
- Select appropriate teaching examples and nonexamples.
- Use explicit instructional approach: (a) Model (I do), (b) Lead (we do), and Test (you do). E.g., model sitting with a calm body, lead students through activity in which you read examples and nonexamples in a random order and ask students to give a thumbs up or down for examples/nonexamples of respectful behavior, You can test by doing one of the following: (a) Going into routine and checking for expectation-following behavior, (b) ask younger students to draw a picture of expectation-following behavior and hang pictures as visual prompts in room, (c) ask older students to write examples of expectation-following behavior and expectation-violating behaviors.
Plan follow-up activities:
- Use prompts -- visual prompts, verbal prompts.
- Supervise students (moving, scanning, interacting w/ students). Move in unpredictable ways. Regularly scan classroom. Interactions can include providing academic-support, engaging in rapport-building about personal interests.
- Recognize expectation-following behavior. Catch students being good. Provide specific praise.
- Respond to expectation-violating behavior. Respond like you would respond to academic error, i.e., provide a specific error correction in a calm and neutral tone and help the student practice the skill correctly. Specifically, let student know her error and what she should do differently next time and give her a chance to practice the appropriate behavior. If error persists, consider reteaching, increasing prompts, increasing available reinforcers, and implementing additional strategies to respond to undesired behavior.
- Collect data to evaluate students.
- Adjust instruction and supports as needed based on data.
Promote skill maintenance and generalization throughout year: plan periodic reviews, fade prompts and feedback over time, provide additional instruction and support to promote generalization across new contexts.
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Implement a Continuum of Strategies to Reinforce Appropriate Behavior
When we teach students an academic skills, we provide feedback about their performance. When we teach students behavioral expectations, we should also provide feedback on their performance. E.g., teacher asks class to quiet down, teacher says, "Thank you for responding to my directions so quickly! That's exactly how you demonstrate respect, like we talk about in our classwide rules." If we want students to gain fluency with the behaviors we teach them -- both academic and social -- we need to provide contingent reinforcement when those behaviors occur, which will increase the likelihood that they will occur again in the future. As they gain fluency and move into the maintenance phase of learning, we can think about fading the reinforcement and moving toward more natural consequences for appropriate behaviors (e.g., simple praise, good grades, and satisfaction from helping others).
Strategies to reinforce appropriate behavior:
(1) Specific and Contingent Praise. Delivered immediately after the target behavior occurs. Evidence (135). This type of praise (a) helps students make the connection b/t the social reinforcer and the behavior being reinforced, (b) serves as a verbal prompt to any students who may not be engaging in the target behavior, (c) lets students know you are paying attention (for many students, teacher attention is reinforcing). Also make sure praise sounds sincere. If student is embarrassed by praise, you can slip student a note.
(2) Group Contingencies. All students earn the same reinforcer. Three types.
(a) Dependent Group Contingencies. The delivery of the group's reinforcement is contingent on the behavior of one or a few individuals in the group. E.g., If Marc and Cleo can keep their desks neat for 3 days, the entire class will receive a new pencil and pen. Must make the dependent group contingency a no-fail for the students whom the reinforcer depends upon.
How to make it a no-fail? Make sure the students can do the desired behavior (have fluency). Provide them with explicit instruction. After lesson, given them visual prompts that they can frequently reference. Also give ample verbal prompts to remind them of expected behavior. Also enjoin other students to encourage them in their efforts. Imagine a classroom in which all students are cheering on a few struggling learners. Make sure the students only earn, and don't lose, privileges for the class. If you aren't certain that you can ensure this desired behavior is a no-fail for these students, you should select another option for group reinforcement.
(b) Interdependent Group Contingencies. Every student must meet goal. E.g., If everyone arrives in class on time, you can have 5 minutes at the end of the class to socialize. Cons: if student doesn't meet goal, others might be mad at them, some students might not care about the reward. To do this, you must provide teaching of the expected behavior, frequent prompting and modeling, encourage all learners, report frequently on progress, ensure that everyone believes achievement is possible. You should ensure that your desired behavior is a no-fail for all students.
(c) Independent Group Contingencies. Each individual receives reinforcement when he/she engages in target behavior. Those students who do not engage in behavior, do not get reward. Con: You lose the community-building.
The Good Behavior Game. Type of interdependent group contingency. Evidence-based (140). Teacher divides class into two teams and selects a specific problem behavior (e.g., blurting out). Each team receives a mark on the board when the problem behavior occurs; the team w/ the fewest marks at the end of the lesson (day, etc.) wins the game and the reinforcer. Can also have teacher put mark when students engage in good behavior (e.g., raising hand to participate).
(3) Behavioral Contracting. Can use with individuals or groups, can use with other systems (e.g., group contingencies or token economies). Contain If...then statement -- e.g., "If Luke can complete 80% of his homework for two weeks, he will be able to host a class party with games and activities of his choice." Contract should also state what -- if anything -- happens if the student does not meet the expectations.
(4) Token Economies. Lots of research (142). Tokens should be paired with praise so that students know why tokens are delivered. What you need: (a) Tokens delivered contingent on the expected behavior, can be exchanged for something of value. Must have place where students can store tokens. Decide when students will earn tokens (for some behaviors, intermittently, etc.). (b) Reinforcers. Have from different categories (i.e., social, tangible, activity) (social: lunch w/ friend or teacher in classroom, helping teacher, being able to work with friend) (tangible: stickers, treasure chest, pens, pencils) (activity: game in class, using computer, listening to music). Can have classwide reward, and all earned tokens go toward that reward; problem w/ this is that not all students have to earn rewards, some students might not like class reward.(c) Develop exchange rate. Usually exchange at end of day or week. Can use raffle system wherein tokens (with student names on them) are put into a container and winner(s) drawn. Best practice is to have raffle in addition to allowing students to exchange their tokens for individual rewards first.
Data: Establish baseline of targeted behavior b/f you implement token economy. Use tokens that are difficult to counterfeit. If students are hoarding, might add expiration dates to tokens (or change colors).
Fading Support. What happens when student behavior stops improving, reaches a plateau? When students gain fluency and move toward maintenance and generalization, begin to fade supports and allow students to execute their new skills independently with less reinforcement from us. Hopefully, their new behaviors will meet with natural reinforcers that will maintain the use of the new behavior -- e.g., saying "please" and "thank you" will result in smiles and other positive responses; participating in class discussions will result in better grades and increase the student's comprehension of the material.
Some ways to fade. (1) Reward more sophisticated levels of behavior that build on the behaviors which students are already fluent -- e.g., if students already being reinforced for raising hands before talking, we can start reinforcing for raising hands and providing cogent, relevant answers. (2) Increasing the amount of behavior required for reinforcement -- e.g., if we were rewarding for every hand raise, start rewarding for every 3rd hand raise. (3) Decrease frequency and intensity of our reinforcers -- e.g., instead of 10 minutes of screen time after 45 minutes of on-task behavior, go down to 5 minutes.
Do not fade until behavioral goal has been met at least 5 consecutive times.
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Implement a Continuum of Strategies to Respond to Inappropriate Behaviors
Implement a Continuum of Strategies to Reinforce Appropriate Behavior
When we teach students an academic skills, we provide feedback about their performance. When we teach students behavioral expectations, we should also provide feedback on their performance. E.g., teacher asks class to quiet down, teacher says, "Thank you for responding to my directions so quickly! That's exactly how you demonstrate respect, like we talk about in our classwide rules." If we want students to gain fluency with the behaviors we teach them -- both academic and social -- we need to provide contingent reinforcement when those behaviors occur, which will increase the likelihood that they will occur again in the future. As they gain fluency and move into the maintenance phase of learning, we can think about fading the reinforcement and moving toward more natural consequences for appropriate behaviors (e.g., simple praise, good grades, and satisfaction from helping others).
Strategies to reinforce appropriate behavior:
(1) Specific and Contingent Praise. Delivered immediately after the target behavior occurs. Evidence (135). This type of praise (a) helps students make the connection b/t the social reinforcer and the behavior being reinforced, (b) serves as a verbal prompt to any students who may not be engaging in the target behavior, (c) lets students know you are paying attention (for many students, teacher attention is reinforcing). Also make sure praise sounds sincere. If student is embarrassed by praise, you can slip student a note.
(2) Group Contingencies. All students earn the same reinforcer. Three types.
(a) Dependent Group Contingencies. The delivery of the group's reinforcement is contingent on the behavior of one or a few individuals in the group. E.g., If Marc and Cleo can keep their desks neat for 3 days, the entire class will receive a new pencil and pen. Must make the dependent group contingency a no-fail for the students whom the reinforcer depends upon.
How to make it a no-fail? Make sure the students can do the desired behavior (have fluency). Provide them with explicit instruction. After lesson, given them visual prompts that they can frequently reference. Also give ample verbal prompts to remind them of expected behavior. Also enjoin other students to encourage them in their efforts. Imagine a classroom in which all students are cheering on a few struggling learners. Make sure the students only earn, and don't lose, privileges for the class. If you aren't certain that you can ensure this desired behavior is a no-fail for these students, you should select another option for group reinforcement.
(b) Interdependent Group Contingencies. Every student must meet goal. E.g., If everyone arrives in class on time, you can have 5 minutes at the end of the class to socialize. Cons: if student doesn't meet goal, others might be mad at them, some students might not care about the reward. To do this, you must provide teaching of the expected behavior, frequent prompting and modeling, encourage all learners, report frequently on progress, ensure that everyone believes achievement is possible. You should ensure that your desired behavior is a no-fail for all students.
(c) Independent Group Contingencies. Each individual receives reinforcement when he/she engages in target behavior. Those students who do not engage in behavior, do not get reward. Con: You lose the community-building.
The Good Behavior Game. Type of interdependent group contingency. Evidence-based (140). Teacher divides class into two teams and selects a specific problem behavior (e.g., blurting out). Each team receives a mark on the board when the problem behavior occurs; the team w/ the fewest marks at the end of the lesson (day, etc.) wins the game and the reinforcer. Can also have teacher put mark when students engage in good behavior (e.g., raising hand to participate).
(3) Behavioral Contracting. Can use with individuals or groups, can use with other systems (e.g., group contingencies or token economies). Contain If...then statement -- e.g., "If Luke can complete 80% of his homework for two weeks, he will be able to host a class party with games and activities of his choice." Contract should also state what -- if anything -- happens if the student does not meet the expectations.
(4) Token Economies. Lots of research (142). Tokens should be paired with praise so that students know why tokens are delivered. What you need: (a) Tokens delivered contingent on the expected behavior, can be exchanged for something of value. Must have place where students can store tokens. Decide when students will earn tokens (for some behaviors, intermittently, etc.). (b) Reinforcers. Have from different categories (i.e., social, tangible, activity) (social: lunch w/ friend or teacher in classroom, helping teacher, being able to work with friend) (tangible: stickers, treasure chest, pens, pencils) (activity: game in class, using computer, listening to music). Can have classwide reward, and all earned tokens go toward that reward; problem w/ this is that not all students have to earn rewards, some students might not like class reward.(c) Develop exchange rate. Usually exchange at end of day or week. Can use raffle system wherein tokens (with student names on them) are put into a container and winner(s) drawn. Best practice is to have raffle in addition to allowing students to exchange their tokens for individual rewards first.
Data: Establish baseline of targeted behavior b/f you implement token economy. Use tokens that are difficult to counterfeit. If students are hoarding, might add expiration dates to tokens (or change colors).
Fading Support. What happens when student behavior stops improving, reaches a plateau? When students gain fluency and move toward maintenance and generalization, begin to fade supports and allow students to execute their new skills independently with less reinforcement from us. Hopefully, their new behaviors will meet with natural reinforcers that will maintain the use of the new behavior -- e.g., saying "please" and "thank you" will result in smiles and other positive responses; participating in class discussions will result in better grades and increase the student's comprehension of the material.
Some ways to fade. (1) Reward more sophisticated levels of behavior that build on the behaviors which students are already fluent -- e.g., if students already being reinforced for raising hands before talking, we can start reinforcing for raising hands and providing cogent, relevant answers. (2) Increasing the amount of behavior required for reinforcement -- e.g., if we were rewarding for every hand raise, start rewarding for every 3rd hand raise. (3) Decrease frequency and intensity of our reinforcers -- e.g., instead of 10 minutes of screen time after 45 minutes of on-task behavior, go down to 5 minutes.
Do not fade until behavioral goal has been met at least 5 consecutive times.
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Implement a Continuum of Strategies to Respond to Inappropriate Behaviors
(1) Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR): identify the function of the student's problem behavior, then provide the reinforcer frequently (not contingent on any behavior) so that the student no longer needs to engage in the problem behavior to get reinforcement. E.g., if student engages in problem behavior to avoid doing a task, ensure that you're providing ample support and prompts for how to access help and provide frequent breaks using NCR. E.g., if a student's constant talking functions to obtain your attention, stop by his desk often while he is working to check in.
(2) Specific and Contingent Error Correction. For low-level behavior errors. Problem: When a student working an addition problem at the board makes an error, we ask the student to try the problem again, but when a student blurts out, the teacher tells the student not to call out, and then, even if the student raises her head, the teacher has already called someone else. The problem with "no, stop, don't" statements: we are using conditioned punishers whose value was learned pairing with loud noises and sometimes physical consequences (e.g., if we grab a child's arm while saying, "Don't do that"). Teachers who control the classroom by using contingent aversive consequences risk creating power struggles; another problem is that these consequences might not function as punishers for all students.
Instead of a "no, stop, don't" statement, teachers should treat low-level behavior errors as they would academic errors. E.g., when a student blurts out, the teacher should say, "Ashley, remember what it looks like to be respectful during class. Can you show me how to share your comment respectfully?" >> Ashley then raises her hand, and the teacher says, "That's exactly right. Now what did you want to add to our discussion?" Here the student is receiving contingent feedback on her appropriate behavior rather than just a contingent aversive statement. If error corrections are the dominant type of interaction with students, more misbehavior is likely (evidence, 158). Teachers who have a higher ratio of positive to negative interactions with students (3-4 for every error correction) see improved student behaviors (evidence, 158).
When delivering error correction: voice confident, not shouting, eye contact, explicitly state the behavior that did not meet expectations, state what will happen if student continues engaging in the inappropriate behavior (e.g., "Daniel, poking Brian is not being respectful. You need to keep your hands to yourself in the hallway or you will have to practice how to walk in the hallway after school"). Error correction is more effective if is it delivered quickly and quietly. Once student engages in appropriate behavior, praise right away.
(3) Differential Reinforcement.
Differential reinforcement is a schedule of reinforcement designed to lower the frequency of an inappropriate behavior.
(a) Differential Reinforcement of Lower Rates of Behavior (DRL). Use when the behavior is inappropriate primarily due to its frequency -- e.g., a student who raises his hand too often. For such a student, teacher could call the student aside and say: "Jack, I appreciate that you are eager to share your thoughts with the class. However, everyone in the class needs a chance to participate, and so I'd like you to raise your hand just four times every period. If you can do that, you can be the first in line for lunch." Or: "Jill, it's okay to use the restroom once in a while..."
(b) Differential Reinforcement of Other Behaviors (DRO). Teachers reinforce the absence of the target behavior after a certain time. E.g., "Eloise, if you don't talk to Francis for the next 20 minutes you can earn a star." Problem w/ DRO is that it does not increase the future likelihood of appropriate behaviors. Other problem: If you say you will reinforce student for not talking, but student puts head down and sleeps, you're still obligated to reward student. Consequently, with DRO, you should always reinforce appropriate behaviors along with reinforcing the absence of the target behavior; consider combining DRO and Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behaviors (DRA).
(c) Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behaviors (DRA). With DRA, you reinforce behaviors that take the place of the problem behavior. E.g., reward student for not interrupting with DRO while also providing contingent reinforcement on writing down his comments (DRA). E.g,. reward Eloise for not talking to Francis but also provide contingent reinforcement if she engages in an appropriate alternative behavior, like completing all of her work independently.
(4) Planned Ignoring
Extinction is when you withhold reinforcement for a behavior that was previously reinforced -- e.g., if Jacob's blurting out obtains his teacher's attention, the teacher can ignore Jacob's blurt outs in an effort to extinguish the behavior. Extinction burst: when Jacob's blurting out does not get teacher attention, he will increase the volume, frequency, and intensity of his blurt outs. The teacher should also reinforce Jacob's appropriate behaviors (e.g., raising his hand) with a lot of contingent attention. The teacher should also use antecedent strategies like checking in frequently and providing Jacob with period attention.
Extinction can be considered planned ignoring when applied to behaviors that function to gain attention. Planned ignoring should not be used in isolation, as you must also teach and reinforce an alternative behavior that meets the same function -- e.g., teacher ensures that blurting out is irrelevant (b/c student is already receiving attention and has ways to earn more through appropriate behavior) and ineffective (b/c blurting out no longer results in attention).
Planned ignoring means ignoring all attention contingent on the inappropriate behavior. For example, when a student blurts out, the teacher should not say, "I'm ignoring you" or "I don't accept answers from students who call them out" or the teacher should not put a check mark on the board for each blurt out.
Overcorrection
Overcorrection requires all students to engage in exaggerated practice of the appropriate behavior.
Restitutional overcorrection requires the student who has disturbed the class to restore the class to its original condition, and then some. E.g., student writes name on desk; student is then required to clean her own desk and also the clean the other desks in the room.
Positive-practice overcorrection requires the student who engages in inappropriate behavior to engage in the appropriate behavior, and then some. E.g., you see a student running in the hallway; you then have the student walk through the hallway several times, thus positively practicing the appropriate behavior. You hope that they'll find the overcorrection aversive enough to not engage in the inappropriate behavior in the future.
Some caveats to overcorrection. (1) If you use it too often it loses its effectiveness. (2) Make sure students don't associate an appropriate behavior with an aversive one -- e.g., if you make students line up 30 times, when you ask them to line up in the future, you may hear groans and signs. (3) Use overcorrection in conjunction with ongoing reinforcement for appropriate behavior.
Response Cost
Response cost = a desirable stimulus is taken away contingent on inappropriate behavior. Usually used in conjunction with a token economy. E.g., teacher puts stickers on a chart whenever students engage in appropriate behavior; when students do something inappropriate, she removes stickers from chart. It's necessary to establish fines up front so students know the exact cost of each inappropriate behavior.
Caveats. (1) Unlike previous strategies, when you use response cost, you're not also teaching appropriate behavior. (2) Logistical issues -- e.g., if you ask a student to give you a coupon, but she doesn't have any coupons. (3) If you use response cost, you introduce a potentially aversive association to your reinforcement system. In other words, something you've designed to create a more positive classroom climate is now something that is potentially punitive and unpleasant for students. As adults, we wouldn't like it if a response cost system were applied to our paychecks.
Book's advice: focus primarily on reinforcing appropriate behavior; if students don't engage in appropriate behavior, they simply don't earn reinforcement.
Time-Out from Reinforcement
Here the student needs to be prevented from accessing or needs to be removed from the environment where they want to be. Non-exclusionary time-out; here student remains in the environment but cannot access reinforcement or take part in activities -- e.g., having students stand on the wall at recess. Exclusionary time-out; here the student is removed from the activity altogether -- e.g., student moved to back of room where she cannot see peers, student sent to principal's office.
In order for time-out to be effective, student must be removed from reinforcement. One problem with time-out is that there is no opportunity for the student to learn appropriate behavior while using time-out; they only learn which behaviors will result in time-out from reinforcement.
Final Thoughts
Consequences for negative behavior are okay, but they must be used judiciously, thoughtfully, and with the intent of reducing problem behavior while you are actively teaching, prompting for, and reinforcing appropriate behavior.
Function. We know that all behavior serves a purpose/function. If we punish a student's behavior, we deprive the student of a way to get their needs meet; it is imperative that we teach the student a replacement behavior to the serves the same function. E.g., if a student is blurting out to get teacher attention, telling the student to stop might end the behavior, but it doesn't teach the student how to gain attention appropriately.
Inform students and parents of your consequences (positive and negative) from Day One.
(2) Specific and Contingent Error Correction. For low-level behavior errors. Problem: When a student working an addition problem at the board makes an error, we ask the student to try the problem again, but when a student blurts out, the teacher tells the student not to call out, and then, even if the student raises her head, the teacher has already called someone else. The problem with "no, stop, don't" statements: we are using conditioned punishers whose value was learned pairing with loud noises and sometimes physical consequences (e.g., if we grab a child's arm while saying, "Don't do that"). Teachers who control the classroom by using contingent aversive consequences risk creating power struggles; another problem is that these consequences might not function as punishers for all students.
Instead of a "no, stop, don't" statement, teachers should treat low-level behavior errors as they would academic errors. E.g., when a student blurts out, the teacher should say, "Ashley, remember what it looks like to be respectful during class. Can you show me how to share your comment respectfully?" >> Ashley then raises her hand, and the teacher says, "That's exactly right. Now what did you want to add to our discussion?" Here the student is receiving contingent feedback on her appropriate behavior rather than just a contingent aversive statement. If error corrections are the dominant type of interaction with students, more misbehavior is likely (evidence, 158). Teachers who have a higher ratio of positive to negative interactions with students (3-4 for every error correction) see improved student behaviors (evidence, 158).
When delivering error correction: voice confident, not shouting, eye contact, explicitly state the behavior that did not meet expectations, state what will happen if student continues engaging in the inappropriate behavior (e.g., "Daniel, poking Brian is not being respectful. You need to keep your hands to yourself in the hallway or you will have to practice how to walk in the hallway after school"). Error correction is more effective if is it delivered quickly and quietly. Once student engages in appropriate behavior, praise right away.
(3) Differential Reinforcement.
Differential reinforcement is a schedule of reinforcement designed to lower the frequency of an inappropriate behavior.
(a) Differential Reinforcement of Lower Rates of Behavior (DRL). Use when the behavior is inappropriate primarily due to its frequency -- e.g., a student who raises his hand too often. For such a student, teacher could call the student aside and say: "Jack, I appreciate that you are eager to share your thoughts with the class. However, everyone in the class needs a chance to participate, and so I'd like you to raise your hand just four times every period. If you can do that, you can be the first in line for lunch." Or: "Jill, it's okay to use the restroom once in a while..."
(b) Differential Reinforcement of Other Behaviors (DRO). Teachers reinforce the absence of the target behavior after a certain time. E.g., "Eloise, if you don't talk to Francis for the next 20 minutes you can earn a star." Problem w/ DRO is that it does not increase the future likelihood of appropriate behaviors. Other problem: If you say you will reinforce student for not talking, but student puts head down and sleeps, you're still obligated to reward student. Consequently, with DRO, you should always reinforce appropriate behaviors along with reinforcing the absence of the target behavior; consider combining DRO and Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behaviors (DRA).
(c) Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behaviors (DRA). With DRA, you reinforce behaviors that take the place of the problem behavior. E.g., reward student for not interrupting with DRO while also providing contingent reinforcement on writing down his comments (DRA). E.g,. reward Eloise for not talking to Francis but also provide contingent reinforcement if she engages in an appropriate alternative behavior, like completing all of her work independently.
(4) Planned Ignoring
Extinction is when you withhold reinforcement for a behavior that was previously reinforced -- e.g., if Jacob's blurting out obtains his teacher's attention, the teacher can ignore Jacob's blurt outs in an effort to extinguish the behavior. Extinction burst: when Jacob's blurting out does not get teacher attention, he will increase the volume, frequency, and intensity of his blurt outs. The teacher should also reinforce Jacob's appropriate behaviors (e.g., raising his hand) with a lot of contingent attention. The teacher should also use antecedent strategies like checking in frequently and providing Jacob with period attention.
Extinction can be considered planned ignoring when applied to behaviors that function to gain attention. Planned ignoring should not be used in isolation, as you must also teach and reinforce an alternative behavior that meets the same function -- e.g., teacher ensures that blurting out is irrelevant (b/c student is already receiving attention and has ways to earn more through appropriate behavior) and ineffective (b/c blurting out no longer results in attention).
Planned ignoring means ignoring all attention contingent on the inappropriate behavior. For example, when a student blurts out, the teacher should not say, "I'm ignoring you" or "I don't accept answers from students who call them out" or the teacher should not put a check mark on the board for each blurt out.
Overcorrection
Overcorrection requires all students to engage in exaggerated practice of the appropriate behavior.
Restitutional overcorrection requires the student who has disturbed the class to restore the class to its original condition, and then some. E.g., student writes name on desk; student is then required to clean her own desk and also the clean the other desks in the room.
Positive-practice overcorrection requires the student who engages in inappropriate behavior to engage in the appropriate behavior, and then some. E.g., you see a student running in the hallway; you then have the student walk through the hallway several times, thus positively practicing the appropriate behavior. You hope that they'll find the overcorrection aversive enough to not engage in the inappropriate behavior in the future.
Some caveats to overcorrection. (1) If you use it too often it loses its effectiveness. (2) Make sure students don't associate an appropriate behavior with an aversive one -- e.g., if you make students line up 30 times, when you ask them to line up in the future, you may hear groans and signs. (3) Use overcorrection in conjunction with ongoing reinforcement for appropriate behavior.
Response Cost
Response cost = a desirable stimulus is taken away contingent on inappropriate behavior. Usually used in conjunction with a token economy. E.g., teacher puts stickers on a chart whenever students engage in appropriate behavior; when students do something inappropriate, she removes stickers from chart. It's necessary to establish fines up front so students know the exact cost of each inappropriate behavior.
Caveats. (1) Unlike previous strategies, when you use response cost, you're not also teaching appropriate behavior. (2) Logistical issues -- e.g., if you ask a student to give you a coupon, but she doesn't have any coupons. (3) If you use response cost, you introduce a potentially aversive association to your reinforcement system. In other words, something you've designed to create a more positive classroom climate is now something that is potentially punitive and unpleasant for students. As adults, we wouldn't like it if a response cost system were applied to our paychecks.
Book's advice: focus primarily on reinforcing appropriate behavior; if students don't engage in appropriate behavior, they simply don't earn reinforcement.
Time-Out from Reinforcement
Here the student needs to be prevented from accessing or needs to be removed from the environment where they want to be. Non-exclusionary time-out; here student remains in the environment but cannot access reinforcement or take part in activities -- e.g., having students stand on the wall at recess. Exclusionary time-out; here the student is removed from the activity altogether -- e.g., student moved to back of room where she cannot see peers, student sent to principal's office.
In order for time-out to be effective, student must be removed from reinforcement. One problem with time-out is that there is no opportunity for the student to learn appropriate behavior while using time-out; they only learn which behaviors will result in time-out from reinforcement.
Final Thoughts
Consequences for negative behavior are okay, but they must be used judiciously, thoughtfully, and with the intent of reducing problem behavior while you are actively teaching, prompting for, and reinforcing appropriate behavior.
Function. We know that all behavior serves a purpose/function. If we punish a student's behavior, we deprive the student of a way to get their needs meet; it is imperative that we teach the student a replacement behavior to the serves the same function. E.g., if a student is blurting out to get teacher attention, telling the student to stop might end the behavior, but it doesn't teach the student how to gain attention appropriately.
Inform students and parents of your consequences (positive and negative) from Day One.
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