Sunteți pe pagina 1din 7

The Subject

Cole Patterson is 7 years and 10 months old and will be starting the second grade.
He is a curious, intelligent, and artistic little boy who hopes to be a doctor one
day. Cole has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, and Anxiety
which invariably has an impact on his behavior and learning.

Target Behavior

Cole has a variety of negative behaviors that occur when he attempts to read or is
asked to read. Though the behaviors vary they can all be classified as task
avoidance behavior which can be operationally defined as: running to his room,
closing his eyes in an attempt to avoid looking at the words, sliding slowly
underneath the table (as if he’s melting away) repetitive loud noise-making (such
as humming, laughing, repeating syllables or letter sounds loudly and in short
spurts as if he is a robot with a glitch, I often describe this as “stuck-on repeat”)
and outright refusal, verbal arguments, or attempts to bargain (saying “I’ll do it
later”).

The Goal

The goal of this project is to use Operant Conditioning and shaping to positively
reinforce and increase desirable behaviors (reading a page in a book) and
subsequently reduce the total number of incidents of undesirable behavior as it is
defined above with the ultimate goal being completion of an appropriate reading
level book with no incidents occurring (I doubt we’ll get there in the course of this
project).

The Baseline Data

I used an ABC chart to gather my more specific quantifiable data; here I offer my
observational data to help illustrate the logic behind the Behavioral Modification
Plan outlined in the next section.

 Cole’s behavior is negatively reinforced when he is allowed to leave the


room or stop the task.
 Cole’s task avoidant behavior seemed to increase towards the end of
the baseline period. I attribute this to his realization that this is going to
be a regular task for him and the negative reinforcement he received
initially when he engaged in these behaviors.
 Cole did not like a change in what had become a somewhat established
pattern of night time reading, he had the most incidents the day I tried
to alter the time.
 I didn’t really push him to read at this point or offer any incentives, as
the idea is to establish his behavior without attempting to change it.

Number of Pages read: 5

Number of incidents: 43

Avg. number of incidents per day: 11


The Plan: Week One

I set up a chart using a fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement. Cole receives


reinforcement using mainly primary reinforcers; a sucker, a silly band, a hot fudge
sundae, A Littlest Pet shop Toy, a toy from Walmart, and a trip to the Plaza (which
also includes Game Tokens, a secondary reinforcer). He receives these rewards
based on the number of pages he reads, which increases on a fixed schedule for
each reward item. I have selected a collection of easier books with fewer
sentences per page (1-3) so he will not be intimidated by the size of the task. I am
also setting a specific time of day (before bed time) and designating it as “reading
time” because children with Autism respond well to consistent routines. Though
this will be a little too easy for him to move through quickly, this week I am
focusing on helping him form an association between reading and the positive
reinforcement. Hopefully this will began to shape his behavior towards reading.
There are no rules or punishments for exhibiting the target behaviors or rules
regarding them. He is simply reinforced for task completion at this stage.
The Results: Week One

Cole playing the bowling game at The Plaza

Number Pages read: 101

Total Number of incidents: 34

Avg. number of incidents per day: 5.8

Cole progressed very well in the first week. Predictably, he had a more difficult
time starting out. He had an increased number of incidents on the last day, which
I attribute to the large number of pages he read to try to “catch up” with his
sister’s progress on her chart. He was motivated by the chart, which became a
primary reinforcer for him because he enjoyed coloring in the blocks and seeing
his progress. Cole seems to be accepting reading as part of his daily routine and is
arguing less about it.
The Plan: Week Two

I am using a combination of a fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement and


continuous reinforcement and I am continuing to use the primary reinforcers
that were effective last week. The response required to receive reinforcement has
changed from being reinforced for number of pages read to the number of books
read. The books still have 1-3 sentences per page, but the task is larger. Cole
receives reinforcement for every book read in the form of a sucker or silly band
(primary reinforcer) but he must read more books to receive the larger rewards.
This is part of an effort to shape his behavior.
In addition to increasing the number of responses required to receive
reinforcement I have added a few rules that specifically address the Target
Behavior. I want him to know what behavior is expected. There is no
punishment for “breaking” a rule, Cole is very visual and rule oriented… if
it’s written and displayed it’s like the gospel, it must be followed. Heaven
help you if you have bottled water inside the play area at the mall and Cole
is around. Because there is a sign that says “No drinks allowed” and he will
let you know it. So this is to help modify his behavior by offering
replacement behaviors (i.e. say “I can” and try sounding out words instead
of repeating) and out- lining appropriate behavior. The limit on the number
of books is for my daughter, who reads at a much faster rate.
The Results: Week Two

Total number of pages read: 112


Total number of incidents: 33
Avg. Per day: 5.5

Overall Results

I was able to successfully decrease the number of incidents of target


behavior from my baseline to week one by 47%, but between week one
and week two my success was marginal at best with a 5% decrease in
incidents.
I was able to increase the number of desired responses by 1920% (yeah, I
checked that number a few times myself) from baseline to week one, but
from week one to week two was only a 19% increase.

Summary

Overall, I am surprised at the results. Of course if you consider during the


baseline there was no reinforcement for reading, or at least something that
extrinsically motivates Cole to read then it makes sense he would engage in
a lot more avoidance behaviors to get out of reading and subsequently read
dramatically less. With any person the introduction of incentive would
make a difference. The most remarkable difference I observed was the
reduction of incidents that occurred when being told to read, he actually
began the process of reading willingly when we set up a schedule of
reinforcement. However, his progress began to taper off between the 2nd
two weeks. I would say I am successfully shaping the behavior although he
is still reading extremely simple books I believe that if I continue he will be
able to read a 2nd grade level book and maybe even read it without
exhibiting any task avoidance behavior.

S-ar putea să vă placă și