Sophia A. Johnson
Abstract
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Behavioral assessment involves a variety of methods including direct observations, interviews, checklists, and tests to identify and define targets for behavior change. (Miltenberger, 2012)
This assessment will utilize evidence based research to clearly identify target behaviors to assist our clients in implementing a successful intervention plan that is based on a behavior modification plan that objective, clearly defined, measurable and geared to the individual’s specific needs. We hypothesize that we will be able to reduce Emily’s refusal to attend school, her crying tantrums and head banging, as well as improve and increase Mr. Smith’s employee’s attendance and restore production to normalcy.
Case #1
This case study examines why 6-year old Emily is exhibiting behavior issues. Recommended by her pediatric psychologist her parents want to understand this change in behavior that started when she started first grade. It appears that Emily’s reluctance to attend school which she claims is no longer fun, often results in her having screaming tantrums in which cries and bangs her head on the floor. Her parents also noted that she has not been able to sleep in her own bed and they must take her theirs in order for her to fall asleep, but even after falling asleep if they return her to her bed she will awake and cry and scream until her parents return her to their bed. Due to these outburst she is often allowed to remain home from school.
Her parents are tired and frustrated and in need of answers for this behavior change and an intervention to return their household to normalcy. Emily’s teacher reports that on most occasions she is well behaving and her basic academic skills appear to be at grade level.
It is hypothesized that Emily’s behavior maybe as a result of bullying and teasing, if we could get her to address her fears we will be able to reduce the screaming tantrums and fear of going to school and return her to the normal school environment.
In communicating with Emily’s parents we were able to identify the target behavior that they would like addressed. Emily’s parents would like us to address her reluctance to attend school resulting in a screaming tantrums, which includes a loud piercing cry followed by her head repeatedly striking the floor.
We believe this target behavior needs to be addressed because it poses a social significant health risk which may result in bodily injury for Emily. This behavior is also being targeted because it results in a “negative reinforcement by escape from a task” (Cooper, 2007, p. 49), this behavior is inadvertently being reinforced by her parent’s reluctance to upset her so they allow her to remain home. This cannot continue as it will also affect her academic and social interaction skills, there may also be financial ramifications if the parents are missing work or having to find a sitter to care for Emily while they go to work.
It is hypothesized that Emily’s overall reluctance and tantruming would decrease and that, with time, we would see her willingly wanting to attend school and interacting with others more frequently, we expect to see a decrease in the number of tantrums and head banging’s.
As part of the intervention technique we will be able to create a confident rapport with Emily, where she can share her fears and concerns regarding school. Based on the information shared we will be able to change the target behavior by helping Emily adapt to her school environment.
We will carry out a functional assessment on Emily using direct observation both at her home and school to assess and gathering relevant data on the target behavior, such as duration and frequency and whether or not they are preceded by a visible antecedent. The behavior modification program that will be used is operant condition using positive reinforcement. Each day that Emily goes to school without a resulting tantrum she gets to do an activity of her choosing with the family when she gets home. If she has a tantrum and refuses to go to school she has to do one hour of reading. We will be tracking her progress using a excel spreadsheet after which we will chart and graph the results on a weekly basis and do a monthly assessment. The data gathered will be reported by her family and teachers, so as to get an accurate view of her overall behavior in both environment.
We chose operant conditioning using positive reinforcement because, “operant conditioning is the means by which we use reinforcement or punishment to change one’s behavior and “the goal of behavior modification is to establish desirable new behaviors or skills”. (Miltenberger, 2012), in Emily’s case we hope to increase her desire to attend school by creating a positive experience and reduce her tantruming and head banging episodes by allowing her to use her words to express herself.
Once per week on a Friday a visit will be made to Emily’s school and home to collect the charts, review any discrepancies and get a verbal feedback on Emily’s behavior. We will meet with Emily as well to learn how she is doing and assess if the behavior modification is having a positive outcome. The data is analyzed by gathering the number of refusal to attend school for the week, the number of tantruming and head bang, as well as any disruptive behavior in the classroom. We will be able to identify whether or not the intervention is successful if the data reveals a decrease such as only once per week does her parents have to keep her home for refusal to attend school or if they do not have to keep her home at all.
Table 1.1
Name:
Emily’s Mother
Date:
September 22nd – 26th, 2014
Refusal to attend school
Refusal to attend school with Tantruming & Head Banging
Refusal to attend school with other negative behavior
Attend School willingly
Attend school with reinforcement offered
Monday
0
1
0
0
0
Tuesday
1
0
0
0
0
Wednesday
0
0
0
0
1
Thursday
0
0
0
0
1
Friday
1
0
0
0
0
After a 3 month period a review of the behavior modification program will be assessed, if it is found to be unsuccessful or not progressing as expected, we will review the data to see if there are specific days when Emily exhibits continuous refusal to attend school, we could also assess the stimulus being used to reinforce the desired behavior, changes to the program will only help to benefit and address any future needs that may arise. If however, the program is successful and we are able to cause extinction of the behavior which is “the process by which a previously reinforced behavior is no longer followed by the reinforcing consequences, and the frequency of the behavior decreases in the future (Miltenberger, 2012, p. 516), we could say the behavior modification intervention is successful, even if there is only a reduction in the number of refusal to attend school, or even a reduction of the need for positive reinforcements.
The scientific method has guided this experiment by helping us to evaluate the data using frequency of measurement, resulting in accurate, reliable, and believable data to create an individualized assessment intervention plan.
Case #2
Mr. Smith owns a manufacturing company which specializes in custom figure skates. He has 30 employees who has highly specialized training required for the production of these skates. Mr. Smith is concerned that over the last year his workforce seems to be suffering from a high percentage of absenteeism, which is having a negative effect on production and the health of the company. Prior to soliciting our help Mr. Smith has tried to address this behavior by offering breakfast which consists of coffee and donuts, he has also called a meeting and shared with them that the end result of continued absence will result in the company suffering a financial loss and closing. He noted that neither of these interventions has worked and seem to only increase the problem.
In the case of Mr. Smith the target behavior being identified is the consistent absenteeism which is defined as unreported or unscheduled absence from work by an employee who is not on vacation or other documented leave. This target behavior is being addressed because it affects productivity and the overall well-being of the organization, employee morale and the community. The behavior also affects the social responsibility of the individuals who have contracted to work for a specific period of time and should give adequate notice or inform a manager of any absence.
Antecedent: Employee shift starts, production line short.
Behavior: Employee does not show up for work, does not call.
Consequence: Unable to meet production quota and financial obligations.
Mr. Smith previous interventions of providing breakfast of coffee and donuts or sharing the company financial perspective, may not have worked because he did not do the adequate research needed to assess the situation and offer a contingency plan that was appealing to the employees, or his overall approach could also not have been appealing to the employees.
It is our job as the behavior analysis to help Mr. Smith achieve his goal by selecting target behaviors that are the most directly and functionally related to those goals of his employees. Evidence suggests that the continued absenteeism maybe due to low morale, stress or sheer employee burnout. We hypothesize that after assessing and defining the cause of the absenteeism we will be able to create an intervention plan that will improve attendance, reduce employee burnout and restore the company morale.
After gathering data from HR on the persons who are habitual absentees, individual interview was schedule for one on ones to understand the reason and what can be done to assist the employee in restoring their attendance record. For ethical reasons this information will not be shared with HR. Based on the results of the interviews and questionnaires completed by the other staff, we decided that a contingency contract or a behavioral contract would be implemented to restore productivity within the organization. Each employee will have the opportunity to be rewarded for completing their 40 hour work week for 30 minutes of paid time off per week. The company will implement a time card system and HR will judge the time completed and award the time off accordingly, employees do not have to take their time off weekly but may accumulate and take as needed. Additionally, the organization will implement paid sick leave, a daycare reimbursement program, a schedule adjustment for employees needing time off during the work hours, and a monthly health truck run to ensure staff is mentally and physically fit. To address the morale issue Mr. Smith has agreed to supplement a breakfast and lunch program as well as quarterly picnics.
Each person will be given a task sheet to review and sign, this Behavioral contract will take effect the first of the month and the first review will be done a month later. We will be able to assess the success of the program by a decrease in the number of absenteeism and an increase in productivity and production, as well as employee morale.
Charts representing the percentage of attendance versus absenteeism will also serve as a visual for performance.
If the expected outcome is not obtained, we would reassess and try another strategy such as possibly a token economy system offering which is more tangible and is immediate in occurrence and reinforcements.
“Extinction is the process that weakens behavior” (Miltenberger, 2012), Extinction/Response maintenance is ensuring that the behavior that has been reinforced for a period of time and is no longer reinforced in the future. Measures need to be put in place to maintain the success of behavior that has now become extinct. In Emily’s case the potential issue with extinction is that her tantrums may return but reinforced based on another behavior.
According to (Miltenberger, 2012), “a potential issue with extinction/response maintenance is that behavior often increases in frequency, duration or intensity prior to being extinct and may undergo extinction regardless of positive or negative reinforcement.”
CONCLUSION
As behavior analysis we were able to determine that Emily and Mr. Smith’s employees did not need to learn a new skill related to behavior. Instead we recognized the need to make changes to their environment and preferences in order to support them and change their behavior.
Since Emily experienced such distress when being prepared for school, changes were made in the environment at home and school, and reinforcers were used to encourage a positive outlook for going to school. Mr. Smith’s employees were given opportunities to not only change their attendance habits, but increase company morale and productivity.
Despite these apparent drawbacks when creating an intervention plan in a controlled experimental settings, the findings largely supports both hypotheses suggesting that behavioral analysis when used in a scientific method with clearly defined target behavior, the result is an objective and measurable intervention plan.
References
Cooper, J. H. (2007). Applied behavior analysis. Upper Saddle, NJ: Pearson Education.
Miltenberger, R. (2012). Behavior Modification: Principles and Procedures. 5th Edition. In R. Miltenberger, Extinction . Wadsworth.
