Topics 7-9 Flashcards
Functional Assessment, Stimulus Control, Prompting and Fading
Why is functional assessment done?
- to understand why a person engages in an undesirable behaviour
What is functional assessment? (2)
identifying the variables before treating a problem behaviour
therefore,
determining the antecedents that evoke a behaviour and the consequences that maintain it
What is the treatment process for decreasing problem behaviours? (5)
- Identify and define the problem behaviour
- Data collection
- Perform functional assessment
- Treatment development and implementation
- Evaluation
What is the behavioural model? (2)
behaviour is influenced by antecedents and consequences
A-B-C
antecedent-behaviour-consequence
What consequences are assessed in functional assessment?
Consequences (pos/neg reinforcement)
- social and environmental reinforcement
- schedule of reinforcement
- magnitude of reinforcement
- immediacy of reinforcement
Explain the 2 categories of reinforcement:
- social (2)
- automatic (2)
Social - mediated by others
- positive - attention, praise
- negative - escape from tasks and interactions
Automatic - NOT mediated by others
- positive - sensory stimulation
- negative - relief from pain and anxiety
Name the categories of information of a functional assessment
- Problem behaviours
- Antecedents
- Consequence
- Alternative behaviours
- Motivational variables
- Potential reinforcers
- Previous interventions
What are 3 functional assessment methods?
Direct observation
Informant methods
Functional analysis
What is meant by situation specific?
Use the example of reinforcement to explain (2)
- a behaviour continues to occur in situations in which it has been reinforced
- a behaviour stops occurring in situations in which it has not been reinforced
Explain the relationship between antecedents of behaviour and reinforcement (2)
- behaviour is reinforced when specific antecedents are present
- behaviour is more likely to occur in the future when similar antecedents are present
How does extinction affect the relationship between antecedents and reinforcement?
- after extinction occurs - behaviour is no longer reinforced when specific antecedents are present
Explain the relationship between punishment and antecedents
- behaviour is punished when specific antecedents are present - so the behaviour stops occurring in the future
What is an antecedent?
an antecedent is a stimulus that cues an organism to perform a learned behavior
When is a behaviour said to be under stimulus control?
when there is an increased probability that the behaviour will occur in the presence of a specific antecedent stimulus
How does stimulus discrimination training work? (2)
What do the symbols S^D and S^Δ represent?
Therefore, what are the results of pairing S^D and S^Δ with a behaviour? (2)
- reinforce the behaviour in the presence of one antecedent
- do not reinforce the behaviour in the presence of other antecedents
S^D = discriminative stimulus - antecedent stimulus present during reinforcement
S^Δ = S-delta - antecedent stimulus not present during reinforcement
S^D + behaviour –> reinforcement
S^Δ + behaviour –> extinction
What is the outcome of stimulus discrimination training?
stimulus control
Explain generalization in terms of stimulus control
Give an example of how generalization training works
behaviour occurs in the presence of stimuli that are similar to the S^D
S^D ———–> response ———–> SR
different dogs –> child says “dog” –> praise
outcome: child is more likely to label any dog they see as a dog
What is a prompt?
an antecedent stimulus that gets the behaviour to occur in the correct situation so it can be reinforced
S^D + prompt –> behaviour –> SR
Distinguish between response prompts and stimulus prompts
Response prompts – involve the behaviour of another person
- e.g., modeling prompt
Stimulus prompts –involve change in an antecedent stimulus
What is at the top and bottom of the prompting hierarchy?
Therefore, when are the top and bottom prompts used respectively?
What is the type of prompting called in each case?
Top - least intrusive prompting - natural cue
- used when less prompting is needed
- least-to-most prompting
Bottom - most intrusive prompting - full physical
- used when more prompting is needed
- most-to-least prompting
What are 2 types of transfer of stimulus control
Fading
Prompt delay
What is fading?
Distinguish between prompt and stimulus fading
Fading = gradual removal of prompt while response occurs in the presence of the S^D (discriminative stimulus)
- Prompt fading - gradual removal of response prompt
- Stimulus fading - gradual removal of stimulus prompt
What is prompt delaying?
presenting the prompt NOT immediately after presenting the S^D
