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Assignment 2 Behaviour Mod

Behavioural Modification Applications (University of Manitoba)

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Behaviour Modification Assignment 2

Sarah Taylor
7717159

Chapter 21
9*) Conditioned motivating establishing operation (CMEO) with a reinforcer: a teacher could choose to
provide a cookie to all students for each word all students spell correctly (all 25 students must spell an
individual word correctly). If the teacher says cookies can be exchanged for an extra minute of recess
(this is much more interesting to the students), this will increase the desired behaviour of spelling words
correctly during a lesson.

10*) CMEO with a punisher: a dance teacher could make the dancers do extra conditioning exercises as
a punishment for not remembering choreography taught the previous week. If the dancers remember
the choreography, the dance teacher could reward them with extra stretch time at the end of class.

14*) CMAO= conditioned motivating abolishing operation with a reinforcer: if the teacher from question
9 could decide to remove the exchange of cookies for recess time. It decreases the value of cookies as a
reinforcer. They’re good, but not as good as recess.

15*) CMAO with a punisher: if the dance teacher from question 10 decided to punish the dancers with
extra conditioning exercises for not remembering choreography, yet still allowed them extra stretching
time at the end of class, the punishment of conditioning would lose its effectiveness because the
dancers will know they will get more cool down time during stretching at the end of class.

17) The request is an SD for getting the water. If we want to influence someone’s behaviour by
presenting an SD, the person must really want/need the reinforcer; in this case, the water; which is
associated as a response to the SD. In this example, the SD is explained as follows:
 Cue: here are my keys
 What to do: get the water from trunk
 What the person already wants/needs: the water

22) Mand training: a verbal response that is under the control of a motivating operation and is
reinforced by the corresponding reinforcer or removal of the corresponding aversive stimulus. Example
of an MP incorporated into mand training for a child: if you want to teach a child to mand for milk, a
parent could give the child a sip of milk during the first trial. As the next step, the child can see this
happen: the parent hides the juice behind them, and asks the child: “What do you want? Say, ‘milk.’”
Should the child respond correctly, the child is given another sip of the milk. In subsequent trials while
still hiding the milk, the parent would refrain from saying “Say ‘milk,’” and only say to the child, “What
do you want?” to reinforce asking for the milk. After sufficient training, the child will generalize the
behaviour of saying “milk” in other situations when they are motivated to drink milk.

23) The community put up “Buckle up, stay safe” slogans on the stop signs. The seniors felt that feeling
safe was a concern, and so if the community put up these signs, the signs would be a CMEO for them
feeling safe. It was thought that the signs would increase the reinforcing value of wearing a seatbelt, and

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further, to increase the behaviour of buckling up when driving. Putting up the signs did improve seat belt
use.

24) Brenda had an intellectual disability and performed self-injurious behaviour (SIB). Her behviour was
maintained by the reactions from the staff in her residential facility. In treatment, a MAO was
introduced for staff attention. The program used a schedule of non-contingent reinforcement and
attention was given initially every 10 seconds. Brenda was satiated by this frequency of attention and
her SIB decreased to a low level as it had been reinforced by attention, and she no longer was seeking
attention by performing SIB. As the SIB was no longer followed by receiving attention, extinction
occurred too.

Self-Modification Exercise:
Studying with a friend on a regular basis: make a friend in your class. The classmate could make the rule
“if we study for 2 hours each day, during weekdays, we get to go out to the bar on Saturday night.” This
would act as a CMEO. The rule shows the behaviour: study, the situation: 2 hours each day during
weekdays, and the consequence: go to the bar on Saturday. The bar is a conditioned reinforcer for the
student, and the student knows how to get the reinforcer (by studying 2 hours each day each weekday
with her friend).

Rearrange your study environment to present cues for studying: To do this, you could have your current
transcript posted to your bulletin board above your desk with the GPA highlighted. When you are
reminded of your GPA, it will serve as a motivator. This could be a SD because seeing your transcript
with the GPA is a stimulus where a response is required, which will be reinforced. Increasing my GPA is a
huge reinforcer for my studying as I plan to do grad studies in the future. This stimulus reminds me that
if I study consistently and stay focused, these behaviors will be reinforced by increasing my GPA.

Sign a contract with a friend or relative that stipulates that you will be given certain reinforcers if you
meet certain study objectives: This could serve as a CMEO if the parent makes a rule saying “if you study
for 1 hour without looking at your phone, you can text your friends back or go on Instagram for 15
minutes.” The rule given by the parent is a CMEO, and the rule establishes cell phone time as a
conditioned reinforcer for the behavior of focused and uninterrupted studying. The parent was clear
about how to get the reinforcer.

Chapter 22
1)

The Attention Condition – this stage was designed to determine if her SIB was being maintained by
attention from adults. The behavior modifier and Susie were in a room with toys. The behavior modifier
then pretends to do paperwork and only interacts with Suzie when the SIB occurs.

The Demand Condition – this stage was designed to determine if the SIB was maintained by escape from
demands. The behavior modifier and Susie went into a room where the adult would then prompt Susie
every 30 seconds to do a puzzle that she had difficulty with.

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The Alone Condition – this stage was designed to determine if the SIB was a method of self-
reinforcement for Susie. Susie was alone in the empty room. She was observed through a one-way
window by the researchers.

The Control Condition – this stage was designed to determine if the SIB occurred in the absence of the
other three conditions. Susie and the behavior modifier were in the room together with toys available,
and the behavior modifier reinforced Susie’s play behavior while ignoring her SIB.

4) The results from this study show that there are different functions of SIB, even if they are the same
form exhibited by separate individuals. Treatments for an operant behavior problem should be based on
the function of the behavior, not on its form. Functional analysis demonstrates that a child's problem
behavior is maintained by adult attention, then the recommended treatment should be that after the
undesirable behavior is performed, attention should be withheld. Only desirable behavior would be
followed by providing attention. As another example, if functional analysis demonstrates that a problem
behavior is maintained by escape from demands, then the recommended treatment should include
more or longer non-demand periods when working with that individual and persisting with a demand if
a problem behavior occurred right after a demand- extinction of escape behavior.

8) Similarities: both Iwata et al.’s and Dunlap et al.’s functional assessments involved functional analysis.
Differences: Dunlap et al.’s participants/students were older and ranged closer to the normal range of
intellectual functioning and so could be communicated with more extensively. This was important for
receiving and giving information about their problem behavior. The interventions could be more flexible
and complex. Dunlap et al.’s approach focused on managing the problem behavior rather than treating
it.

11) The functional analysis demonstrated that Mr. Jones exhibited more delusional statements in the
attention condition than in any of the alone, demand or control conditions. The treatment sessions
involved a combination of attention for appropriate comments and extinction of delusional statements.
Non-delusional and appropriate statements were reinforced by the behavior modifier telling Mr. Jones
he sounded nice and to elaborate on what he said. If a delusional statement was made, he was ignored
by the behavior modifier for 10 seconds.

12) An indicator that a problem behavior is self-reinforcing: if the behavior continues unabated at a
steady rate even when it has no apparent effect on other individuals or the external environment.

13) Rincover and Devaney applied extinction of face scratching by eliminating the tactile sensations that
the scratching produced. Sarah’s hands were covered with thin rubber gloves which eliminated the
internal sensory stimulation and prevented damage to her skin. Within 4 days, scratching was
eliminated. Later, the gloves were removed for 10 minutes a day, and then for longer intervals until the
gloves were no longer necessary (she no longer scratched her face).

17)

 Teach the child a different way to signify that the task is aversive; such as tapping fingers on a
table, or clapping two fingers on each hand against each other as a quiet clap
 Persist with requests or demands until the tantrums decrease and compliance occurs

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19) An example of escape from external sensory aversive stimuli that can produce undesirable behavior:
if a child removes their rain boots because they don’t like the feel of them around their feet/ankles/legs
during a rainy day while playing outside, this would cause their feet and socks get wet without
protection from the boots. Then the child tracks water into the house with wet socks making footprints
everywhere, which the parent must clean up. The child might also complain about having cold and wet
feet. These are all undesirable behaviors from the parent’s perspective.

Self-modification exercise: A behavioral excess that I’d like to decrease is overeating (too many calories
per day). My eating behaviors (eating in excess) is a problem behavior that seems to be maintained by
internal self-stimulatory reinforcement. Eating, as a behavior is reinforcing because the food I eat is
often full of sugar, or cheese, or carbs (all of which tend to be high in calories) which are my favorites
and are really tasty. I end up overeating or eating in excess by consuming these foods in large portions.

Treatment for my eating behavior should include enrichment of my environment to reduce deprivation
of sensory stimulation (a MAO). To do this, I could rub topical anesthetic called benzocaine in my mouth
before eating these foods. This is typically found in gum numbing gels for babies, but I have also had it in
medications to relieve throat soreness when sick. I’ve found that this temporarily alters my ability to
taste foods as richly as normal if I get it on my tongue. If I alter the sensation of taste from the foods and
no longer taste them as much, I am still eating them but not receiving the reinforcement of the
pleasurable taste of these foods. I will eventually be less motivated to eat them. Later during this
behavior modification program, I would not spray/rub the benzocaine for 1 out of the 3 types of food,
then 2, then all 3 until the benzocaine is no longer needed.

Chapter 23
2*) Ask, “can the problem and the goal be specified so that you are dealing with a specific behavior or
set of behaviors that can be measured in some way?”
Define the problem in component behaviors and find a way to measure or assess them objectively.
Example: Freddie’s aggression is made up of many individual aggressive behaviors. One of them
happens to be that he pushes children on the playground when they try to use something he wants to
play with. We can define this behavior, and then measure/assess this behavior to work on it, in an
attempt to reduce aggressive behaviors. Essentially, we take one component of his aggressive behaviors
on at a time. Once this behavior is modified to a desired level, we can move on to his other aggressive
behavior of shouting profanities at others when he doesn’t win a game, and so on.

4) The behavior modifier must consider how the training setting can be faded into the natural
environment. Does the natural environment have contingencies that will help maintain the improved
behavior? Can you influence people in the natural environment to help maintain the improved
behavior? Can the client learn a self-control program that will help the improved behavior persist?

5)

 If the problem was referred by someone else and does not seem beneficial or important to the
client, don’t treat the problem.
 If the problem is vague and the client and the behavior modifier cannot agree on the
component behaviors that define the problem, the problem should not be treated.

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 If the problem has medical complications, serious psychological ramifications such as danger of
suicide, or a DSM-5 diagnosis may be something that I am not qualified to treat. In this case,
refer the client to someone who is qualified.
 If others are going to sabotage the program by reinforcing undesirable behavior, it may become
very difficult or impossible to treat the behavior problem.

6)

 Monitor the problem behavior

 Identify the current stimulus control of the problem behavior
 Identify the maintaining consequences of the problem behavior
 Monitor relevant medical/health/personal variables
 Identify an alternative desirable behavior

7) What daily times can the mediator(s) schedule for this project? Will others in the situation help or
hinder data collection? Will the surroundings make your assessment difficult? How frequent is the
problem behavior? How rapidly should the behavior change? Is the presenting problem a behavioral
deficit or can it be reformulated as such?

16) You must be certain that those carrying out the program (the mediators) understand their roles and
further, agree with their roles and responsibilities. This might involve a detailed discussion, modelling,
training session, and review session with the mediators. Monitoring and on the spot feedback during the
program may be warranted. This ensures that those surrounding the participant/client/patient are
encouraged to follow and participate in the program. Then, the program must be started with the client
in a way that will enhance their commitment to the program. It is desirable to begin the program in a
way that is highly reinforcing for them.

17) Five questions to consider:

1. Does the client fully understand and agree with the goals of the program?
2. Is the client aware of how the program will benefit them?
3. Has the mediator spent enough time with the client and interacted in such a way as to gain trust
and confidence?
4. Has the program been designed so that the client is likely to experience success quickly?
5. Will the client receive reinforcers early in the program?

18)
1. Monitor data to determine whether the recorded behaviors are changing in the desired
direction.
2. Consult the people who must deal with the problem behaviors and determine whether they are
satisfied with the client’s progress.
3. Consult behavioral journals, professional behavior modifiers, or others with experience in using
similar procedures on similar problems to determine if your results are reasonable in terms of
the amount of behavior change during the period the program has been in effect.

Exercise involving others:

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The 4-year-old child’s problem: the child has a tantrum or breakdown about having to stop playing to
move onto another activity. Every transition to another activity results in a total meltdown of the child.
1) Decide whether you should design a program to treat the problem:
a. Was the problem referred primarily for the benefit of the client? Yes, it will help them
transition to other activities for the rest of their lives and will not be such a negative
experience for them. It also will help the parent or care providers.
b. Is the problem important to the client or to others? Yes. It will lead to less aversiveness
and will give rise to other positive or desirable behaviors.
c. Can the problem and goal be specified so that you are dealing with a specific behavior or
set of behaviors that can be measured in some way? Yes. We can work on specific
activity transitions (ie from reading in bed, to mom leaving room and going to bed; or
playing with blocks, to having lunch). We can assess these individual components
objectively.
d. Have you eliminated the possibility that the problem involves complications that would
necessitate referring to another specialist? The parent does not think the child has
medical complications or other diagnoses that are above my expertise and training.
e. Is the problem one that appears to be easily manageable? Yes, many children have
difficulty with this and eventually learn to transition to different activities. Not all
activities result in tantrums, so we know the child has prerequisite skills. The behaviour
has only been occurring for the last year, with narrow stimulus control, and no
intermittent reinforcement.
f. If the desired behavior change is obtained, can it be readily generalized to and
maintained in the natural environment? Yes, it can be.
g. Can you identify significant individuals in the client’s natural environment who might
help record observations and manage controlling antecedent stimuli and reinforcers?
Yes, the child has daycare workers, grandparents, and parents that could all provide the
above.
h. If there are individuals who might hinder the program, can you identify ways to
minimize their interference? Yes, the child has a sister who thinks the tantrums are
funny, and her laughter and attention may serve as a reinforcement. Other children do
the same while at daycare. We could have the other children removed from the room
ahead of transitions to prevent this.
2) Selecting and implementing a functional assessment procedure:
a. Baseline: the problem is that the child has tantrums when transitioning between certain
activities. The behavior needed to obtain reinforcement is not immediately available.
The child does not know how to behave in a positive way while transitioning between
activities they don’t like.
i. We can monitor the behavior of transitioning in situations the child exhibits
tantrums and also ones the child does not exhibit tantrums. What activities set
the child into tantrum?
ii. The stimulus control of the behavior: the antecedent stimulus is being told they
are going to have to do another activity—one they don’t like. The response is
the tantrum.

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iii. The maintaining consequences are the attention/laughter the child receives
while they are throwing a tantrum when being told they must transition to an
activity.
iv. Monitoring relevant medical/health/personal variables: ask that the parents
report any changes in the child, have the child assessed by medical
professionals, attend well-child appointments to determine typical development
v. Identify alternative desirable behavior: not having tantrums and agreeing to
move to the next activity even if they don’t want to do it.
b. Recording procedures: the professionals involved could report whether a tantrum
occurred in each activity transition for 3-5 full days. This will determine the activities
that result in tantrums and ones that do not. Then, during the program, the
professionals could report only when tantrums occur.
c. The observers will receive training prior to implementation of the program regarding
how to identify a tantrum, what occurs during a tantrum to define it outside of slight
pushback or annoyance from the child (the aspects of the behaviour), how to apply the
procedures of the program (training the child not to engage in tantrums), and having
professionals graph the data of the tantrum.
d. If the baseline behaviour is likely to prolong, we can increase and maintain the strength
of record-keeping behaviours of the people recording data by reminding the parents
that even if there are lots of tantrums, it has decreased by x amount of times, or is no
longer occurring in all the negative situations it had been previously. A log of previous
tantrums will demonstrate these changes/improvements. Small improvement is still
improvement!
e. After analyzing data of the baseline, we can choose an appropriate treatment. When all
normal activities/routines for weekdays and weekend behaviours are established, we
can move to the intervention phase. By including both of these types of days, we might
find patterns of activities differ depending on going to daycare or being at home with
parents or grandparents.
3) Developing strategies of program design and implementation:
Program design:
 Identify goals for target behaviours and their desired amount and stimulus control.
o We would like tantrums to become extinct entirely but realize that this will take
time and will have to move in baby steps. I think it will be best to remove
tantrums from specific transitions one at a time, or have tantrums occur only 3
times per day for example, as opposed to the baseline of 9 times a day.
 Identify those who will help manage controlling stimuli and reinforcers; and those who
might hinder the program.
o We already know that parents, grandparents, and daycare workers are
identified as those who can control stimuli and reinforcers
o We already know that other children and the child’s sister may interfere with
the program
 Capitalizing on antecedent control: we can use behaviour modelling in this program.
 We are developing a new behavior and would use shaping.
 We are not changing the stimulus control. N/A

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 We could decrease behavioral excess (decrease amount of tantrums per day).

o We can withhold reinforcers (removing others from the scene that provide
attention to the child during tantrums)
o We can remove the SD for the problem behaviour if we find out what that is in a
functional assessment procedure
o We could use punishment if none of the rest of the treatment works as a last
resort, and it must be agreed to/established as appropriate by parents
 Specify/select reinforcers:
 Generalize behavior changes to target situations (daycare, home, grandparents’ homes):
o We will have to train in the training situation first, with different stimuli and
activities we transition between. There will need to be parallels of activities that
happen in training as they do at home. We could do all the day’s activities in the
test situation that would happen during a day at home, then move the program
to the home.
o We will vary the responses acceptable during training such as agreeing to do the
new activity, say no only once or twice, running away and coming back with
agreement, etc. as long as they are not tantrums.
o We can use activities the child agrees to more often first, then move to training
in activities the child the child does not like.
o We can use schedules of reinforcement in the training environment that would
be similar to what the child would experience in the target situation. (Not every
time the child agrees to something will they receive reinforcement). The child
will need to learn that compliance without reinforcement is required too.
o We can train the people in the natural environment too, as they would be doing
the same as in the training situation
Implementation: determine if the mediators understand and agree with their roles and
responsibilities. Do they understand what behaviours define a tantrum versus a simple “no I
don’t want to!” followed with reluctant compliance? Then we need to begin the program with
highly reinforcing consequences to make the child committed to the program and want to
participate. We must explain to the child the goals of the program. We will provide frequent
positive reinforcements (favourite snacks, play time, etc.) during training sessions, conduct the
sessions first by a behavior modifier in front of the parents, and then later ask the parents to
take the behaviour modifiers place in modeling the behaviour and providing reinforcers for
appropriate behaviors. The child will find success early in the program, and the behavior will be
generalizable to the home, daycare settings, and the grandparents’ homes.
4) Establishing program maintenance and evaluation:
a. We need to establish that the behaviors are moving in a positive direction (tantrums
happening less, or are extinct from certain activity transitions)
b. Ask the parents, grandparents, daycare workers if they are satisfied with the progress of
the program.
c. Check behavior journals, other studies, behavior modifier professionals, etc. to see if
results are reasonable.
d. Do a cost effectiveness evaluation.

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Chapter 24
4) Psychiatric wards/hospitals, prisons, nursing homes, treatment centers, classrooms with students
with developmental disabilities and autism.

5) Decrease littering, increase recycling, racial integration, decrease absenteeism at work, enhance job
performance, regulate children’s behaviours.

7) Desirable behaviours at Achievement Place: washing dishes, doing homework. Undesirable: using
poor grammar, disobeying rules.

12) A token economy store is a place where backup reinforcers are stored and dispensed.

In a small token economy: a classroom. The store might be a box located on the teacher's desk, where
children can go to retrieve tokens, whatever they might be (lollipop, sticker, fancy pencil, etc.).

In a large token economy: a psychiatric ward. The store might be one or more rooms.

All stores must have a method of keeping records of token purchases to monitor inventory of items and
ensure the ones in high demand are consistently available and replenished when run out.

17) Tokens should be delivered in a positive and conspicuous manner immediately after the desired
response is exhibited by the participant/patient. Friendly and smiling approval should be provided
during the same time that the token is given. The client should be told especially in the beginning stages
why they are receiving the token (what specific behavior was performed or exhibited that the token is
used as a reinforcer for).

18)

1. Confusion, especially during the first few days after starting the token economy
2. Staff or helper shortages
3. Attempts by people to get tokens they have not earned or backup reinforcers for which they don’t
have enough tokens for
4. Individuals paying with tokens and manipulating them in distracting ways
5. Failure to purchase backup reinforcers

19) Another type of token system is a contingency management system (CMS). A CMS is used mainly
with individuals who have a substance use disorder or engage in risky behaviors.

23)
a) gradually decreasing the amount of backup reinforcement that a given number
b) gradually increasing the delay between token acquisition and the purchase of backup reinforcers

26)

 The type of target behaviors: What kind of target behaviors are most suitable for a token
economy?

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 Determine the type of tokens to be used: Which type of token works best for children with
behavior x versus behavior y? The types of appropriate tokens may differ depending on
disability or problem behavior.
 Variety of backup reinforcer: What is the optimal number of backup reinforcers to be used in a
token economy?
 Token training procedure: Should instructions be used to establish the tokens as conditioned
reinforcers, or should a shaping or pairing process be used?
 Token delivery schedule: How should tokens be delivered and on which schedule? Does a VR or
FR token delivery schedule result in the most success when comparing to the other scheduling
methods?
 Store time schedule: Should store time be available on a fixed-time schedule or on a variable-
time schedule?
 Token-backup reinforcers exchange schedule: How do we determine the optimal costs of
backup reinforcers?

Exercise involving others 1: a dance group. Their goals:

1. Increase their focus on the dance routine
2. Improve their uniformity (landing jumps at the same time, moving together as one)
3. Support each other in learning choreography
4. Being on time for rehearsals
5. Improve flexibility

Exercise involving others 2:

1. Make sure dancers are coming to rehearsals with energy by eating healthy foods and
maintaining enough rest/sleep each night
2. Practice in the mirror or facing each other to learn cues from one another to initiate movements
as one, practice doing certain (safe) movements by closing their eyes and moving their body
only to sound cues so everyone hears the same cue
3. Each student is responsible for a certain phrasing of music to teach and correct the
choreography outside of rehearsals, write out choreography together on a shared document
4. Students who live in the same area could drive together and arrive together, and we could not
start the class until all students arrive, so they see they are responsible for the rest of the class
learning and that lateness affects everyone
5. Dancers must log their stretching time for minimum 30 minutes a day, and at the end of class
we do 10 minutes of partner stretching

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