The 7 S t e p s to E a r n i n g I n s t r u c t i o n a l C o n t r o l - S c h r a m m / Milier

Chapter 5

Step 2: P a i r i n g w i t h Reinforcement

Step 2: S h o w the c h i l d t h a t y o u a r e f u n . M a k e each i n t e r a c t i o n y o u h a v e

w i t h h i m a n e n j o y a b l e e x p e r i e n c e so t h a t h e w i l l w a n t t o f o l l o w y o u r

d i r e c t i o n s to e a r n m o r e t i m e , s h a r i n g these e x p e r i e n c e s w i t h y o u .

The principle behind Step 2 is called ?Pairing.? Pairing is a behavioral

principle that states when two items or activities are consistently experienced

together the perceived value of one w i l l influence the perceived value of the

other.

Money is a great example o f how this principle works. As adults most o f

us have a strong desire to possess money. It is what causes many to spend more

of their waking hours at work rather than at play. For some people the value o f

money has grown to the point that, when all else fails, they w i l l steal or even k i l l

for the ability to acquire enough. This strong motivation to possess money is not

innate. Nobody is born with a desire to earn money. In fact, for most o f us,

hundred dollar bills could have floated around in our environment completely

untouched throughout much of our childhood. It was not until the possession o f

money had been adequately paired with the acquisition o f other highly valued
items in our environment that our perceived value o f money developed. Through

the process o f pairing, moneyi t s e l f became a generalized reinforcer for our

behavioral choices. In fact, in our society money has been so comprehensively

paired with reinforcement that in many cases moneyi t s e l f has more value than

the items it can buy. Money in the bank now carries with it the valueof s a f e t y ,

security, wealth, option and opportunity. A person?s feelings o f self worth are

often based on how much money is available to him. Feelings such as these could

only have been attributed to the possession o f money through the behavioral

principle of pairing.

Regarding your child?s education, the goal o f pairing is to establish

l f a reinforcer for your child's behavior choices. In other words you

y o u r s eas

want to become someone whom the child w i l l make positive choices to please.

This is done by consistently and comprehensively pairing yourself with your

child?s favorite things. Pairing in this fashion causes the value ofthese

reinforcing objects to be transferred to your child?s perceived value o f you. In

essence, you can condition y o u r s eas

lf a generalized reinforcer for your child?s

positive behavior choices. Becoming a generalized reinforcer means that the

child will prefer your presence in his environment. He w i l l desire to keep your

interaction and w i l l begin to make choices designed to maintain it. Most typical

children see their parents as generalized reinforcers. This is part o f what allows

them to be typical. Unfortunately, without a better understanding o f motivaticn

and comprehensive pairing on the part of t h e parents, most children with autism

do not see their parents this way.

In the best A B A / V B programs approximately 75% o f every interaction you

have with the child should be reserved for the process of pairing yourself with

fun activities and known reinforcement. Pairing activities should be led by your

child?s motivation and should include only non-verbal and declarative language.

Declarative language is language that asks for nothing of the child. It only serves
The 7 S t e p s to E a r m i n g i n s t r u c t i o n a l C o n t r o l - Schramm i Meier

to share vour thoughts and feelings. This language includes the ?ooohs? and
an
?aahhs? ofp l a y . ?Wow, this is fun,? ?Thank you,? and "I love playing cars.? is

all declarative language. This is important language for the child to learn and

should be modeled throughout your interactions. You should practice sharing

your thoughts and ideas with the child in silly and exciting ways without

requiring anything in return. Be careful to avoid asking questions o r making

requests during pairing. Saying, ?Your turn,? ?Look at this,? and ?Try this,? all

ask for something from the child and can take away from your attempts to pair

with reinforcement.

Do not mistake the idea o f reserving 75% ofy o u r interaction for pairing to

mean that you should pair with the chiid for fifteen minutes and then teach for

five. Instead,i f i t takes the child 15 seconds to answer three instructions, you

should then spend about 45 seconds reinforcing and sharing in fun activity w i t h

him before introducing your next setof instructions. The back and forth o f

teaching and fun should be so intertwined and heavily weighted toward fun that

the child w i l l not be able to differentiate between the two or attempt to have one

without the other. When you allow there to be a difference between playing with

you and working with you, the child w i l l begin to determine when he w i l l

engage. The option between playing with you and working with you should not

exist. The only option should be between engaging with you or being without

reinforcement o f any kind. With 75%o f your interaction reserved for effective

pairing, the choice to be with you w i l l always be more reinforcing than being
alone.

To pair yourself with reinforcement, follow your child?s interests and offer

him access to play with anything he is interested in as long as you are allowed to

play along with him. Make his playtime more fun because you are a part o f it. I f

the child wants music, you should be the one to provide the music. In addition,

you could hold him, bounce and dance with him while he is listening. It is
perfectly okay to turn o f f the music when he chooses to leave the area or begins to

play or behave inappropriately. However, it is important, especially in the early

stages o f gaining instructional control, to demonstrate that you will immediately

turn the music back on as soon as he returns or ceases the inappropriate activity.

Another wonderful opportunity for pairing yourself with reinforcement arises

when the child is playing on a swing. You can easily make this activity more

enjoyable by playing with and tickling him while he swings. Try pushing him

high in the air or spinning him around. Pretend that he is about to hit you and then

move outo f the way at the last second. Observe what makes him smile so that

swinging with you is more fun than swinging alone. Pairing procedures should be

based around your child?s most reinforcing items and activities. Learn to

maximize their reinforcing value. You should work to increase his level o f

enjoyment beyond what he would be capable of on his own. Be careful not to take

any fun out oft h e item. This is sometimes more difficult than you think. I f

playing with the child is not something you are particularly good at, practice!

Good pairing is essential to good teaching.

Reinforcement that is consumed quickly or fades away automatically is

always easier to pair with than toys. A consumable reinforcer is something that the

child uses up. lt is easy to pair with food and drink items because you can present

them without ever having to take them back. Chips, nuts, crackers, cookies and

candies are consumable items that might be useful reinforcers with which you can

pair yourself. Lolli-pops tend to last too long to be useful as consumable

reinforcement. For some children this might also be trueo f t a f f y , gummi bears or

other chewable candies. To l i m i t the amount of snack intake and to speed up the

rate in which a reinforcer is consumed, cut or break items into smaller pieces.

C o o k i e s , chips and crackers can be b r o k e n into quarters and g u m m i bears can be

cut into halves or even thirds. Soap bubbles are easy to pair with as they pop and

disappear without need for removal. Physical reinforcement such as tickles,

The 7 S t e p s to E a r n i n g i n s t r u c t i o n a l C o n t r o l - S c h r a m m / Miller

piggyback rides and chasc games that are social in nature are also easier to pair

with than toys. As you are necessary for these reinforcers to exist, they are easy

for you to control. Y o u can decide to give these reinforcers or not, but you never

have to take them back. The same holds true for certain toys and activities such as

videos, music and spinning tops that the child cannot spin without you. In the

beginning o fa program you should pair yourselfw i t h any and all reinforcing

items or activities that you can easily control without having to wrench them back

from your child?s hand.

Although more difficult, you will eventually need to pair yourself with

your child?s favorite toys. It is nearly impossible to affect pure pairing involving

a toy with which the child is currently engaged. T o some degree, showing the

child what you want to do with the toy requires blocking his free access. This can

motivate withdrawal, escape and tantrums. Instead, begin to engage in parallel

play with a different toy. Your goal is to make the toy you hold seem more fun

than the toy the child currently holds. The key in doing this consistently requires

having multiple toys available to you and understanding which toys hold the most

value. Y o u start by making toys ofl e s s e r but still meaningful value available to

the child, reserving increasingly more valuable toys for you to introduce with

parallel play. Make the new toy you are holding appear as fun as possible,

allowing the child to j o i n in and take control oft h e item and play the way he

wants. Once it becomes difficult to continue playing together with this item, it is

time to bring out the next toy and begin parallel play with it. This allows you to

consistently increase your child?s enjoyment level while never having to remove

or block access along the way. Remember, Step 1

requires that you pick up any

toys that are discarded by the child. This w i l l keep the environment free o f
unearned r e i n f o r c e m e n t and these items can then later be r e i n t r o d u c e d .

Do not let the child take a toy out oft h e teaching area during pairing. Some

children will insist on solitary play and w i l l attempt to walk away with their
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