Discussion on intervention

1Basic Concepts and Principles Objectives

• Students will be able to describe and provide an illustration of a direct access function

• Students will be able to describe and provide an illustration of a direct escape function

• Students will be able to describe and provide an illustration of a socially mediated access function

• Students will be able to describe and provide an illustration of a socially mediated escape function

• Students will be able to identify an establishing operation for a number of access functions as one of a state of deprivation

• Students will be able to identify an establishing operation for a number of escape functions as one of a presenting state of aversion

• Students will be able to discuss what a contrived contingency is and how it can “override” existing motivational variables

Chapter 1 Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB) Task List

4th edition 5th edition • FK-01 Lawfulness of behavior

• G-04 Explain behavioral concepts using nontechnical language

• E-01 Use interventions based on manipulation of antecedents, such as motivating operations and discriminative stimuli

• B-4 Define and provide examples of positive and negative reinforcement contingencies.

• B-5 Define and provide examples of schedules of reinforcement.

• B-6 Define and provide examples of positive and negative punishment contingencies.

• B-7 Define and provide examples of automatic and socially mediated contingencies.

Cipani, E. P. (2017). Functional behavioral assessment, diagnosis, and treatment, third edition : a complete system for education and mental health settings. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com Created from snhu-ebooks on 2018-10-02 19:29:19.

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2 Functional Behavioral Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment

WHY DOES HE DO THAT? Why does he do that? This is the age-old question that people ask when they see a child throw a fit in public. Why does he behave like that? To date, an often-cited explanation of such undesirable behavior involves a hypothesis about the brain’s development in the child who is “afflicted” with such behavior. The underpinning of the undesirable tantrum behavior is hypothesized to be the result of some abnormality or underdevelopment of some part or parts of the brain. As further evidence of brain involvement, in some cases, such behavior along with other behaviors form the basis of a mental disorder. Following is an excerpt from a hypothetical lecture in a child psychology class.

Student: Dr. Trait, I have a question. Why do some children have tantrums that are clearly inappropriate for their age?

Dr. Trait: The child throws the tantrum because he or she is immature for his or her age; the brain has not fully developed. Once the brain matures—particularly the frontal lobe, which is responsible for executive functioning—the child will not respond to social situations in that manner. Until that point, we can expect this child to continue behaving in such a fashion because of his or her inability to process events adequately. Teenagers have a similar problem with brain immaturity when they behave impulsively. Their brain is not like the adult brain; hence, they too cannot be fully responsible for their impulsivity.

Variations and extensions of this immature brain explanation exist. The following is a continuation of this conversation in a class in developmental psychology, with a slightly different explanation.

Student: In Dr. Trait’s class, we were told that children who have severe tantrums that are clearly inappropriate for their age do so because their brain is not fully developed. Is there any experimental cause-and-effect evidence for such an assertion?

Dr. Stager: Well, I believe there is more to it than just the brain’s development, although I would concur that neurological issues are part of the problem. Children behave in a certain manner because they have not proceeded through certain invariant developmental stages. I would say that these children have not progressed past the egocentric stage. Of course, once the brain has developed, it is more likely that these children will interpret the actions of others as reasonable and not view everything from a “me first” perspective. When this happens, these children will not react in such a manner, but will respond to conflict in a more age-appropriate way.

Suppose we believe that the child throws a tantrum because the brain is not yet fully developed. What are the ramifications of dealing with such behavior when the supposed cause is brain malfunction? Do we wait until the brain becomes more fully developed? For clients who have continued such “immature” behaviors throughout their adolescence and into adulthood, do we still continue to wait? What can be done in the interim to reduce the child’s tantrums and develop a more acceptable manner of dealing with his or her social environment?

What is wrong with these interpretations about tantrum behavior? The role of the environmental response to such behavior is trivialized. If the brain has not developed, apparently what people do in response to the child’s behavior, whatever the form, is insignificant and, therefore, irrelevant. One can only hope that the child’s brain becomes more fully developed. We believe there is a better conceptualization of why tantrum behavior occurs.

Instead of saying that the child throws a tantrum because he or she is immature, we would possibly ascribe such an incident to the purpose or function such tantrum behavior serves in that child’s environment. That conceptualization would generate an examination of observable events in the social environment. In the case of a child’s tantrum behavior, one would examine what the social environment does when the child has a fit in public. What is the antecedent context for such tantrum behavior? How does the social environment