Examples of Behavior and Environment : Lecture: Algonquin College

ABA/IBI for Parents

Basic Premises of This blog:

1. Provide Examples of Behavior and Environment – Observable and Measureable Terms

2. Explain the Difference between OVERT and COVERT behaviors. 

3. State what an Explanatory Fiction is. 

4. Explain 2 behavioral MODELS of Learning. (Respondent and Operant Conditioning).

5. What ABA is, Define it and Explain Behavioral Modification. 

6. Explain what IBI is

7. Explain the Seven Dimensions of ABA 

 

In this blog, you will learn about the field of Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). If you don’t know what that is, I will define it. I will also teach you about the effect the environment has on children with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), and how it will define their behavior. I will show you how there are different types of learning, one is respondent and one is operant conditioning. They both have a significant effect on how the child behaves and how he/she will understand their environment. 

Some keywords for this blog are:

#Environment, #stimulus, #antecedent, #consequence, #behavior, #response, #respondent conditioning, #operant conditioning, #ABA, #applied, #behavioral, #analysis, #technological, #conceptually systematic, #effective and #generality.

#Environment

Behavior and environment are interrelated. Behavior does not occur with the environment having a contribution into how it evolves or develops. In other words, these two concepts are interdependent. According to Cooper, Heron and Heward (2007), who wrote the Applied Behavioral Analysis handbook, as parents of children with Autism, you must understand the environment in order to change the behavior. According to Miltenberg (2012), “it is only a matter of arranging environmental events to promote desirable behavior and reduce dangerous behavior” (p. 554). 

ABA then is the art of connecting the environment with the child and their behavior. It consists of making assessments and modifying the environment so that the environment can function with the child in relation to their behavior. Simply said, as you apply ABA, you need to look for connections that exist all around you, between the environment and the child’s behavior. When you read about ABA, you will see different concepts defining the environment, so just remember the keywords are: #stimulus #conditions or #events. 

REMEMBER THIS: the environment will influence the behavior by stimulus change. 

#Stimulus

Let’s define it: According to Google: “a thing or event that evokes a specific functional reaction”; “a thing that rouses activity or energy in someone or something”, “an interesting and exciting quality”. 

According to the ABA lingo, it is an environmental event that the senses can detect. It is a change that causes the behavior to change. This could be as simple as a car honking, feeling the breeze, watching the snow fall, or just smelling the cookie bake in the oven. 

There are different types of stimuli. Two actually. 

1. #antecedent – it is an event or a stimulus that happens before a response (or the target behavior)

2. #consequence – an event or stimulus that occurs after (immediately after) the response (or the target behavior)

For example: 

Say that Mary wants to get Mimi to clean her room. The target behavior is to clean her room. 

Mary walks in the room and says, “Mimi, clean up this mess please!”. Mimi cleans up and Mary comes back and says, “Much Much Better Mimi! Great Job”. 

Target behavior was cleaning

The #antecedent was Mary entering the room and giving the instructions

The #consequence was the praise from Mary for Mimi cleaning of the room

Now, let’s talk #behavior

Behavior is an activity, usually defining live organisms. In humans, it is basically everything that we do. It is alive, constant, moving, observable. Remember the example with Mary and Mimi, what was the behavior there? The target behavior was cleaning her room remember? But there were other behaviors such as: getting out of her bed, picking up her stuff around the room, even talking to her mom. This is all involved in the target behavior of cleaning her room. 

How can behavior and environment go together? Behavior actually only happens when there is an environment and trust me, there is always an environment. All the stimuli around us is a matter of context, a context where behavior happens. 

In Applied Behavioral Analysis, behavior is never bad or good, it just is. It is the actions observed in an individual. Therefore, even when a person smiles, we call that behavior. There are two specific ways to think of behavior: 

1. with regard to topography

2. and with regard to function

Let’s define this. 

#topographical 

The definition of behavior in terms of topography is the way the behavior lookslike. 

#functional 

The definition of behavior in terms of its function consists of specificinformation that identifies behavior, the target behavior, and also identifies the “antecedents and consequences” that are associated with the behavior (Cooper et al., 2007). 

Let’s confuse things a bit:

There are behaviors and non-behaviors. Yes, I know. 

Here are some behaviors: 

1. Making a cake

2. Catching the ball

3. Asking a question

4. Eating a soup

5. Hitting a person

6. Following instructions

7. Screaming or yelling 

Here are some non-behaviors: 

1. Being an aggressive person

2. Suffering from Anorexia

3. Suffering from Depression

4. Being shy

5. Having a positive attitude

6. Being patient

7. Not following instructions or complying. 

A behavior, remember, can be observed and measured. 

So being shy is an “explanatory fiction” or a non-behavior while standing in the corner away from people because you are shy is a ‘behavior’. When we talk of behavior, we talk of VERBS, if you are using nouns, those are non-behaviors. 

#covert versus #overt behavior. 

So, there are behaviors that you can see and some that you cannot. For example, thinking is a behavior and yet, we cannot see it right? Correct! It is after all a verb!

Covert behaviors such as thinking are referred to as private, occurring within the body and not outside of it. However, in Applied Behavioral Analysis, we almost always talk about overt, or visible, observable behavior. 

Let’s talk about #characteristics of behavior (remember, this is all in the ABA context)

? What people say or do, is a behavior. 

? What can be measured, is a behavior.

? What is observed, described and recorded, is a behavior. 

? What has an impact on the environment, is a behavior.

? What is lawful, is a behavior.

? What is overt or covert, is s behavior. 

In ABA, when a person responds to stimuli (remember, this is an event or thing that causes a response or an action), we call that ‘target behavior’. So, in this blog, ‘target behavior’ and ‘response’ will mean the same thing. 

#Response

A response will happen in one instance, one time. There will be a clear: start, middle, and end to the sequence of the response. 

Here is an example of this process: 

1. The person will move their hand in line with their face. 

2. The person will then move their hand to their face with some force. 

3. The hand will then make a sound when it touches the face. 

4. The hand is then removed from the face. 

There is a clear beginning, a middle and an end to this response. 

What is the behavior here? FACE SLAPPING!

If the cycle of the slap happened again, then we record it happening for the second time. 

What is a response class? It is the group of responses that happening with the same function: each response will produce the same effect on the environment.

#learning

There are two types models of learning that explain most of the behavior in human beings:

First, #respondent conditioning

Second, #operant conditioning

Let’s discuss the first one, #respondent conditioning.

Respondent conditioning is the first model to explain behavior in humans. It is also known as classical conditioning, originated by Dr. Ivan Pavlov, and published in 1904. Now, bear in mind, at this time there wasn’t a field of psychology, but there was the study of physiology. So, this is what he concentrated on. Sometimes, he would notice that his dogs (experimental) would drool even before they saw the food and he started to work with them to see where the salivation came from, how it began and what anticipated it. He noticed that whenever him or his researchers would even go into the room, they would start drooling. The dogs knew that every time they would enter the room: first, there was a bell that rang and two, they were going to be fed. The bell always rang before the dogs were fed, and eventually, the conditioning occurred. In other words, the bell and food began to be paired by the dogs and therefore, the bell would become almost the same as food. The dogs would start responding to the bell sound in the same way as they started responding to the sight of food. They drooled! Therefore, this is the instance where LEARNING or CONDITOINING occurred. 

Pavlov described the model and even gave it specific terms. So for example, here are some of these terms: 

1. The bell became the NEUTRAL STIMULUS (NS), which basically meant that it did not originally have an effect on the behavior of drooling. 

2. Food, on the contrary, caused the dogs to automatically drool. This was called the UNCONDITIONED STIMULUS (US). It did not need conditioning or learning. 

3. The drooling was the response, so it was termed the UNCONDITIONED RESPONSE (UR). This was unlearned, it did not change. It is a reflex or instinct. 

4. The bell was paired to the food, and it caused the dogs to drool at its sight. The bell then changed from being a NEUTRAL STIMULUS to being a CONDITIONED STIMULUS (CS) which caused the CONDITIONED RESPONSE (CR) of drooling. 

therefore, the conditioning process can be described as: 

US – UR = the smell of food, caused the drooling. These are all unconditioned, in other words, there was no learning required for this to happen. The dogs just did it. 

Then, 

NS + US – UR = the sound of the bell plus the smell of food then was conditioned to cause the drooling. 

Then, 

CS – CR = the sound of the bell then generated the drooling without food having to be present because it has been conditioned or learned. 

 

This basically explains some of our emotional responses too. For instance, say there is a loud, sudden noise and it causes us to fear. Suddenly, our muscles tense, our hearts begin to race. The stimulus of the noise becomes then associated with the physiological response of fear (or heart racing and muscle tension). 

There is another example used a lot in psychology actually, called the Little Albert Experiment. It basically describes how a little boy was conditioned to fear rats. 

Check out this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hBfnXACsOI

In the video, you can observe: 

? The loud noise was the UNCONDITIONED STIMULUS and the cry was the UNCONDITIONED RESPONSE

? The white rat was the NEUTRAL STIMULUS, paired with the loud noise (US) and the cry (UR)

? The white rat then became the CONDITIONED STIMULUS and it caused the cry, now the CR. 

 

Today, we could definitely not run experiments such as this, especially in humans. It is not ethical. 

 

But, it does happen on a daily basis. Look at this example:

Say, you have out in a restaurant having dinner and you have an incredibly delicious piece of stake. You then go home and feel a horrific pain in your belly and start throwing up. You know it was the meat and feel awful. In a way, you will be conditioned to believe that even the sight, smell or taste of a stake will cause this same pain in your belly. These are the steps that are at play here: 

1. The stomach pain is the US and the throw up is the UR – these are not learned, they are basically normal, you have stomach pain and it causes you to throw up. 

2. The stake is the NS – you did not expect it to cause you this pain (US), when paired with the stomach pain, then translating to a throw up (UR), it causes you to pair the two. 

3. When you pair the two, then the stake becomes the CS and the vomit the CR. 

Now the conditioned response will be to feel pain in the belly and throw up when you see, smell or taste the stake. 

 

This field of classical conditioning has really helped in fields of phobia and post-traumatic stress disorder. It has helped so many people in the field of behavior therapy. 

Now, let’s take a look at #operant conditioning. 

#Operant conditioning is another model for learning developed by B.F. Skinner. Skinner understood that behaviors are mostly influence by what happens in the environment AFTER the behavior has occurred. Therefore, he looked at how consequences influenced behavior. Skinner then discovered that these consequences are important to look at, and that what happens BEFORE the behavior is also as important. Therefore, the antecedent is important as well. The consequences are either reinforcement or punishment, and the stimuli present when a behavior gets reinforced or punished will either evoke the behavior again or reduce its likelihood.  

This is a three-part model. 

#antecedent – RESPONSE (BEHAVIOR) - #consequence. A-B-C

Some examples include:

A. Let’s say you have a job and you manager hand you a project to complete (that would be the antecedent or A in this case). Then, you complete the project properly at work (That would be the Response or Behavior or B). Lastly, your manager pays you for your time (the consequence or C). 

B. Let’s say your alarm rings in the morning (A); you then hit snooze (B); and the ringing stops (C). 

C. Let’s say your grandmother tells you to turn off the TV (A); you don’t like the idea so you decide to roll your eyes at her (B); your grandmother takes the TV away from you (C). 

Simple: There is a request (A), a response (B) and a consequence (C). 

 

The behavior will either be reinforced or punished. If it is reinforced, it will continue to increase or be repeated (so like completing the job properly). If it is punished, it will decrease (so you won’t roll your eyes at your grandmother again). 

Applied Behavioral Analysis is all about operant conditioning. 

Let’s review with ABA is again. 

#AppliedBehavioralAnalysis means applying principles related to behavior to address several human needs. It helps assist with behavioral changes in people who have developmental disabilities, children or teens with delinquent tendencies, and with individuals who suffer from psychiatric disorders. It is also used with athletes, corporate executives, parenting training, college classes, and other settings as well. ABA is for everyone. 

What is the actual definition for ABA?

ABA can be defined as a science. It consists of tactics that can be applied to improve socially significant behavior. Experimenting with it can help understand what exactly is responsible for the improvement or decaying of behavior. 

Applied means that is a design, can be implemented and can be evaluated. It also implies that it can apply the environment to modify behavior and produce socially significant improvements in human behavior. 

Behavior includes the observation of behavior that can be measured. 

Analysis consists of using the applied research and practice and analyzing them in order to find the variable at play. 

There are seven dimensions to ABA:

1. Applied

2. Behavioral 

3. Analytic

4. Technological

5. Conceptually systematic

6. Effective

7. Generality

They each mean something and are all used in ABA. 

1. #Applied – ABA focuses on implementing basic principles that are used to target important, social behavior. Before the 60s, a lot of this was done with animals. The research was not very practical as you can imagine. But, now, there is applied work with humans, targeting behavior change and making a difference in the client and their family. 

2. #Behavioral – The behavior is always the focus with ABA. Behavior is only behavior when it can be defined, measured and observed in a ‘real-life’ environment, exactly where it happens. 

3. #Analytical - the goal of ABA is to identify the relationship between certain environmental events and the behavior that it evokes or does not evoke. The scientific study of controlled behavior in controlled environments is what we study through ABA. It is all BASED ON DATA. 

4. #Technological – This has nothing to do with phones or TVs. It has to do with the procedures used to identify and describe/define what is being observed. The principles of ABA need to be fully described so that it can easily be replicated. If another ABA therapist wants to follow and use the same procedure, it should be easy for them to do so and get the same results. This is why it is technological. 

5. #Conceptually-Systematic – The procedures in ABA are linked to the principles of behavior. They are also described in terms of these principles. We need to always understand how these techniques we use to modify behavior work in relation to the principles of behavior themselves. 

6. #Effective – We are looking for an effective way to change behavior. To create these changes, ABA must be held accountable. Changes are based on data, and must be revised throughout the treatment protocols. In ABA, if the plan for treatment is not changing the behavior, then we need to review the data and change the procedure being used until we achieve the goal we are looking for in the program.

7. #Generality – This refers to the fact that a change in behavior must be proven to be durable over time and place. These ABA procedures should be able to work and be applied to in all types of persons and in all types of settings. Behavioral changes that are achieved need to be maintained and transferable to other settings as well. This is what generality refers to. 

 

Over the last few years, ABA has been applied in a systemic fashion, and in a more intense manner. This means that there are more hours per week where a therapist uses ABA. It helps people develop the new skills and behaviors faster. This is known as #IBI or Intensive Behavioral Intervention or #EIBI Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention. 

Next article will be discussing Evidence-Based Intervention. We will be talking about single-subject research and design, independent and dependent variables, multiple baseline, changing criterion and much more. 

Stay Tuned

 

Maryam Raquel Shirazi Soteldo

 

 

 

 

References

Miltenberger, R. G. (2011). Behavior modification: Principles and procedures. Cengage Learning.

Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2007). Applied behavior analysis.