According to Cooper et al. 1987, a principle of behavior is
“a description of a relationship between behavior and its controlling
variables.”
Understanding the functions (reasons) why a child is
behaving a specific way is important to achieving durable behavior change. Additionally, there needs to be motivation to
behave in a specific way. And lastly, we need to be far more concerned with
what immediately follows (the consequence) than what precedes behavior. Seem a
little overwhelming? Don’t worry -- we’re going to sparse it all out in under
800 words!
There are four basic functions of behavior. There are
attention (e.g., I tap you on the shoulder and you turn and say “Yes?”),
tangible (e.g., toys, iPad, play Duck-Duck-Goose), escape (e.g., to avoid a
demand or delay a task), and automatic/sensory (e.g., it “feels” good and there
is nothing particularly overt or observable happening – it happens inside the
organism). Anyone of these (or a few at the same time) may be the reason behind
why a child behaves in a certain way. Some children learn maladaptive ways to
achieve outcomes (for example, I want your attention, so I cry). When we see
this occurring, we need to find a replacement behavior that will serve the same
function, but is more appropriate. The ultimate goal is to also teach an
equivalent that works better and faster. When a child is crying to get
attention it may be far easier – that is to say, requiring less effort – for a
child to merely say your name when on the other side of the room. Thus, we may
teach a child to ask for your attention by name as a replacement to crying. Figuring
out the function (the reason(s) why) a child is behaving a certain way is one
of the key principles that Behavior Analysts use to figure what replacement
needs to be taught in an attempt to achieve the same outcome that the negative
behavior does.
A second principle is motivation. The child has to “want” to
do something. In the field, we have a few types of motivation, but let’s keep
it basic and just say that if a child doesn’t want your attention at a
particular moment, don’t expect them to cry if that’s their way of telling you
they want attention. We also need to
look at what can be called satiation and deprivation. If you flood a child with
attention (satiate) they may be less motivated to cry for attention. Additionally,
if you have withheld (deprived) attention from the child for a long period of
time, they may be more motivated to cry if that’s how they’ve learned to get
attention.
Lastly, we need to look at the consequences – what
immediately follows a particular behavior. So, for our crying example, if a
child has learned in the past that if they cry, you start to attend, and they
want that attention, you have potentially just increased the probability of crying
occurring in the future when they want attention. So, if you were to ignore the
crying and wait for an appropriate way for them to get your attention, you
would potentially see a decrease in crying and an increase in whatever the
alternate behavior is. Furthermore, while it is important to identify certain
triggers that the behavior usually occurs after, Behavior Analysts look at the
consequences – the reinforcing or punishing effect – to get at a more solid
understanding of the behavior. Principles of reinforcement and punishment take
time to understand or fully grasp, so they are out of the scope of this blog;
however, an upcoming blog post will address this principle with more depth.
Understanding the function of a behavior, the motivation to
behave a certain way, and what is following and maintaining a behavior are some
of the key principles that Behavior Analysts use when developing interventions.
Additionally, these principles hold true for the appropriate behavior as well
and apply to all human and non-human organisms. If you want your child to say
your name to get your attention, then make sure you are attending to them when
they say your name. When we teach a new skill, we follow the appropriate
responses with praise and something the child wants. Just remember that all
behavior is learned and it serves a function.
That’s our brief, basic overview of some behavioral
principles. For more information, feel free to send us an email!
Reference:
Cooper, J.O.,
Heron, T.E., Heward, W.L (Eds.). (1987). Applied
Behavior Analysis. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Prentice Hall.
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