Introduction to Applied Behavior Analysis and Frame Strategies

Applied behavior analysis in layman's terms is a set of scientific principles that are applied to social significant behaviors by function to affect behavior change. There are some important terms in that sentence: scientific principles, socially significant, function, and behavior change. Let’s look at each of these!

The set of scientific principles that behavior analyst apply to socially significant behaviors have been well research to affect behavior change. They include but are not limited to: and don’t worry we will go into detail later, they are not as scary as they look or sound once it clicks!

RBT Task List C and D

• Positive (addition) reinforcement

• Negative (removal) reinforcement

• Positive (addition) punishment

• Negative (removal) punishment

• Schedule of Reinforcement

• Shaping

• Extinction

• Stimulus control

• Differential reinforcement

• Prompting

Socially significant behaviors are the behavior that are selected for change by the behavior analyst. Listed below are some examples:

• Using friendly words to get a desired item

• Waiting patiently

• Making eye contact when talking

• Hitting

• Kicking

• Spitting

• Screaming

• Eloping

• Eating at the table

• Buckling up in the car

• Using the toilet

• Tantrums

• Giving complements

• Protesting

• Talking

All behavior, anything a dead man cannot do, serves a function for the organism that exhibits the behavior. Those functions include: don’t worry, we will get into a ton of examples later on!

RBT Task List D

• Tangible- to gain a desired item

• Escape/Avoidance- to gain out of or delay something

• Attention/Control- to get attention

• Sensory

  1. Automatic Positive- to get something for the body that feels good

  2. Automatic Negative- to remove something for the body that is averse

RBT Task List A

Behavior change is a critical part of Applied Behavior Analysis. Data collection on objectively defined socially significant behavior should show a changing in the desired direction. So a behavior targeted for reduction should be going DOWN and a behavior targeted for increase should be going UP in rate, frequency, duration, magnitude, or intensity. If the socially significant behavior is not changing after a few weeks of solid intervention, it is critical to make a change or double triple check that the principals are being applied correctly to result in the desired change. Behavior change can be effected by many outside factors like dose of treatment, consistency of intervention, mental health factors, and uncontrollable/controllable environmental factors. These factors may impact the speed of behavior change, but ultimately the behavior should be changing in the desired direction or the behavior analyst should be making a change to the intervention.

Using Applied Behavior Analysis to Teach

RBT Task List A, B, C, D

Teaching children can best be achieved through the implementation of the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). ABA is a science dedicated to improving socially significant behaviors. Implementing the principles of ABA takes practice and is often counterintuitive to normal parenting and teaching.

The most basic element of ABA is the three-term contingency, or the ABCs of behavior. For every behavior (B) there is: 1) an antecedent (A) that comes before it, and 2) a consequence (C) that occurs after it. With systematic and purposeful manipulation of both the antecedents (A) and the consequences (C), you can effect behavioral change and skill development.

The schedules of reinforcement is very important depending on the level of acquisition of the target skill. There are different schedules for skills that an individual does not possess, or skills that are in their skill set but weak, vs. skills that they have acquired and then mastered.

Acquiring new skills or strengthening weak skills requires a continuous schedule of reinforcement. This means that when a non-existent skill is prompted it receives reinforcement every time it occurs, or if a weak skill is demonstrated independently it receives reinforcement every time it occurs. Basically, no matter when the skill target for acquisition is or how it is prompted, it receives reinforcement every time it occurs.

Continuous reinforcement is used until the behavior is mastered (mastery = behavior is used 80% of the time independently). Then it is critical to move on to intermittent reinforcement. That is, when a behavior is reinforced based on the number of response or amount of time elapsed. Intermittent reinforcement is used to maintain behaviors that have been mastered.

Ratio strain is a side effect of fading reinforcement too quickly. If you have lost the skill in acquisition that your data indicated was mastered, you likely encountered ratio strain. You faded your reinforcement too quickly, and it was not enough to maintain the behavior. If this occurs, go back to a continuous reinforcement schedule until the skill is mastered and then fade reinforcement in a slower fashion.

1. The behavior received reinforcement when it occurs.

2. Reinforcement is removed

3. The behavior goes through an extinction burst and gets worse before it gets better.

4. The behavior reaches 0 to near 0 rates.

5. During times of stress, change, or for no reason at all, the behavior will spontaneously recover to see if reinforcement is available.

6. If reinforcement remains unavailable, the behavior goes back to 0 to near 0 rates.

In order for extinction to be effective, the following environmental conditions must exist:

1. Reinforcement (positive or negative) must be removable.

2. The environment must be able to withstand the extinction burst (behavior gets worse)

3. The environment must be able to withstand spontaneous recovery.

4. There must be programming for replacement behaviors, like communication before behavior, to replace the undesirable behavior on extinction.

5. The individual does NOT have known trauma.

If the 5 criteria are not met, meaning that reinforcement might be available sometimes for the behavior on extinction, extinction should not be used. This is because it may result in intermittent reinforcement, a strategy that is used to maintain behavior, not reduce it. Also, if the individual has any history or suspected history of trauma, extinction is contra indicated and should not be used.

When determining to utilize extinction, you should check off the following list?

If the answer is no to the 4 questions above or 1 yes in the black to any of the questions above, it may be best to utilize shaping down undesirable behaviors and focus on skill acquisition of new behaviors, which will ultimately result in the same 0 rates, just over a longer duration of time.

As we work to develop new adaptive behaviors, it is critical to think about what type of stimulus control we are developing with new and existing behaviors. You can change or acquire stimulus control over different repertoire of the individual's behavior. It just takes time.

Shaping is defined as the differential reinforcement of successive approximations toward a terminal behavior. Three steps to shaping include:

1. Detect a change in the learner's environment

2. Decide if the change is a closer approximation to a targeted behavior

3. Differentially reinforce the closer approximation

The clinician has some judgment in the shaping process. Was that behavior closer to the terminal behavior? Do I want to reinforce a lesser approximation right now? Do I need to look for an opportunity to micro shape?

Differential Reinforcement: in short, is reinforcing an adaptive behavior while putting another behavior on extinction. There are many differential reinforcement procedures to reinforce alternative behaviors, other behaviors, incompatible, low rates of behavior, and high rates of behavior. These procedures pair reinforcement with extinction and are very effective again if the environment can withstand the extinction process.

A prompt is anything added to the environment that elicits a behavior. Depending upon your learner, you may use most-to-least prompting or least-to-most prompting. This will be an individualized decision, just like with choosing reinforcers. With most-to-least prompting, you’ll start with the most invasive prompt that will elicit the correct behavior. With least-to-most prompting, you’ll move up the prompt chart until you hit the prompt that elicits the correct behavior.

Error-free learning is another prompting strategy, where instead of letting the learner make a mistake at all, the supporter simply gives a prompt before the learner has an opportunity to make an error. This can be a successful prompt strategy to build up moments of confidence in the learner.

Shared control is an integral part of working with your learning. Generally, when you begin an intervention with a learner, you will put a lot of the control on the learner's side of the continuum. This may look like playing their games their way, or simply being in their space. As they build skills, you will be able to shift the continuum of control more toward the adult.

The continuum looks like this:

This continuum should be thought of often. When starting treatment and throughout treatment, this continuum can be a good gauge of progress. As the child’s ability to regulate, cope, and tolerate increases, so will your ability to control the interactions and increase demands.

• Create a universal strategy for all interventionists to use with expected and unexpected undesirable behavior that is context and function sensitive.

• Introduce reactive strategies that integrate with the Noticing Grid.

• Increase interventionist competence in managing large unsafe behaviors.

1. Teach replacement and new behaviors, often using the pendulum of optimal learning

2. Catch behavior before it becomes too big (level 2 or 3)

3. Learn what to do when the individual reaches a 2 or 3

4. Reduce reinforcement for too big responses (level 2 or 3)

5. What is the function? Respond based on function in the immediate context

6. Support and prompt replacement behaviors during level 2 or 3

7. Establish when and what behaviors to reinforce

8. ***If there is a specific reactionary response developed for a specific behavior, it takes priority over this framework for managing behavior***

The Incredible 2 Rule

The incredible 2 rule: The 2 rule can be used to work on a variety of skills, and it’s simple to remember! Use language 2 times and then support the use of the skill.

This reduces the likelihood of engaging in verbal power struggles and sets a clear expectation that you are moving forward. For example:

• Context specific direction

• 2 rule: state the direction twice.

• If they follow the direction, reinforce them differently, depending on whether it was the first or second time you stated the demand.

• If they do not, disengage and arrange the environment to support following the direction.

• Shifting

• 2 rule: state that it’s time to shift twice.

• If they shift, reinforce them differently, depending on whether it was the first or second time you stated the demand.

• If they do not, disengage and arrange the environment to support shifting.

• Engagement

• 2 rule: state “I need you to pick something to do” twice.

• If they pick something, reinforce them differently, depending on whether it was the first or second time you stated the demand.

• If they do not, disengage and arrange the environment to support engagement.

Teach Replacement Skills (Just Right):

Usually at Level 1

Use lots of behavior momentum and reinforcement to build these skills when you see them and prompt the individual to use them when you see an opportunity:

• Emotional regulation

• Coping

• Communication

• Protesting

• Flexibility

• Social skills

• Engagement

• Independent play skills

• Context specific direction

Practice Makes Perfect

It is better to spend time teaching new skills through shaping rather than responding when the individual is in Too Big mode and disengaging from undesirable behaviors. Try to capitalize on as many opportunities as possible to teach Just Right reactions.

Catch the behavior before it becomes Too Big: Levels 2 and 3

Think about the situations, emotions, activities, or other environmental events that might evoke a Too Big reaction. Be ready to prompt a Just Right reaction and reinforce it before the behavior gets Too Big.

Try 2 times (2 rule). If you cannot catch the behavior before it becomes Too Big, utilize the reactive strategies outlined below. It is important to reinforce replacement (Just Right) behaviors and eliminate undesirable (Too Big) behaviors.

Reactive Strategy

Ensure Safety

• Block attempts at self-injury (purposeful or inadvertent).

• Block attempts to injure others.

• Block attempts to destroy property.

Basic Needs are Met

• Make sure the individual isn’t hurt, sick, or hungry (we don’t try to stamp out Too Big reactions when they are appropriate).

Stay Present

• We don’t want to send the message that when you are upset, people will leave you.

Take the opportunity to label emotions/reactions 2 times (2 rule)

• Use “sad,” “mad,” “worried,” “excited,” “embarrassed.”

• Make sure your facial expression is congruent; don’t smile while saying “you’re sad”.

• Eventually, we want the individual to communicate his or her feelings using words and nonverbal communication or to tolerate the environmental context.

• Label the reaction to the environmental/emotional experience as Too Big 2 times (2 rule).

Do Not Reinforce Too Big Reactions

Make sure the individual’s reaction is Just Right before you reinforce with the desired item or action.

• Crying/undesirable behavior may be used as a form of “communication” to get what the individual wants.

• Providing the individual with something pleasurable to get them to stop crying or having undesirable behaviors will likely increase the frequency, intensity, and duration of Too Big reactions. (The individual thinks, “When I am Too Big, people react/work to get things for me.”)

• Present a blank face for the entire duration of the Too Big reaction.

• Eliminate talking and eye contact during the Too Big reaction.

• Try to contain the individual in a smaller area without restraining. Block with an open hand any attempts to aggress physically or destroy property.

• Wait until the individual has reduced in level and is using a contextually appropriate behavior or an approximation.

Determine the Purpose of the Behavior and React Accordingly

• If the tantrum is to gain attention (get you to negotiate) or control the environment (destroy something to watch you pick it up), do NOT provide attention or allow the individual to control your actions in the environment.

• If the tantrum is to escape a demand (cleaning her room, rearranging his toys, etc.), keep the demand in place after following the above steps for emotional regulation. So, first help the individual regulate (slow down) and then follow through with the demand (or some form of the demand). This may take a while at first, but they will get better at it over time.

• If the tantrum is to receive a desired item (cookie or toy), withhold the item and utilize the above strategy once the individual has regulated their emotions. Help the individual to utilize an appropriate response (“I want the cookie, please”) or other replacement behavior.

• If the tantrum is to get something that feels good/banish something that feels bad (hugs, kisses, squeezes, relief from anxiety), withhold the desired action or removal of the anxiety-producing event and use the strategies above. Once the individual has regulated their emotions, prompt the individual to use appropriate communication (“I want a hug”) or other replacement behavior to meet their desires.

Prompt for Replacement Behaviors During Too Big Reactions

• State in a firm but calm voice, “slow down, this is Too Big” twice.

• Model a replacement behavior while presenting a blank face twice.

When to Reinforce Behavior

Remember to always provide reinforcement after the individual has returned to level 1 and used a Just Right reaction. Deliver the reinforcement within 1-3 seconds, contingent upon the use of a Just Right reaction. Then move on with whatever activity you were engaged in before the increase in level.

• Highest level behaviors on level system = no reinforcement

• Prompted mid level behaviors on level system = some reinforcement

• Prompted low level behaviors on level system = more reinforcement

• Independent regulating strategy or target behavior = most reinforcement

• It’s okay to reinforce an approximation of slowing down.

• Remember that undesirable behaviors serve a purpose for the individual. They are generally not intentionally being malicious or dangerous.

Provide reinforcement for using a replacement behavior and slowing down in one of the following ways:

• Verbally, if it does not re-escalate, the individual.

• Non-verbally if it does not re-escalate the individual.

• Do not provide reinforcement of any form if reinforcement re-escalates the individual. Wait until they are Just Right.

Deep Breath and Muscle Tension and Relaxation

Deep Breaths:

Engage the child in activities that are likely to occasion deep breaths (exercise, blowing up a balloon, blowing through a straw, anything that will elicit the skill) label and reinforce differentially the quality of those breaths and independence. “Wow, you took an amazing deep breath”. Pair the deep breaths with some form of non-verbal prompt like touching the child’s nose as they are breathing in or move your hand to shoulder height as they breathe in and slowly lower to waist height to signal blowing out. This will be child specific, and you will need to try multiple nonverbal prompts to find one that might work. The nonverbal prompt will help you to elicit the skills once it is in acquisition. We cannot make people take deep breaths!

• • Strategies for more languaging individuals

    • Name the deep breaths or create a code word (Darth Vaders, Sonic wind power)

    • Have the child make silly sounds like a horse does when it sneezes (horse lips).

    • Make sure that you are flexible and allow the child to change the name of their deep breaths whenever they would like. This is not the time to enter into a power struggle over the name of the skill you want them to complete.

    • Tell the child that they will receive more reinforcement for better quality deep breaths.

    • Model good deep breaths that should use and bad deep breaths that should not use.

    • Practice when the child is well regulated and in low levels of dysregulation, model only when the child is in high levels of dysregulation.

    • Implement differential reinforcement and remember it is ok for deep breaths to be negatively reinforced. Negative reinforcement may include the removal of academics, demand to comply with instructions, anxiety producing stimuli, and even the removal of you in proximity to the individual. Coping is essential to completing a task that we do not want to do!

  • Strategies for less languaging individuals

    • Label any time they take a breath that is slightly deeper than a normal breath. If you can get them engaged in an activity that will elicit deep breaths, your shaping process will go a bit faster. (“you took a breath”, “I like how you took a deep breath”)

    • Provide reinforcement differentially based on the quality of deep breath and independent use. Remember, negative reinforcement is ok.

    • Model good deep breaths for the child when they appear to be anxious.

    • Practice when the child is well regulated, model when the child in is low and high levels of dysregulation.

Muscle Tension and Relaxation:

There are multiple forms of muscle tension and relaxation. You will need to probe to find out what form will work for the child. The child does not need to follow a sequence, they just need to tense and relax some muscle in their body. This may even be their face. You can occasion this behavior by having the child lift things that are heavy, squeezing and object, or by physically prompting them to squeeze their hands, shoulders, or knees. Label muscle tension and relaxation and differentially reinforce the quality of their muscle tension and relaxation and independent use.

• • Strategies for more languaging individuals.

    • Present the child with a script for using muscle tension and relaxation. Let them choose a part of their body that they like to tense and relax.

    • Play a game with them surrounding tensing and relaxing different part of their body.

    • Let them name their squeezes (rock crushers, crystal makers, etc.)

    • Make sure that you are flexible and allow the child to change the name of their deep breaths whenever they would like. This is not the time to enter into a power struggle over the name of the skill you want them to complete.

    • Tell the child that they will receive more reinforcement for better quality and using them independently, muscle tension and relaxation.

    • Model good muscle tension and relaxation that be used and bad muscle tension and relaxation that should not be used.

    • Practice when the child is well regulated and in low levels of dysregulation, model only when the child is in high levels of dysregulation.

    • Implement differential reinforcement and remember it is ok for muscle tension and relaxation to be negatively reinforced. Negative reinforcement may include the removal of academics, demand to comply with instructions, anxiety producing stimuli, and even the removal of you in proximity to the individual. Coping is essential to completing a task that we do not want to do!

  • Strategies for less languaging individuals.

    • Physically prompt the child to either squeeze their hands together or cross their arms over their chest and squeeze their shoulders.

    • Label the squeezes while you are physically prompting. (“Good squeeze”, “That squeeze was amazing”).

    • Differentially reinforce based on quality of the squeeze and independence.

    • Fade physical prompts, then verbal prompts, and try to use just gestural or modeling prompts.

    • Practice these during times when the child is well regulated and when they are in low levels of dysregulation. Do not practice when they are in high levels of dysregulation.

    • Differentially reinforce for quality and independence. Remember, it is ok to use negative reinforcement while coping skills are in acquisition.

As discussed above, shaping is a powerful procedure that reinforces success approximations towards the total completion of a skill or goal. Similarly, with undesirable behaviors, you can shape those behaviors down. There are significantly different volumes, magnitudes, forces, durations and frequencies of undesirable behavior. There are also many behaviors that may co-occur, like protesting (adaptive behavior) with hitting (undesirable behavior). We can create successive approximations to shape down undesirable behaviors to 0 rates. While this may take some time, it can be a more doable option in home, school and community settings.

While it does not feel comfortable or acceptable to reinforce lesser amounts of undesirable behavior, it can give individuals a reprieve from an extinction burst that the environment can simply not withstand.

Shaping down undesirable behaviors not only allows the individual to access reinforcement for low rates of undesirable behavior, it allows the parent an opportunity to see progress, albeit a small step.

Motivation to reduce undesirable behaviors is critical. If there is no reinforcement in sight (pure extinction) or significant prompts for adaptive skills (antecedent strategies) individuals have little motivation to try new behaviors that have little to no history of reinforcement. It is much better to get the momentum moving in a positive direction while striving for 0 rates of the undesirable behavior targeted for reduction.

Get the learner to communicate before they have undesirable behavior. Simple, right? Well not always. Some learners have undesirable behaviors that have been reinforced at a much higher rate than adaptive communicative behaviors. This results in a challenge for the individuals wanting to affect change.

This is another shaping procedure where you are going to reinforce approximations towards a goal, but all the goals are focused around increasing amounts of communication and reducing the amount of undesirable behavior. We want the learner to develop a new history of learning where communication results in the desired function rather than the undesirable behavior.

Distress tolerance is defined as the perceived and/or actual behavioral capacity to endure exposure to aversive or threatening experiential states (e.g., negative emotions, uncomfortable physical sensations, demands that are perceived as too difficult; Brown, Lejuez, Kahler, Strong, & Zvolensky, 2005. Our tolerance builds as we successfully overcome events that we perceive as negative, bad, scary, anxiety producing or any other emotions (positive reinforcement). Similarly, our coping gets stronger as our anxiety reduces after the use of coping skills (negative reinforcement).

Systematically increasing tolerance is achieved by being plan-full and selective when developing hierarchies of activities, locations, or items that evoke anxiety. Below are some examples. These are not complete hierarchies. By plan-fully presenting these opportunities to be successful with anxiety, the child will gradually build a tolerance for situations that produce anxiety and be able to successfully move through those situations without exhibiting undesirable behaviors.

This training program is based on the RBT Task List (2nd ed.) and is designed to meet the 40-hour training requirement for RBT certification. The program is offered independent of the BACB