2. Is a Behavior Intervention Needed?
There are many behavioral interventions that we use in the field
of education, and for many different reasons. If a child is
demonstrating a behavior that is deemed aggressive or
undesirable, it may be time to discuss an intervention. Parents,
teachers, or other professionals who work with a child can help
to determine if there is a need for a behavior intervention.
Examples of behaviors that can be encompassed in the realm of
“aggressive or undesirable” include, but are not limited to:
• Sarcasm
• Put-downs
• Verbal aggression
• Interrupting
• Shouting
• Pinching
• Scratching
3. Behaviors – What are they and why do they occur?
Behaviors include our actions and the general way in which we
behave. Behaviors can be desirable (greeting a friend with a hug) or
undesirable (looking around the room when a friend is talking to you)
as defined by the parameters of ones culture. All people exhibit
behaviors.
Behaviors occur because of consequences. These consequences
reinforce the likelihood of that behavior occurring again. Behaviors
and consequences are not always bad; for example, a child might
engage in the behavior of waving at an adult because the
consequence is the adult waving back. The child is reinforced by the
waving and will likely engage in that behavior again.
A less desirable example would be a child hitting his little brother
because the consequence is attention from mom. Although this may
not seem like desirable attention, it IS desirable for that particular
child. As a result, they will probably hit their little brother again
because they know that mom will give the child attention (even if it is
a verbal reprimand or even time-out).
4. Extinction as an Intervention
The best course of action for undesirable behaviors may be extinction
(also known as planned ignoring).
Extinction is “the procedure of choice with milder forms of aggression”
and other undesirable behaviors.(McGinnis, p.195).
Extinction is “the withdrawal or removal of positive
reinforcement”(McGinnis, p.195) for the behavior targeted for change.
The reinforcers of a behavior are “withheld or ended, and students
receive praise or positive reinforcement for demonstrating appropriate
behaviors”(Salend, p.269). Extinction serves a two-fold purpose –
eliminating an undesired behavior and increasing pro-social behaviors.
After determining the behavior in need of change, we then need to
discover the purpose of the behavior. What is the child getting out of this
behavior? Attention? Escape from an activity they do not want to do?
Avoidance?
Please copy and paste the following into a web browser and watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAYGOQwobDE
5. How does extinction work?
The most important part of the extinction intervention is determining
WHY the behavior is occurring(what is REINFORCING the child).
Only then will we know what reinforcer to remove!
“Very often, the answer will be attention. Looking, staring, yelling at,
talking to, or turning toward are common teacher and peer reactions
to a youngster’s inappropriate behaviors”(McGinnis, p.195). It can
be difficult to accept that children might be actively seeking negative
attention, because to many of us that would be unpleasant.
However, all of the listed reinforcers could very well be encouraging
the child to continue engaging in the behavior. These are the very
reinforcers that we, as parents and teachers, need to consistently
REMOVE every time the child engages in the behavior targeted for
change.
6. Case Study – Extinction in Action
Kevin is a 7 year old boy who attends school in a self-contained classroom. Kevin
has moderate developmental delays but understands what is being said to him. Kevin
has many methods of communication (some verbal words, sign language, and a dyna
vox). However, Kevin displays aggressive behaviors to the staff members in his
room. Simple eye contact with Kevin often sends him into aggressive behaviors and
he will scratch or bite any staff member near him – even if they weren’t the one giving
Kevin the initial attention. While he is aggressing, Kevin is making very definite eye
contact with other staff members to see how they will react to his violent actions.
Often, they tell him to stop, engage him in conversation (“I don’t like that. We have
nice hands in school”), stare at him, or reprimand him. Kevin appears to crave that
attention.
The behavior specialist creates a behavior plan for Kevin which largely includes
extinction. Every staff member in the classroom is given a tutorial on how to infuse
this plan throughout the day. Any time Kevin engages in aggression, no one is to
make eye contact with him, run over to try and stop him, reprimand him, or remove
him from the room. He is to receive no attention for this. The person who he is
aggressing at will calmly, slowly leave the situation and go elsewhere, carrying about
with their day as normal. Staff can re-engage Kevin with the task at hand after a 2
minute wait period.
7. Case Study – Con’t
It isn’t enough that just the staff members in Kevin’s room stick to this
plan. The behavior specialist sent a memo to every classroom in the
school, including the Art and Physical Education teachers, explaining that
throughout the day Kevin’s aggressive behaviors should be ignored. This
eliminates the possibility that if Kevin aggresses in the hallway, an
unfamiliar staff member won’t react and thus give Kevin the attention he
wants. This extinction plan must carry over in every part of the school
and with every staff member, and even at home.
Along with ignoring the problem behavior, staff should be regularly
praising his desirable behavior (“Wow Kevin, I love the way you are
sitting in your seat!” “Kevin, great job keeping your hands to yourself
during snack time!”). This way, Kevin will start to see that he is getting far
more attention for his more “appropriate” behaviors.
Initially, Kevin went through an “extinction burst”. It is not uncommon for
“the rate and intensity of the aggressive behavior to increase sharply
before it begins its more gradual decline toward zero”(McGinnis, p.197)
(This can be frustrating and discouraging for the adults implementing the
behavior intervention, but in reality, the extinction burst really shows that
the extinction is starting to work.)
8. Case Study – Con’t
After the extinction burst phase (where Kevin’s behaviors became
more frequent and more aggressive), the staff in his room and his
family at home began noticing a gradual decline in Kevin’s aggression.
Another event to watch for, that Kevin has yet to display, is known as
spontaneous recovery. This occurs when the behaviors that have
been successfully extinguished reappear occasionally for reasons that
are difficult to determine (McGinnis, p.197).
Kevin almost never aggresses at school anymore. The fact that the
adults around him were extremely consistent with the planned
ignoring(extinction) program lead to the dramatic decrease in
aggressive behavior.
9. Where is the research?
The following are 3 empirical articles that support
extinction as a successful behavior intervention.
The articles include real interventions done on
children of varying ages and disabilities. All articles
presented have been peer-reviewed.
10. Article 1-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
This study was conducted with 3 children, all of whom have
developmental disabilities and engaged in the same self-injurious
behavior – head banging. However, the head banging served a different
purpose for each child. Student A (age 7) desired attention, Student B
(age 12) desired escape, and Student C (age 8) head-banged for the
sensory input. After several treatment techniques, reductions in the self-
injurious behavior were observed only when extinction was implemented.
(Iwata, Pace, Cowdery & Milternberger, 1994).
Article 2 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1226158/
This intervention took place in a preschool setting and dealt with children’s
noncompliance during transitions. The children involved were aged 14
months, 22 months, and 15 months. All children displayed zero or near-zero
compliance and low to moderate levels of problem behavior during the
baseline, warning, and toy conditions. During the extinction phase,
compliance immediately increased in all conditions. Although extinction was
shown to be a functional component of the intervention, it is unknown
whether target behaviors were maintained by positive reinforcement (access
to the play activity) or negative reinforcement (escape from the toileting
routine) because, as implemented, the extinction procedure eliminated both
potential sources of reinforcement. (Cote, Thompson & McKerchar, 2005)
11. Article 3- doi: 10.1080/07317107.2012.684654
Article 3 was an extinction intervention on several families who
wanted to decrease the amount of nights that their children spent
sleeping in bed with their parents. The children in question
ranged from ages 2 through 6. Three sessions were conducted
with each parent. At the first session, parents described bed-
sharing history and began collecting baseline data. At the second
session, parents were instructed to employ the intervention. At
the third session, parents were interviewed and offered
continued support, if needed. Participants included three children
who slept with their parents 4 or more nights per week. The
intervention resulted in a substantial decrease in bed-sharing
behavior for all participants, and parents reported being satisfied
with the intervention(Roberds-Roach, Short & Lerman, 2012).
12. Implementation Guide
**In order for extinction to be effective, it needs to be
implemented across ALL SETTINGS in the SAME MANNER.**
Identify the behavior(s) in need of change. Is a behavior change warranted? Is
this something the child might grow out of, or is it entirely undesirable?
Explore the reasons for the behavior. Why does the child continue engaging in
that behavior? In other words, what purpose does it fulfill? Attention?
Escape? Avoidance? The consequence of the behavior is the REINFORCER.
Identify the main reinforcer. Often, the reinforcer is attention.
Withhold the reinforcer ACROSS THE BOARD. Every adult and older child
needs to consistently ignore the behavior in its entirety. This will be difficult.
The behavior may get much worse before it gets better. The key to implement
extinction is consistency – everyone in the child’s life needs to practice planned
ignoring.
In home, at school, in a center setting – extinction procedures are the same.
The physical settings are different; the reaction to the behaviors will not be.
The child should not be able to receive the reinforcers in ANY setting.
Prepare for an extinction burst. This will be challenging, but remember, it
means that the extinction plan is starting to work!
Remember spontaneous recovery. For reasons unknown, the behavior might
occasionally resurface. Stick to the initial extinction plan.
Above all – remember to keep with it! This is not an easy thing to do. This is
not a “quick fix”. This can take months to become effective, but remain
consistent.
13. References
Cote, C., Thompson, R., & McKerchar, P. (2005). The effects of antecedent interventions
and extinction on toddlers' compliance during transitions. Journal of Applied
Behavior Analysis, 38(2), 235-238. Retrieved from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1226158/
Iwata, B., Pace, G., Cowdery, G., & Miltenberger, R. (1994). What makes extinction work:
An analysis of procedural form and function. Journal of Applied Behavior
Analysis, 27(1), 131-144. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
McGinnis, E. (1997). Skillstreaming the elementary school child. Champain, IL: Research
Press.
Roberds-Roach, D., Short, M., & Lerman, D. (2012). An intervention using extinction to
decrease bed-sharing in 2- to 6-year-old children. Child and Family Behavior
Therapy, 34(2), 156-162. doi: 10.1080/07317107.2012.684654
Salend, S. (2011). Creating inclusive classrooms. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Education, Inc.
