Functional Behavior Analysis
Everyone's behavior has been reinforced in some way over time; rarely do we change behaviors with one reinforcement experience.
Adults praise us when we are young, we gain social acceptance by peers as adolescents, employers reward adults with jobs, raises and/or promotions.
Our behaviors serve us, in some way, to either gain acceptance or avoid rejection or punishment.
Functional Behavior Analysis (FBA) is a process developed by special educators to identify and intervene on students' inappropriate behaviors.
Typically, educators target students with severe handicaps or acting out students (when their behaviors escalate to become dangerous or so disruptive that they and/or others cannot learn).
However, many parents could benefit from the FBA process even if their children do not receive special education services.
The FBA process helps people focus attention on desired and unwanted behaviors so intervention (prevention) can happen.
Information Needed Usually an impartial person observes the targeted child in his/her classroom.
This person's responsibility is only to observe and record information about the child's behavior: what the child does, when, under what conditions, and the result or reinforcement the behavior gains for the child.
The Functional Behavior Analysis process begins with identifying a student's unwanted behaviors.
Typical mild examples are: blurting out comments/answers in class, wandering around the room, picking on another student, arguing or talking back after being given directions.
These same behaviors may also happen at home, the reason parents may want to do their own version of an FBA.
Because the behaviors have a purpose (usually avoidance of a stressful situation or aggression with someone or something for a reason) the behaviors occur under certain conditions.
These conditions may be when a specific subject begins (for example, reading, math or spelling) or when a particular social setting exists (for example, proximity to particular individuals in line or in a classroom).
The purpose is to find the "trigger" for the behaviors.
Also taken into account is the frequency and/or time of day that the behaviors happen.
This is to determine the link between the behavior itself and a stimulus or what sets off the behavior.
This may be critical information when a child takes medicine, as it may indicate the dosage and/or administration schedule needs to be revised.
The last observational clue is the result of the behavior.
Since children have little awareness of their emotions, behaviors often indirectly reduce stress by removing the child from a particular situation or task.
The result of the behavior may be task avoidance, control over another individual or situation, or indirect "rewards" of adult and/or peer attention, or even exclusion from school (with the reward of time at home to sleep, watch TV, play, etc.
).
Designing an Intervention Interventions focus on developing appropriate and incompatible behaviors.
The logic is that unwanted behaviors cannot be stopped unless there is a replacement behavior.
An adult intervention to quit smoking may be to chew gum or carry a plastic cigarette to hold while drinking coffee at work.
For a child who wanders the classroom, the intervention may be to tape an area on the floor within which the child must remain.
The child was rewarded, in some way, for the inappropriate behavior; to develop appropriate behavior must also have rewards.
To develop these behaviors, the child must see a gain or reward for demonstrating them.
The reward should be something that the child will want to experience.
Usually the goal is to have a social reward.
Examples are praise (such as, "You did a good job of keeping your hands to yourself!", physical contact (such as, a high-five or pat on the back), smiles paired with a non-verbal gesture acknowledging "good job", or points earned toward a privilege or item.
When beginning intervention plans, two reinforcements work better than just one (such as praise paired with physical contact or recording a point).
Consistency in rewarding the desired or new behavior is critical.
Consistency calls attention to the change so we do not forget what is desired.
At first, the rewarding will need to be every time the adult witnesses the desired replacement behavior.
Over time, the rewarding can become less frequent as the child demonstrates the replacement behaviors more consistently.
Home Interventions Parents reward their children's behaviors every day, but usually they are not aware of how they reinforce both desired and undesired behaviors.
Children respond to attention; it does not matter if it is "good" attention (smiles, hugs) or "bad" attention (being yelled at, punishment).
Attention is attention.
You might as well focus on the good things they do and say, because you'll have better and more desirable results.
Focusing on the things they don't do often takes more work and everyone ends up angry and wanting to avoid each other.
Visit the website for Parents Teach Kids to find more information.
Adults praise us when we are young, we gain social acceptance by peers as adolescents, employers reward adults with jobs, raises and/or promotions.
Our behaviors serve us, in some way, to either gain acceptance or avoid rejection or punishment.
Functional Behavior Analysis (FBA) is a process developed by special educators to identify and intervene on students' inappropriate behaviors.
Typically, educators target students with severe handicaps or acting out students (when their behaviors escalate to become dangerous or so disruptive that they and/or others cannot learn).
However, many parents could benefit from the FBA process even if their children do not receive special education services.
The FBA process helps people focus attention on desired and unwanted behaviors so intervention (prevention) can happen.
Information Needed Usually an impartial person observes the targeted child in his/her classroom.
This person's responsibility is only to observe and record information about the child's behavior: what the child does, when, under what conditions, and the result or reinforcement the behavior gains for the child.
The Functional Behavior Analysis process begins with identifying a student's unwanted behaviors.
Typical mild examples are: blurting out comments/answers in class, wandering around the room, picking on another student, arguing or talking back after being given directions.
These same behaviors may also happen at home, the reason parents may want to do their own version of an FBA.
Because the behaviors have a purpose (usually avoidance of a stressful situation or aggression with someone or something for a reason) the behaviors occur under certain conditions.
These conditions may be when a specific subject begins (for example, reading, math or spelling) or when a particular social setting exists (for example, proximity to particular individuals in line or in a classroom).
The purpose is to find the "trigger" for the behaviors.
Also taken into account is the frequency and/or time of day that the behaviors happen.
This is to determine the link between the behavior itself and a stimulus or what sets off the behavior.
This may be critical information when a child takes medicine, as it may indicate the dosage and/or administration schedule needs to be revised.
The last observational clue is the result of the behavior.
Since children have little awareness of their emotions, behaviors often indirectly reduce stress by removing the child from a particular situation or task.
The result of the behavior may be task avoidance, control over another individual or situation, or indirect "rewards" of adult and/or peer attention, or even exclusion from school (with the reward of time at home to sleep, watch TV, play, etc.
).
Designing an Intervention Interventions focus on developing appropriate and incompatible behaviors.
The logic is that unwanted behaviors cannot be stopped unless there is a replacement behavior.
An adult intervention to quit smoking may be to chew gum or carry a plastic cigarette to hold while drinking coffee at work.
For a child who wanders the classroom, the intervention may be to tape an area on the floor within which the child must remain.
The child was rewarded, in some way, for the inappropriate behavior; to develop appropriate behavior must also have rewards.
To develop these behaviors, the child must see a gain or reward for demonstrating them.
The reward should be something that the child will want to experience.
Usually the goal is to have a social reward.
Examples are praise (such as, "You did a good job of keeping your hands to yourself!", physical contact (such as, a high-five or pat on the back), smiles paired with a non-verbal gesture acknowledging "good job", or points earned toward a privilege or item.
When beginning intervention plans, two reinforcements work better than just one (such as praise paired with physical contact or recording a point).
Consistency in rewarding the desired or new behavior is critical.
Consistency calls attention to the change so we do not forget what is desired.
At first, the rewarding will need to be every time the adult witnesses the desired replacement behavior.
Over time, the rewarding can become less frequent as the child demonstrates the replacement behaviors more consistently.
Home Interventions Parents reward their children's behaviors every day, but usually they are not aware of how they reinforce both desired and undesired behaviors.
Children respond to attention; it does not matter if it is "good" attention (smiles, hugs) or "bad" attention (being yelled at, punishment).
Attention is attention.
You might as well focus on the good things they do and say, because you'll have better and more desirable results.
Focusing on the things they don't do often takes more work and everyone ends up angry and wanting to avoid each other.
Visit the website for Parents Teach Kids to find more information.
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