Week 5 Chapter Chaining.pdf

Chapter 20: Chaining Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Pearson Applied Behavior Analysis, Education, Inc. Second Edition All rights reserved Key Learnings  Caveat #1: Reinforcement does not increase behavior...

Chapter 20: Chaining Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Pearson Applied Behavior Analysis, Education, Inc. Second Edition All rights reserved Key Learnings  Caveat #1: Reinforcement does not increase behavior under all conditions Caveat #2: Reinforcement depends on motivation Key Learnings  The SD will only signal the response if the individual is motivated to engage in the response Key Learnings  The Four-term Contingency The consideration of MOs are important in relation to the three-term contingency Key Learnings  Basics of Reinforcement Reinforcement must be immediate. The person does not have to be aware for reinforcement to increase behavior. Automatic reinforcement occurs independent of another person delivering and the response, itself, produces the reinforcement. Key Learnings  Classes of Reinforcement Origin – unconditioned (examples: water and food) Generalized/Conditioned - conditioned reinforcer that has been paired with many conditioned and unconditioned reinforcers (example: money, token, or points) Properties of reinforcers: Edible reinforcers (food) Sensory reinforcers (massage, tickles) Tangible reinforcers (trinkets, toys) Activity reinforcers (playing a game, recess) Social reinforcers (physical proximity, social interaction) Key Learnings  Categories of Stimulus Preference Assessments Asking about stimulus preferences Observing the target person under free-operant conditions Presenting various stimuli in a series of trial-based observation Key Learnings  Definition of a Behavior Chain A specific sequence of discrete responses Each associated with a particular stimulus condition When components are linked together, they form a chain that produces a terminal outcome Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Applied Behavior Analysis, Pearson Education, Inc. Second Edition All rights reserved  Components in Chain Serve Dual Functions Each response in the chain serves as a conditioned reinforcer for the response that produced it Each response in the chain serves as a discriminative stimulus for the next response in the chain (Exceptions: the first and last responses in the chain) Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Applied Behavior Analysis, Pearson Education, Inc. Second Edition All rights reserved  Diagram of Response Chain SD SD SD EO SD Response 1 Response 2 Response 3 Absence of Mom says “Fix Get cereal Get milk Get bowl food for 2 yourself a from from from hours bowl of cupboard refrigerator cupboard SR+ SR+ cereal.” SD SD SD SD SD Response 4 Response 5 Response 6 Response 7 Response 8 Get spoon Pour cereal Pour milk Put milk Put cereal from drawer SR+ into bowl SR+into bowl SR+ away SR+ away SR+ SD SD Response 9 Response 10 Response 11 SR+ Take bowl Sit down at Eat Food Presented and spoon to table Fixing a bowl of cereal more SR+ table SR+ SR+ likely when hungry and told to “Fix yourself a bowl of cereal”  Behavior Chains and Limited Hold A sequence of behaviors that must be performed correctly and within a specified time to produce reinforcement Emphasizes both accuracy and proficiency Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Applied Behavior Analysis, Pearson Education, Inc. Second Edition All rights reserved Example of Limited Hold Behavioral Chain 1. Target behavior: Putting on shoes. 2. Steps in the chain: - Sit down. - Put on the left shoe. - Tie the left shoe. - Put on the right shoe. - Tie the right shoe. 3. Limited hold: The learner has 2 minutes to complete the entire chain to receive reinforcement (such as praise, a preferred item, or token). If the learner completes the behavior within the time limit, they receive reinforcement. If not, they lose the opportunity for reinforcement, and the process may restart.  Characteristics of Behavior Chains A series of discrete responses Performance of behavior changes the environment such that it produces conditioned reinforcement for previous response and serves as SD for next response Behaviors must occur in sequence and in close temporal succession Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Applied Behavior Analysis, Pearson Education, Inc. Second Edition All rights reserved  Rationale for Chaining Teaches complex skills that allow individuals to function more independently A way to add new behaviors to an existing behavioral repertoire Can easily be combined with other procedures (prompting, instructions, reinforcement) Copyright © 2007 by Pearson Cooper, Heron, and Heward Education, Inc. Applied Behavior Analysis, All rights reserved Second Edition  Task Analysis Breaking a complex skill or series of behaviors into smaller, teachble units The product of a task analysis is a series of sequentially ordered steps Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Applied Behavior Analysis, Pearson Education, Inc. Second Edition All rights reserved  Constructing a Task Analysis Notes: ◦ Sequence one individual may use to perform skill may not be the same as another individual ◦ Must be individualized according to ◦ Age ◦ Skill level ◦ Disability ◦ Prior experience ◦ Some task analyses have a limited number of steps, but these steps may be broken down into subtasks Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Applied Behavior Analysis, Pearson Education, Inc. Second Edition All rights reserved  Constructing a Task Analysis Methods ◦ Observe a competent individual perform the task ◦ Consult with experts or persons skilled in performing the task ◦ Perform the task yourself Can refine it as you use it, if necessary Copyright © 2007 by Cooper, Heron, and Heward Pearson Education, Inc. Applied Behavior Analysis, All rights reserved Second Edition Task Analysis: Observe an individual doing the task  Assessing Mastery Levels Single-opportunity Method ◦ Give cue to begin task ◦ Record learner performance with + or - for each step ◦ Assessment stops as soon as a step is performed incorrectly ◦ Remaining steps are scored with a - Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Applied Behavior Analysis, Pearson Education, Inc. Second Edition All rights reserved  Assessing Mastery Levels Multiple-opportunity Method ◦ Give cue to begin task ◦ Record learner performance with + or - for each step ◦ If a step is performed incorrectly, the trainer completes that step for the learner ◦ learner continues to next step ◦ Do NOT co-mingle teaching with assessment Copyright © 2007 by Cooper, Heron, and Heward Pearson Education, Inc. Applied Behavior Analysis, All rights reserved Second Edition  Single vs. Multiple Method? Single-opportunity Method ◦ More conservative ◦ Gives less information ◦ Quicker to conduct ◦ Reduces likelihood of learning taking place during assessment Multiple ◦ Takes more time to complete ◦ Provides trainer with more information ◦ May make training more efficient by allowing trainer to eliminate instruction on already-learned steps Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Applied Behavior Analysis, Pearson Education, Inc. Second Edition All rights reserved  Behavior Chaining Procedures Forward Chaining ◦ Training begins the link with the first behavior in the sequence ◦ Training only occurs on the steps previously mastered and current step (no training on steps after that) ◦ Advantages ◦ Can be used to link smaller chains to larger ones ◦ Relatively easy Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Applied Behavior Analysis, Pearson Education, Inc. Second Edition All rights reserved  Behavior Chaining Procedures Total-task Chaining ◦ Training is provided for every behavior in the sequence during every training session ◦ Trainer assistance (prompting) is provided on every step Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Pearson Applied Behavior Analysis, Education, Inc. Second Edition All rights reserved  Behavior Chaining Procedures Backward Chaining ◦ Training begins the link with the last behavior in the sequence ◦ Trainer performs all by last step until learner masters the last step ◦ Then trainer performs all but last two steps until learner masters last two steps, and so on… ◦ Advantages ◦ Natural reinforcement is produced immediately upon the learner’s response ◦ Learner contacts these natural contingencies of reinforcement on every learning trial Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Applied Behavior Analysis, Pearson Education, Inc. Second Edition All rights reserved Backward Chaining  Behavior Chaining Procedures Backward Chaining with Leap Aheads ◦ Follows same procedures as backward chaining, but not every step in the task analysis is trained ◦ Other steps are probed ◦ If some steps are in learner’s repertoire, they are not taught ◦ The learner is still required to perform those steps, however Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Pearson Applied Behavior Analysis, Education, Inc. Second Edition All rights reserved  Which procedure to use? No data to indicate one is more effective than another Choose total-task chaining if ◦ Learner knows many of the tasks but needs to learn how to do them in sequence ◦ Has an imitative repertoire ◦ Has moderate to severe disabilities ◦ Task is not long or complex Copyright © 2007 by Cooper, Heron, and Heward Pearson Education, Inc. Applied Behavior Analysis, All rights reserved Second Edition In-Class Project Create a task analysis for chosen skill. Use the Internet and personal experience to develop steps. Review the task list with your class partner to verify the steps you chose. Document the task analysis in Excel and create a data collection method. Choose a chaining method and explain the rationale for your choice. Submit your final product in Canvas.  Behavior Chain Interruption Strategy (BCIS) Chain is interrupted at a predetermined step so that another behavior can be emitted Interruption may cause some distress ◦ It momentarily blocks access to reinforcement This is somewhat desirable because it creates motivation to learn the new behavior in the chain ◦ As long as it is not so distressful that it causes emotional responding or self- injurious behavior Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Applied Behavior Analysis, Pearson Education, Inc. Second Edition All rights reserved  Behavior Chain Interruptioin Strategy (BCIS) Collect baseline data Direct person to start chain At predetermined point, restrict learner’s ability to complete next step Prompt learner to engage in new targeted step Then allow the individual to proceed with the chain Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Applied Behavior Analysis, Pearson Education, Inc. Second Edition All rights reserved  Breaking Inappropriate Chains Determine initial SD and ◦ Substitute an alternative, or ◦ Extend chain and build in time delays within the chain Examine potential sources of difficulty in the chain Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Applied Behavior Analysis, Pearson Education, Inc. Second Edition All rights reserved  Breaking Inappropriate Chains Examining potential sources of difficulty ◦ Re-examine SDs and responses ◦ Is sequence arbitrary? Would rearranging sequence help? ◦ Determine whether similar SDs cue different responses ◦ If so, can the sequence be rearranged to separate the two similar SDs? Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Applied Behavior Analysis, Pearson Education, Inc. Second Edition All rights reserved  Breaking Inappropriate Chains Examining potential sources of difficulty ◦ Analyze the job setting to identify relevant and irrelevant SDs ◦ Do you need to implement discrimination training so that the learner can discriminate the relevant from irrelevant SDs? ◦ Determine whether SDs in the job setting differ from training SDs ◦ May need to conduct some training in job setting Copyright © 2007 by Cooper, Heron, and Heward Pearson Education, Inc. Applied Behavior Analysis, All rights reserved Second Edition  Breaking Inappropriate Chains Examining potential sources of difficulty ◦ Identify presence of novel stimuli in the environment ◦ Discrimination training might be necessary to teach the learner to ignore novel, irrelevant stimuli Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Applied Behavior Analysis, Pearson Education, Inc. Second Edition All rights reserved  Factors Affecting Performance Completeness of the task analysis ◦ More complete, detailed task analyses tend to produce better learning ◦ Time developing task analyses is well spent ◦ Be ready/willing to modify it after it is constructed Length/complexity of chain ◦ Longer chains take more time to learn Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Applied Behavior Analysis, Pearson Education, Inc. Second Edition All rights reserved  Factors Affecting Performance Schedule of reinforcement ◦ Must use appropriate schedule (Ch. 13) ◦ Consider number of responses in chain when determining the schedule Extinction ◦ Responses performed further from the reinforcer may become less likely ◦ This interrupts the SD relation and can result in withering performance of the chain ◦ Lesson: adjust reinforcement schedule accordingly (use intermittent schedules) Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Applied Behavior Analysis, Pearson Education, Inc. Second Edition All rights reserved  Factors Affecting Performance Stimulus variation ◦ Introduce all variations of the stimulus items to be encountered later to increase generalization of the chain Response variation ◦ Varied responses may be needed to deal with stimulus variation ◦ This may require some retraining of responses Cooper, Heron, and Heward Copyright © 2007 by Applied Behavior Analysis, Pearson Education, Inc. Second Edition All rights reserved