The Evaluation and Treatment of Aggression Maintained by Attention and Automatic Reinforcement
Nayely G. Calderon
California State University Sacramento The Evaluation and Treatment of Aggression Maintained by Attention and Automatic Reinforcement
The studied focused on the evaluation of treatment of aggression maintained by attention and automatic reinforcement. A study by Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman & Richman 1982/1994, developed a functional analysis method. The creation of functional analysis helped researchers evaluate more effectively multiple functions of destructive behavior simultaneously. Study done by Iwata 1994 showed that the function of behavior can be identified in most cases, however, in a significant minority of cases,
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Aggression was considered when the participant was hitting, kicking, pinching, and scratching, and firmly pressing and grinding his chin against others. Chin grinding was the most frequent behavior in the participant. In the case of Ernie’s chin grinding, it was not considered SIB because when the behavior was displayed it resulted in severe bruising and pain to caregivers, chin grinding didn’t result in tissue damage, and because Ernie didn’t self-inflict pain or to objects. The sessions were conducted by trained therapists in a 3m by 3m room that had a one-way mirror. Treatment sessions were conducted in Ernie’s living unit and classroom (Thompson et …show more content…
Researchers taught Ernie to ask for attention instead of engaging in aggressive behaviors by using picture cards that displayed a form of attention from the therapist (Thompson et al.,1998).
Sessions of 30-s intervals were recorded and a picture card was placed in front of Ernie. If Ernie handed the picture card to the therapist the therapist would give him attention. If he didn’t do anything 15-s into the interval he was prompted on what to do. If he engaged in aggression behavior Ernie was ignored. After training sessions, the researchers added extinction to FCT. Chin grinding and other aggressive behaviors were ignored. An ABAB design was used to compare end results from FCT plus extinction to baseline (Thompson et al.,1998).
Experiment III
This third experiment was conducted to reduce Ernie’s chin grinding. It was concluded in the second functional analysis of experiment two that Ernie’s chin grinding was based on automatic reinforcement. Ernie was provided with a similar stimulation for chin grinding. He was provided with a device that provided similar stimulation to press against his chin. researchers used response block if Ernie tried to chin grind on others and prompted him to use the device that was provided for him (Thompson et
Eric continues to engage in Self-Injurious Behaviors (SIB) at a high rate. His digestive issues, seasonal allergies and toothaches are antecedents to this behavior. However, it has been discussed with his behavioral team, including parents that Eric engages in SIB for everything (when he is happy, overstimulated, and angry and not feeling well). When his SIB escalates, he often targets his mom or dad and other adults working with him (Associate Behavior Specialist, Classroom Aide). Parents and other adults working with him continue to redirect his SIB with providing him with his soft helmet (decreases his head hitting), and hitting his legs to prevent head injury.
This supports the Social Learning Theories of aggression as the children learnt through observation of the role model, imitation of their behaviour and behaviour shaping. Also they received sweets and praise as a form of positive vicarious reinforcement thus meaning that there was a chance of repetition of the aggressive behaviour outside the laboratory setting. The vicarious reinforcement is also a direct consequence that will have an effect on the chances of the child repeating the behaviour. As if the child was punished they would have been less likely to act aggressively again.
For many years, girls have been bullying other girls. However, this bullying isn’t usually physical like the type of bullying seen in boys. Girls tend to bully each other through types of alternative aggression. These alternative aggressions are invisible to most, except by the bully and the victim. Along with alternative aggression, girls use relational aggression to bully one another. They ruin each other’s social statuses, sometimes to raise their own. Girl bullies are sneaky, they find ways to avoid confrontation. These girls will cyberbully and gang up on someone with other girls. Girls know how to sneak around and have awful outcomes.
Punishment-Based interventions are types of treatment that is sometime used in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis to modify or change behaviors. There is a quite a bit of controversy and misunderstanding related to use of punishment. Punishment-based interventions have been proven to be one of the most controversial treatments used by behavior analyst and found in behavior analyst literature (e.g. Johnston, 1991; Matson & Kazdin, 1981; Repp & Singh, 1990) (DiGennaro Reed, & Lovett, 2008). The definition itself is many times confused or lack understanding. Cooper, Heron, and Heward (2006) explain that punishment frequently misunderstood, misapplied and quite controversial. There are some therapists or behavior analysts, parents, caregivers, teachers, and people in general who support punishment and some who do not (Hall, 2013). Although there is a lot of controversy about whether to use punishment or not, punishment is indeed still sometimes used in the field of applied behavior analysis, but there are special guidelines for using punishment based procedures in the field. Before a behavior analyst can decide whether or not they want to use punishment in an intervention, they must clearly understand the definition
The time to aggression onset was the outcome variable. The data used to calculated change over time was the baseline observation data and the last know observation data collected. This information was used to calculate the linear slope in the study with regards to change. The observed baseline measurements included psychosocial variables, nonaggressive physical agitation, patient-caregiver mutuality and nonaggressive physical agitation. A time of event variable was the time to the beginning of aggression.
Aggression is a natural part of human behavior, and can even be adaptive in certain situations. However, when aggression manifests itself in violent behaviors, it becomes problematic. Patterns of aggression change throughout childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, and these changes usually differ between males and females (Loeber, 1997). Physical aggression is typically greatest early in life and decreases during adolescence, whereas more serious violence tends to increase with age, particularly during adolescence (Loeber, 1997). Despite the changes that occur in aggressive tendencies throughout childhood and adolescence, aggression is seen as a very stable trait, almost as stable as
The study consisted of 36 boys and 36 girls from the Stanford University Nursery School, ages between 3 to 6 years old. The children were split into three groups based off their aggression judgment from teachers and parents. The first set of children were shown aggression by adults, both male and female, beating up a Bobo Doll. The second set of children ascertained an adult model who exhibit no aggression and the control group was not acquaint to any model. The first set of children were placed in a room with the Bobo Doll after 10 minutes of watching the adult model. The results showed that the first set of children who watched the aggressive model showed
When looking at the data presented, it does appear that intervention worked. All three behaviors showed a decrease in frequency from baseline to treatment with hair pulling and head banging showing a greater decrease in frequency. Although it looks as though treatment was effective for Sara other confounding variables may also have been involved therefore it does not demonstrate a strong experimental control In each case, only one instance of baseline was recorded and one instance of treatment was recorded.
Client was referred to New Behavioral Network for Therapeutic Support for Families. Client was referred for services to address his history of aggression, which include tantrums, crying, throwing himself to the ground and hitting his sister. The client aggressive behaviors could extend for periods of 15 minutes to several hours when upset on a daily basis.
Chronic violent juvenile offenders, though small in numbers, account for the majority of all violent offenses, which presents a level of severity that shows a need for a policy intervention. When utilized on violent juvenile offenders, Aggression Replacement Training (ART), which teaches prosocial behaviors, anger control training, and moral education, can act as a recidivism-reducing policy tool. ART theorizes that by giving violent juveniles these skills and education, those juveniles will become less aggressive and thus decrease their criminal offending. The creators of ART performed implementation evaluations at two juvenile detention centers in New York when first
The main usage of the Abuse-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT) is working with children and their families that have suffered sexual or physical abuse; the environment is very hostile, the child may be subject coercion and are aggression when the family is present. AF-CBT is also used for children with behavioral problems such as Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder. AF-CBT is right for children who are the ages of 5-15, who exhibit some level of behavioral or emotional dysfunction and for parents or caregivers who may resort to uncomfortable or unsafe levels of physical punishment. The goal of this therapy is to reduce the level of physical abuse risk factors of the caregiver or family and to reduce the consequences of these experiences for the children. The primary focus is behavior management, social skills, training, cognitive restructuring, problem-solving skills, and communications skills for the caregiver’s level of anger and promote nonaggressive discipline strategies, to enhance a child’s coping skills, and encourage problem-solving and communication.
D., & Pear, J. J. (2014). Analysis of the interaction between experimental and applied behavior analysis. Journal Of Applied Behavior Analysis, 47(2), 380-403. doi:10.1002/jaba.124
One of the greatest appeals to behavior therapy is its efficacy in treating a wide array of disorders and its innovative applications outside of individual psychotherapy. In the past century, behavior therapy has made increasingly effective and creative therapies to treat patients with maladaptive behaviors which were previously, in some cases, untreatable. With such developments, patients were able to not only treat pathologies, but also improve functioning in a variety of aspects of their lives as well as the lives of those close to them. Amongst the most widely implemented treatments in behavior therapy are token economies, contingency contracts, and behavioral parent training. These therapies proved to be greatly useful when they were
This paper is to define and discuss the Evidence Based Practice Model Behavior Modification. Expounding on the various methods that are utilized to alter behaviors from positive to negative, and some of the tools implemented to enforce behavioral changes in various settings. This discussion will also explain various techniques that have been designed to make behavioral changes more effective and understandable. Exploring direct interactions from articles this paper will also discuss the benefits and barriers that one faces in dealing with behavior modification.
S. Lee, J. Manganello, J. Rice, C. Taylor (2010) preformed a study to understand childhood aggression. The journal article of Mothers’ Spanking of 3-Year-Old Children and Subsequent Risk of Children’s Aggressive Behavior starts by saying that they are not the first to perform this research and many of studies have displayed connection between corporal punishment with children and child aggression. They are testing their research with new controlling factors, which have not been controlled together before. (Lee et al., 2010) The main goal of the article is to determine the association between the use of corporal punishment against 3-year-old children and recognize later aggressive behavior among those children.