Saul Axelrod

Functional and structural analyses of behavior: Approaches leading to reduced use of punishment procedures?☆

A common approach to dealing with the serious misbehaviors of handicapped individuals is to use punishment procedures. Although punishment techniques are often effective, many claim that their use is restrictive. Emerging approaches for dealing with inappropriate behavior are to conduct a functional or structural analysis of behavior. These approaches allow practitioners to isolate and manipulate the factors responsible for aberrant behaviors. Such analyses may reveal that a maladaptive behavior results in adult attention, is associated with demand situations, or provides reinforcing sensory feedback. In each case corrective procedures relevant to the function of the inappropriate behavior or its associated stimuli, can be applied. In some cases the analysis will reveal alternative approaches to the use of punishment procedures. In other cases it may not. Presently, there have been relatively few examples of the functional and structural analysis approaches; results thus far, however, have been encouraging.

Behavior analysis and treatment

Introduction R. Van Houten, S. Axelrod. Defining an Acceptable Treatment Environment J.E. Favell, J.F. McGimsey. Building Functional Curricula for Students with Severe Intellectual Disabilities and Severe Behavior Problems R.H. Horner, et al. Functional Analysis and Treatment of Aberrant Behavior F.C. Mace, et al. Treatment Classification and Selection Based on Behavioral Function B.A. Iwatar, et al. The Interpersonal Treatment Model A. Rolider, R. Van Houten. Ensuring the Competence of Behavior Analysis G.L. Shook, R. Van Houten. A Decision-Making Model for Selecting the Optimal Treatment Procedure S. Axelrod, et al. Coordinating the Treatment Process among Various Disciplines N.B. Swiezy, J.L. Matson. Communication-Based Treatment of Severe Behavior Problems E.G. Carr, et al. Promoting Generalization G. Dunlap. Providing Out-clinic Services D.P. Wacker, M.W. Steege. A Model for Devloping and Evaluating Behavioral Technology J.M. Johnston. The Development and Evaluation of the Self-Injurious Behavior Inhibiting System T.R. Linscheid. Index.

The Contributions of Applied Behavior Analysis to the Education of People With Autism

Among the numerous treatments available for helping to educate people with autism, applied behavior analysis (ABA) is the best empirically evaluated, as many articles in this dual-volume special issue document. Unfortunately, the best supported treatments are not always the best disseminated or accepted. Recently, however, ABA has emerged with widespread recognition beyond the limited community of academic and behavioral psychologists and special educators. In fact, ABA has been recognized by the surgeon general of the United States as the treatment of choice for autism in his mental health report for children: “Thirty years of research demonstrated the efficacy of applied behavioral methods in reducing inappropriate behavior and in increasing communication, learning, and appropriate social behavior” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999). Corroborating the surgeon general’s recommendation are state governments in New York (Department of Health, 1999) and California (Collaborative Work Group on Autistic Spectrum Disorders, 1997), as well as a collaborative group in Maine (MADSEC Autism Taskforce, 1999). New York and Maine reference the unparalleled quantity of outcome research supporting behavior analytic instruction and its best-practice features (see Jacobson, 2000). Beyond governmental organizations, the popular media has begun to recognize and educate the public about ABA treatment for autism. For example, ABC broadcast a Nightline episode endorsing ABA early intervention for children with autism

The Right to Effective Behavioral Treatment

We propose that individuals who are recipients or potential recipients of treatment designed to change their behavior have the right to: (1) a therapeutic environment, (2) services whose overriding goal is personal welfare, (3) treatment by a competent behavior analyst, (4) programs that teach functional skills, (5) behavioral assessment and ongoing evaluation, and (6) the most effective treatment procedures available.

Influence of Distributed Practice and Daily Testing on Weekly Spelling Tests 1

AbstractFour studies compared different means of presenting spelling words to students. The dependent variable for all studies was the youngsters’ scores on weekly review tests. Experiments I, II, and HI demonstrated that students did better on the weekly review tests when they received a portion of the words each day and were tested daily, than when they received alt words at the beginning of the week and did not have daily tests. Experiment IV indicated that receiving a portion of the words each day without daily testing, was inferior to receiving a portion of the words each day with daily testing, but better than receiving all words at the beginning of the week without daily testing.

Comparison of Two Common Classroom Seating Arrangements.

Saul Axelrod, PhD, is a professor of special education at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122. R. Vance Hall, PhD, is a professor of education at the University of Kansas, and is also director of the Juniper Gardens’ Childrens’ Project, 2021 N. Third Street, Kansas City, Kansas 66101. Ann Tams, MA, 6108 Balboa Street, Merriam, Kansas 66203, is a rehabilitation counselor in the public schools of Kansas City, Kansas. Educational literature has indicated some concern for the effects of vaious seating arrangements on student performance. Such literature has claimed, for example, that the learning environment of brain-injured youngsters should be free of excessive stimulation (Strauss and Lehtinen 1947). These authors have suggested that classrooms should have uniformly painted walls, no windows or pictures, and individual, isolated desks facing the wall. I n one study the investigators found that a first-grade boy’s (P14’s) study level increased when the boy who sat next to him in a U-shaped seating arrangement was removed and replaced with a female classmate. Later, when P14’S seat was changed so that he sat between two boys, his study level decreased, but it again increased when a girl was placed on either side of him (Burdett et al. 1970). The results of another study demonstrated that when a contingent-teacher-attention procedure increased the study behavior of a disruptive child, the behavior of a class-

A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Brief versus Traditional Functional Analyses.

The study compared a brief and an extended (i.e., traditional) functional analyses with three adults with serious developmental disabilities. Two of the subjects exhibited high levels of aggressive behavior, whereas the third engaged in self-injury. Both analyses examined conditions such as tangible reinforcement, attention, demand, alone and play (i.e., baseline). The brief functional analysis also included functional communication training in which the subjects learned a relevant mand. The brief and extended functional analyses revealed the same controlling variables in all cases, but the brief functional analyses took less than 20% of the time in analog conditions as the extended analyses. These results further the case for the utility of brief functional analyses. We caution, however, that behavior analysts should not generalize from a study that involved only three subjects and that brief functional analyses may be particularly sensitive to establishing operations.

Overcorrection A Review and Critical Analysis

Research on overcorrection was analyzed along a number of dimensions. Two types of overcorrection have been described — restitutional overcorrection and positive-practice overcorrection (Foxx & Azrin, 1972). In restitutional overcorrection an individual who disrupts the environment must restore, and then improve, the environment over its previous state. In positive-practice overcorrection, an offending individual must repeatedly perform an appropriate behavior. The literature indicates that overcorrection has been effective with a wide variety of behaviors, but that its effectiveness compared with alternative procedures is unclear. An adequate assessment of the side effects of overcorrection has been hampered by a lack of objective data and a failure to specify, in advance, which behaviors are of interest. Investigations of various parameters of overcorrection indicate that topographical similarity between an offense and the restitutional procedure is unnecessary, that the duration of time that the process must be administered is unclear, and that a more precise specification of the components of overcorrection is necessary. Finally, it is concluded that Foxx and Azrin have not been sufficiently explicit in relating overcorrection to the punishment process.Research on overcorrection was analyzed along a number of dimensions. Two types of overcorrection have been described — restitutional overcorrection and positive-practice overcorrection (Foxx & Azrin, 1972). In restitutional overcorrection an individual who disrupts the environment must restore, and then improve, the environment over its previous state. In positive-practice overcorrection, an offending individual must repeatedly perform an appropriate behavior. The literature indicates that overcorrection has been effective with a wide variety of behaviors, but that its effectiveness compared with alternative procedures is unclear. An adequate assessment of the side effects of overcorrection has been hampered by a lack of objective data and a failure to specify, in advance, which behaviors are of interest. Investigations of various parameters of overcorrection indicate that topographical similarity between an offense and the restitutional procedure is unnecessary, that the duration of time that the proces...

Matching Training Procedures to Outcomes: A Behavioral and Quantitative Analysis

To analyze the effects of matching the prompting procedure used in training to the specific behavior chain to be taught, 3 students with mild to moderate retardation were taught four independent tasks: making a bagged lunch, playing a matching game with a peer, ordering food at a restaurant, and participating in a social conversation. Following baseline, all 3 students were exposed to one of two types of training procedures for each task: a least-to-most prompting procedure or a most-to-least prompting procedure. The type of training procedure was counter-balanced across students and tasks, whereas performance on the tasks was evaluated within a combination of a multiple-baseline design across participants and multiple-probe design across tasks. When the method of prompting was matched to the naturally occurring discriminative stimulus (SD) of the training stimulus, it greatly affected acquisition and maintenance of the skill in terms of differences in levels and variability of performance. The most-to-least method of prompting, the matched method in these cases, was more efficient and effective for acquisition and generalization of the bagged-lunch and matching-game skills. The least-to-most method, the matched method in these cases, was more efficient and effective for social-questions and ordering-food skills.

The Problem: American Education The Solution: Use Behavior Analytic Technology

In spite of numerous demonstrations that Americas youth can be effectively educated with behavior analytic teaching techniques, few of the countrys children are benefiting from the technology. In addition scholarly reviews of effective teaching strategies have often omitted reference to behavior analysis. One way to look at this problem is as a two-step operation. First, it is necessary to determine procedures that work; second it is necessary to devise strategies for effective dissemination. The present issue of JOBE (Vol. 1, No. 3, Sept. 1991) contains the recommendations of six outstanding behavioral educators as to how to deal with the dissemination problem. The initial article by Pumroy and McIntire describes the activities of an organization which trains school psychologists and teachers to use behavioral procedures and advocates for the techniques with a number of audiences. Next, Engelmann suggests that the public have more control over school activities and that legal action be taken against irresponsible administrative decisions. Hall advocates for less labor-intensive procedures and the sale of curricular materials based on behavioral principles. Binder proposes that dissemination of the technology become a private endeavor that responds to consumer needs. Rosenfield describes a collaborative model of consultation that increases treatment adherence. Finally, Albers and Greer describe research that isolates a key teacher behavior that results in greater academic proficiency.