By: Desiree Garcia, Precision ABA Behavior Technician

Parents

This week’s topic will cover reinforcement and its two types: positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement.

So, what is reinforcement?

Reinforcement is something (an object or event) in your child’s environment that makes it more likely they will behave that way in the future. In other words, this object or event increases a behavior.  Let’s say your child is climbing up onto the counter to get one of the delicious chocolate chip cookies you baked earlier. You hurry over there and take the cookie from them, letting them know they can’t have the cookie until they finish their dinner. They start to cry. Then their cries turn into a loud, full-blown tantrum. After a few minutes of this, you decided you’ve had enough and give them the cookie. Your child immediately stops crying. In the future, it is more likely that your child will cry and throw a tantrum when they want something. In this example, giving them the cookie after a few minutes of crying and screaming has reinforced or increased the chances of them crying and screaming to get what they want next time.

Similarly, because your child immediately stopped their tantrum, you are more likely to give them the cookie (or whatever they want) after they cry or throw a tantrum in the future.

This example demonstrated reinforcement of 2 behaviors through 2 different types: positive and negative.

Positive Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement happens when an object or event is added to your child’s environment after they behave a certain way, making it more likely they will behave that way in the future.  For example, let’s say you tell your child to say, “Mama,” and they say “Mama” back. You tell them “Yes!” and give them hugs and tickles. In this example your added praise and attention after they said “Mama” reinforced that response, making it more likely they will say it again in the future!

Another example of positive reinforcement would be getting paid after going to work. Getting that paycheck at the end of the week or seeing your direct deposit go through makes it more likely that you will go back to work on Monday. The money is added to your environment, i.e., your bank account. Your paycheck increases your behavior of going to work again.

Negative Reinforcement

Contrastingly, negative reinforcement happens when an object or event is removed from your child’s environment after they behave a certain way, making it more likely that they will behave that way in the future. For instance, let’s say your child is afraid of spiders. After seeing one, they scream. You run over to them to see what’s wrong, then you quickly get a shoe and whack it, picking it up with a tissue, and throwing it in the garbage. In this example, you removed the spider from their environment after they screamed for help. In the future, it is more likely that they will scream again when they see a spider hoping someone will come and kill it. You killing the spider reinforced or increased their response of screaming.

Another example of negative reinforcement would be going to a concert and hearing a loud, screeching sound coming from the amp. When you hear it, you immediately cover your ears with your hands. After you cover your ears, the sound is removed from your hearing (or at least it’s not as loud). In the future, it is more likely that you will cover your ears when you hear another loud sound.  In other words, the removal of the loud sounds increases your behavior of covering your ears.

In general, positive and negative reinforcement increase the likelihood of behaving a certain way in the future. Through a combination of learning and contact with reinforcement, we have all learned to do things that allow us to contact the things we like (attention and money) as well as avoid things we dislike (spiders and loud sounds).

 Why is reinforcement important?

In general, reinforcement is the most widely applied principle of behavior analysis and is very important in shaping how we behave. Reinforcement is effective in changing your child’s behavior. Whether you want a behavior to decrease or increase, knowledge of reinforcement is an effective tool in achieving this. It is also a principle that we use all the time in our day-to-day life!

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ABA Practitioners

History of Reinforcement

Research on reinforcement dates to studies in the 1920s conducted by Edward Thorndike, applying this concept to learning in organisms.  B.F. Skinner continued his research and published numerous studies on reinforcement, which was later followed by the publication of his first book in 1938, The Behavior of Organisms. In this book, Skinner discusses that behavior can be conditioned or learned through two types: respondent conditioning or operant conditioning. To keep the content of this post simple and relevant, we will briefly go over operant conditioning.

Operant conditioning is the principle developed by Skinner that proposes a behavior or response can be taught through the principle of reinforcement. The subsequent behavior or response is called operant behavior. Operant behavior is controlled by its consequences, or whatever stimulus follows the behavior. It is critical that we learn about reinforcement as its application can provide many opportunities for our learners to grow and make efficient progress over time!

So what is reinforcement?

Reinforcement is when a stimulus, presented after a behavior, increases the likelihood of that behavior occurring in the future. In other words, reinforcement strengthens behavior.  An example of this includes a dog sitting on command and being given a treat. In the future, when the dog’s owner says, “Sit” the probability of the dog sitting will increase. In this case, the treat was the source of reinforcement, or reinforcer, that strengthened the dog’s sitting. Another example would be walking out into the rain and immediately taking out your umbrella to prevent yourself from getting more wet. In the future, it is more likely that you will open your umbrella when it rains again. In this example, removal of the rain reinforced, or strengthened, your behavior of opening your umbrella.

In both of these examples, reinforcement is demonstrated by increasing the likelihood of each of the behaviors occurring in the future. Additionally, each example demonstrates the two different types of reinforcement: positive and negative.

Positive Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement occurs “when a response is followed by the presentation of a stimulus and as a result, similar responses occur more frequently in the future” (Cooper, Heron, and Heward, 2007). In other words, it is positive reinforcement if the source of reinforcement, or reinforcer, is added to the environment following the behavior. The earlier example of the dog sitting demonstrated positive reinforcement. After the dog sat, he was given a treat. The treat was the added stimulus to his environment following the behavior of sitting, increasing the probability that he will sit on command in the future.

Another example of positive reinforcement would be getting paid after going to work. Getting that paycheck at the end of the week or seeing your direct deposit go through increases the likelihood that you will go back to work on Monday. The money is added to your environment, i.e., your bank account. Although it is not as immediate as the treat, that paycheck still strengthens your behavior of going to work again.

Negative Reinforcement

Contrastingly, negative reinforcement occurs “when a response is followed by the removal of a stimulus and as a result, similar responses occur more frequently in the future” (Cooper, Heron, and Heward, 2007). That is, negative reinforcement involves a stimulus being removed from an individual’s environment. In the earlier example of opening your umbrella after it begins to rain, this demonstrated negative reinforcement. More specifically, the rain was the stimulus removed, which strengthened your behavior of opening your umbrella.

Another example of negative reinforcement would be taking a shower. The stimulus would be the dirt on your body. After taking a shower, the dirt is removed from your body through washing it with soap. In the future, it is more likely that you will take a shower with soap after your body gets dirty. The removal of dirt strengthens your behavior of taking a shower with soap.

Both positive and negative reinforcement increase the likelihood of you repeating the behavior in the future. Through a combination of learning and contact with reinforcement, we have all been conditioned to behave in ways that are shaped by our environment.

Why is reinforcement important?

In general, reinforcement is the most widely applied principle of behavior analysis and is very important in shaping how organisms behave. Reinforcement is effective in changing behavior. Knowing how to use reinforcement, the different schedules of reinforcement, as well as withholding reinforcement (when necessary) are also important when it comes to changing behavior (this will all be discussed in later posts). In general, whether the target is behavior-reduction or skill acquisition, practitioners incorporate the principle of reinforcement in all of their programs for their learners. It is also a principle that we use all the time in our day-to-day life sometimes without even realizing it!

References

In my first blog post, I mentioned that I wanted to write for parents and ABA practitioners on the same concepts. You’ll see below that there are two sections, one for each group. I hope you enjoy!

Parents

At Precision ABA, we use the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis, and operate from a Precision Teaching methodology. You likely know what ABA is, or else you wouldn’t have found us! But what is Precision Teaching?

I like to think of Precision Teaching (PT) as ABA on steroids. We measure and analyze behavior, for all the behaviors! In a given session, our team will easily take data on 50 different target behaviors—we love data!

The basics of PT are that we choose behaviors that are easy to understand and observe, and define it using clear, plain language. Then, we count each and every instance of that behavior, plot it on a Chart, and then monitor it very closely. We evaluate performance each and every time we “drop a dot” on the Chart, which means we make changes quickly if the behavior isn’t progressing the way we need it to, or if our learner met their goal. By letting the data guide us, and keeping a close eye on that progress, we are able to make faster, more efficient, and effective progress.

We also ensure full, functional mastery of a skill before we consider it “mastered,” which means that the behavior is easy, it happens across places and people, and maintains over time.

Another benefit of Precision Teaching is that we use plain English to describe what’s going on. ABA principles, while critical to understand as a practitioner, are confusing as heck to people outside of the field! Reinforcement means adding in supports, people, not increasing behavior!! Precision Teachers use plain English to describe behavioral processes, which makes it much more user friendly.

ABA Practitioners

When you hear “Precision Teaching,” what comes to mind? Many of you would likely say: fluency, timings, or that crazy blue Chart. Over the years, I’ve heard a lot of people say, “I did PT once,” or “I used to do PT,” or “I used PT in one of my classes.” While fluency, timed practice, and the Standard Celeration Chart (that kooky, but amazing, tool), may be part of the PT process, they are not synonymous with Precision Teaching or “doing PT.”

Precision Teaching is a way of designing a teaching arrangement, measuring the impact of those decisions, and making changes based on that measurement. It really doesn’t have much to do with the actual teaching at all! It is more of a measurement system. To “do PT,” you have to follow the following steps:

• Pinpoint
• Record
• Chart
• Try, Try Again

Pinpoint. Pinpointing is the process of defining behaviors. It begins with observing one repeatable action. To pinpoint, select one behavior that you see repeated over and over. This behavior has a clear beginning and end point, and can repeat over time. Typically, this behavior is a small unit (you could select “writes letter” instead of “finishes assignment”), so that you can detect the smallest possible changes. Once you select the behavior, choose an active verb that is observable. Kicks, steps, says, smiles, these are all active verbs. Then pair that word with an object or context that that verb operates on. Kicks ball, steps backwards, says, “hello,” smiles at a peer, these all give context around when and how the behavior occurs. Then you have your pinpoint! Clear definition of the behavior that can be counted.

More advanced pinpointing includes learning channels. Stay tuned for more information about that in a future post!

Record. Once you have your pinpoint, you select your measurement style. Precision Teachers use the most sensitive measure of the behavior in order to record performance. Rarely would you see a PTer recommend discontinuous measurement. Skinner said one of his most important contributions to the science was rate of response (or frequency, count per time), and that is often the most sensitive measure of behavior. It records behavior happening in time, just as behavior occurs (how many behaviors do you know that happen independent of time? Even trials happen within time)! We also may use duration, latency, or IRT if necessary, but they’re always continuous measurement practices.

Chart. Once the behavior is measured, Precision Teachers display the frequency (or duration, latency, etc.) on a Standard Celeration Chart. We use this tool because it calibrates the behavior to a count per time. For example, if you observed a behavior for 10 minutes one day and recorded 5 instances, and another day, you observed for 50 minutes and recorded 25 instances. On an Excel graph (or Catalyst, or any other add/subtract graph), there is a HUGE distance between 5 and 25 instances! But if you put it on the SCC, it calibrates it to a count per minute, which would show you that in both observations, the behavior occurred, on average, one time every 2 minutes. Same frequency, different recording window. I can hear the naysayers now… don’t worry, I’ll talk about the benefits of the SCC in another post! I promise, it’s easier than you think. And with Chartlytics and other softwares using the Chart, it’s really the same amount of effort!

While you chart, go back and look at the data each time you drop a dot. Make sure the behavior is increasing when you want it to, and decreasing when you want it to, and that you’re making good use of your time. Timely data-based decisions are critical. We only have a little bit of time with our learners, and if we drag our feet, they’re not going to meet their goals. Change quickly and often. Don’t wait things out longer than you need to.

Try, Try Again. One of the most humbling pieces of Precision Teaching, in my opinion, is this final “step.” Precision Teachers don’t actually care what you teach or how you teach it (okay, we do), but what we’re really interested in is that you try, try again. Observe the behavior and your charts, and put in interventions as frequently as the data warrant. If your DV isn’t picking up on changes in the behavior that you’re seeing anecdotally, you need to change your DV. If your IV didn’t have the impact on behavior you expected it to, change your IV. If an EV is getting in the way of learning, remediate it! If it really helped improve behavior, do more of that! If behavior isn’t changing the way you need it to, try something else. Quite literally. In some cases, you may be at a loss and you’re not sure what to try. Try something. If it didn’t work, change again.

The community of Precision Teachers is a supportive one. A common phrase to describe PT is “care enough to chart” and “heart the chart.” In fact, if you display data on an SCC and present it at the Chart Share at the Precision Teaching conference (a group of people getting together and doing a data share in 1- or 2-minute intervals), you’ll get a little heart bead for completing your first Chart Share.

Lineage is important to Precision Teachers. We call those who taught us to chart our “chart parent(s),” and some of us also have “chart aunts/uncles/siblings/grandparents,” too! Precision Teaching is a community and a family. My chart parent is Dr. August Stockwell, who taught me to chart in a course at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology in 2011, and I also have a cool aunt Liz Lefebre, who taught me how to apply the Chart to professional practice working with children with ASD. Because we’re a big extended family, we welcome newcomers with open arms. So, if you are interested in learning more about Precision Teaching, reach out to one of us, or join the Standard Celeration Society. We’d love to have you!

In planning for 2019, I decided I wanted to write a blog so that I could provide resources for families. Often, the same questions are brought up from parent to parent, and we have really eager families who want learn as much as they can about their child’s programming. The parents we work with are so committed to their children, and truly subscribe to Precision ABA’s company value of commitment to learning. I have so many families who ask what they can read up on, how they can learn more, and how they can help their kids. The problem is, there isn’t much out there.

In ABA, we have a wealth of resources geared towards professionals—we are, as a science, completely rooted in the literature. We have lots of articles, webinars, conferences, all geared towards professional development, for the professional. But, we have far fewer resources for the committed parents we serve. And the ABA literature is written in jargon—far from plain English! And completely inaccessible to parents and other members of the community at large.

My hang up, though, in writing the blog and as a Precision Teacher, is that I like to have a full scope written before I dive into anything: I want to know the steps I’m going to take and what my end goal is. I want everything to be linear and cumulative, and as efficient as possible. As Precision Teachers and Curriculum Designers, we are always working with the end in mind, and sketch out all the steps we need to take to meet our goals. With the blog, though, I don’t know what the “end” is! My goal is to get information out to families and other professionals, a process that is very non-linear.

And here we are. February 15^th. 6 weeks into the New Year, and I have yet to put pen to paper (virtually, anyway). But today is a special day. It’s Precision ABA’s birthday. We are officially 4 years old. And today more than any other day, I am reminded that the best laid plans can turn out in a variety of ways. The families we serve, and hopefully even those this blog may touch outside of our small community, just want something. I know that you’re not expecting perfection or a perfectly laid plan. Just something to help you understand just a little more. So today, I am going to just do.

In reflecting on our last 4 years, I’ve come up with a few lessons that I’ve learned through the process, that I think are representative of life:

1. The best laid plans can turn out in a variety of ways. There are times throughout my life, and I’m sure yours, that I have mapped out a destination and a path to achieve it, and very rarely has that path been followed exactly. Life throws curve balls, obstacles pop up, and things turn in ways that you didn’t see coming. We see this in life and in day-to-day operations with Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs). I can write a beautiful, efficient, function-based plan, that isolates all confounding variables (the things that could get in the way of the plan), is easy to implement, and will produce the best outcomes. And sometimes, it works perfectly. And others, it just doesn’t. This doesn’t mean that anything is wrong, this just means that life happens. As humans, we respond to our environment, and our environment isn’t always so kind to us. But also as humans, we are flexible and adaptive. So the next time a plan isn’t working, know that sometimes it just takes a little adaptability, and sometimes, we just need a change!
2. Celebration is a critical part of life. In our office, we have a Celebration Wall. On this, we celebrate or express gratitude for accomplishments in our team’s lives. Each learner has a chart that tracks their goals met and progress to each of their goals. We celebrate successes on a daily basis with each of our learners. By taking the time to celebrate success, we’re happier, the kids are happier, and it makes us so much more resilient in the face of struggle. It’s so easy to get stuck in what’s not going right, that sometimes we forget how far we’ve come. Take time to realize all the progress, big and small, that you, your family, and your child, have achieved!
3. People are so good! The community we’ve built at Precision ABA, the staff, the clients, and the families, are so driven and committed to make the world a better place. For some, that is a broad-scale goal: we want to change the lives of those we serve and beyond. For others, it sits very close to home, and we want to make the world a better place for our child. The common thread is that we want to make the world a little bit better. And that is so good!

Today, on our 4^th birthday, I am committing to support you through the use of this blog. This year is going to be a big one for the Precision ABA family, and we’re excited that you are here for the ride with us. If there are specific topics that you’d like to hear more about, please send us an email through the contact form and let me know!

Sincerely,