APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS IN EDUCATION

APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS IN EDUCATION

Many applications of operant conditioning have been made outside of research labora­tories in the wider worlds of classrooms, homes, business settings, hospitals, and other real-world settings (Hill, 2002).

What Is Applied Behavior Analysis?

Applied behavior analysis involves applying the principles of operant conditioning to change human behavior. Three uses of applied behavior analysis are especially important in education: increasing desirable behavior, using prompts and shaping, and decreasing undesirable behavior (Alberto & Troutman, 1999). Applications of applied behavior analysis often use a series of steps (Hayes. 2000). These often begin with some general observations and then turn to determining the specific target behavior that needs to be changed, as well as observing its antecedent conditions. Behavioral goals are then set, particular reinforcers or punishers are selected, a behavior management program is carried out, and the success or failure of the program is evaluated.

Increasing Desirable Behaviors

Five operant conditioning strategies can be used to increase a child's desirable behaviors: choose effective reinforcers; make reinforcers contingent and timely; select the best schedule of reinforcement; consider contracting; negative reinforcement effectively; and use prompts and shaping.

Choose Effective Reinforcers Not all reinforcers are the same for every child. Ap­plied behavior analysts recommend that teachers find out what reinforcers work best with which children—that is, individualize the use of particular reinforcers. For one student it might be praise, for another it might be getting to spend more time participating in a favorite activity, for another it might involve being a hall monitor for a week, and for yet another it could be getting to surf the Internet. To find out the most effective rein­forcers for a child, you can examine what has motivated the child in the past (reinforce­ment history), what the student wants but can't easily or frequently get, and the child's perception of the reinforcers value. Some applied behavior analysts recommend asking children which reinforcers they like best.

Activities are some of the most common reinforcers used by teachers. Named after psychologist David  Premack, the Premack principle states that a high-probability activity can serve as a reinforcer for a low-probability activity.

Make Reinforcers Contingent and Timely For a reinforcer to be effective, the teacher must give it only after the child performs the particular behavior. Applied be­havior analysts often recommend that teachers make "If... then" statements to children—for example,"Tony, if you finish ten math problems, then you can go out to play." This makes it clear to Tony what he has to do to get the reinforcer. Applied behavior an­alysts say that it is important to make the reinforcer contingent on the child's behavior. That is, the child has to perform the behavior to get the reward. If Tony does not complete ten math problems and the teacher still lets him go out to play, the contingency has not been established.

Reinforcers are more effective when they are given in a timely way, as soon as possible after the child performs the target behavior. This helps children see the contingency connection between the reward and their behavior.

Select the Best Schedule of Reinforcement  In continuous reinforcement, the child is reinforced every time he or she makes a response, children learn very rapidly, but when the reinforcement stops (the teacher stops praising), extinction also occurs rapidly. In the classroom, continuous reinforcement is rare. Partial reinforcement involves reinforcing a response only part of the time. Skinner (1953) developed the concept of schedules of reinforcement, which are partial reinforcement timetables that determine when a response will be reinforced. The four main schedules of reinforcement are fixed-ratio, variable-ratio, fixed-interval, and variable-interval.

On a fixed-ratio schedule, a behavior is reinforced after a set number of responses. For example, a teacher might praise the child only after every fourth correct response, not after every response. On a variable-ratio schedule, a behavior is reinforced after an average number of times.

Interval schedules are determined by the amount of time elapsed since the last be­havior was reinforced. On a fixed-interval schedule, the first appropriate response after a fixed amount of time is reinforced. For example, a teacher might praise a child for the first good question the child asks after two minutes have elapsed or give a quiz every week. On a variable-interval schedule, a response is reinforced after a variable amount of time has elapsed. On this schedule, the teacher might praise the child's question-asking after three minutes have gone by, then after fifteen minutes have gone by, after seven minutes have gone by, and so on. Giving a pop quiz at uneven intervals also reflects a variable-interval schedule.