POSITIVE
APPROACHES TO BEHAVIORAL SUPPORT
PRESENTED
FOR KIND TREE PRODUCTIONS, INC.
Information
compiled and presented by Rick Newton
2/99
503 463-5587
The
DSM - what is it?
Behaviorism's
Legacy
A
Rebuttal to Behaviorism
Are We Listening?
BEHAVIORAL
TERMINOLOG
Antecedent:
Cue, setting event and/or environmental situation that influences
behavior.
Behavior:
Any observable and/or measurable action.
Behavioral
Deficit: The behavior isn't happening at all,
not frequently enough or it doesn't happen well enough.
Behavioral
Excess: There is too much behavior, it is too forceful
and/or it lasts too long.
Behavioral
Objective: A specific goal defined in terms of observable
and measurable actions.
Consequence:
Feedback following a behavior that increase or decrease
a behavior occurrence.
Criteria:
Level of acceptable performance involving rate, intensity,
distance, etc.
Cue:
Signal, request or event that can or does influence
the occurrence of a behavior.
Differential
Reinforcement of
Alternative Behavior: (DRA) Reinforcement provided
for any response other than the targeted behavior.
Differential
Reinforcement of
Incompatible Behavior: (DRI) Reinforcement
of a specific behavior which cannot
occur simultaneously with the targeted behavior.
Differential
Reinforcement of
Other Behavior: (DRO) Increasing the density
of reinforcement in general.
Environment:
Something that surrounds; surroundings. The combination
of conditions that affect growth.
Functional
Analysis: A measurable description of the behavior,
a description of the need to alter the behavior, an assessment
of the meaning of the behavior, a description of conditions
that precede and consequence that follow the behavior and
measurable
procedures to alter the behavior.
General
Adaptation Syndrome: The fight or flight response
that results from perceived threats to well being.
Negative
Punishment: The removal of an object, activity or condition
that decreases behavior.
Negative
Reinforcement: The removal of an object, activity or
condition that increases behavior.
Operant
Behavior: A behavior that is mostly controlled
by consequences.
Positive
Punishment: The presentation of an object, activity
or condition that decreases behavior.
Positive
Reinforcement: The presentation of an object, activity
or condition that increase or maintains behavior.
Premack
Principle: Utilizing one behavior to reinforce another
(e.g.. first we work, then we play)
Primary
Reinforcement: Reinforcement that satisfy biological
needs.
Punishment:
A consequence that decreases that probability of a
behaviors occurrence.
Reinforcement:
Consequences that increase or maintain behavior.
Respondent
Behavior: Behavior that is not controlled by conscious
intent.
Setting
Events: Things that happen early in time that change
the likelihood or intensity of a given behavior.
Shaping:
Accepting of approximate responses as correct with
the ultimate aim of requiring the precise correct response.
Social
Reinforcement: Learned reinforcement such as praise,
pats on the back, high fives, etc.
Stimulus:
Any event, action or object that is perceived by the organism.
Stimulus
Control: Behaving in a manner that is consistent with
the environment (e.g., being quiet in a library)
Stimulus
Transfer: Pairing a stimulus with one or more new stimuli
and gradually fading the initial stimulus.
Suppression
Effects: Fear reactions, aggressive
reactions, stereotyped reactions, escape behaviors, imitation
effects, etc. which result from the use of punishment.
Systematic
Desensitization: Finding the smallest tolerable value
of an antecedent and gradually increasing its strength
while rewarding non response.
Task
Analysis: A behavioral objective with sequenced steps
used to teach the objective and a data collection procedure.
THE
DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTICAL MANUAL OF MENTAL DISORDERS (DSM-IV)
Although
there is no single definition of mental disorder the concept
is described as follows in the DMS-IV: "a clinically significant
behavior or psychological syndrome or pattern that occurs
in an individual and that is associated with present distress
(e.g., painful symptom) or disability (e.g., impairment in
one or more areas of functioning) or with a significantly
increased risk of suffering death, pain, disability, or important
loss of freedom.”
The
DSM recommends that the individuals mental state be examined
and evaluated with regard to five factors or dimensions (called
axis in the manual). The five axis evaluation is intended
to provide comprehensive and useful information. Axis I, II,
and III
deal with the individuals present mental and medical condition.
Axis IV and V provide additional information regarding the
person's life situation and functioning.
AXIS
I - Clinical syndromes and other conditions that may be the
focus of clinical conditions (except those included in axis
II). If an individual has more than one mental disorder they
are all listed. The principle disorder is listed first.
AXIS
II - Mental retardation and personality disorders. It is possible
to have an axis II disorder and not have an axis I disorder.
If more than one condition is present, they are all listed.
AXIS
III - Relevant physical disorders. Any medical conditions
that are relevant to understanding and treating the person.
AXIS
IV - Psycho social stressors. These factors are included by
the clinician if they have been present in the last year or
if they occurred before the previous year and are clearly
contributing to the disorder.
AXIS
V - Level of adaptive functioning. The clinician provides
a rating of the psychological, social, and occupational functioning.
A 100 point scale is used with 1 indicating severe impairment
in functioning and 100 referring to superior functioning with
no symptoms.
NOTE:
The DSM has been the primary classification system for the
diagnosis of mental disorders in the United States and is
increasingly becoming the international model. There have
been five versions. What is sometimes called a paradigm shift
occurred in 1980 when the publication of DSM III signaled
a change from a psycho-dynamic to a neuro-scientific model.
BEHAVIORISM'S
LEGACY
The
predominant view in the current literature of behavioral support
for individuals with developmental disabilities is that of
behaviorism. The following quotes are gathered from the "founding
fathers" of American behaviorism.
“Give
me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified
world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one
at random and train him to become any type of specialist I
might select - doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant chief,
and, yes,
even beggar man and thief regardless of his talents, penchants,
tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors."
“My
colleagues are constantly manipulating stimuli, dangling this,
that, and the other combination in front of the human being
in order to determine the reactions they will bring forth
- hoping the reaction will be in line with progress.
“The
interest of the behaviorist in man's doings is more than the
interest of the spectator - he wants to control man's reactions
as the physical scientists want to control and manipulate
other natural phenomena"
-
John B. Watson, Behaviorism
"What
a fascinating thing! Total control of a living organism!"
"A
scientific view of man offers exciting possibilities. We have
not yet seen what man can make of man."
"There
is no place in a scientific analysis of behavior for a mind
or self."
"It
(the literature of freedom) is unprepared for the next step,
which is not to free men from control but to analyze and change
the kinds of control to which they are exposed."
"When
two people meet, one of them is nice to the other and that
predisposes the other to be nice to him, and that makes the
other even more likely to be nice. It goes back and forth,
and it may reach the point at which they are highly disposed
to do nice things
to the other and not to hurt. And that I suppose is what would
be called being in love."
"To
make a value judgment by calling something good or bad is
to classify it in terms of its reinforcing effects.... The
only good things are positive reinforcers and the only bad
things are negative reinforcers."
"A
mother is simply a fertilized egg's way of making more fertilized
eggs."
-
B.F. Skinner Various Sources
A
REBUTTAL TO BEHAVIORISM
"Rewards
simply control through seduction rather than force. In. the
final analysis, they are no less controlling since, like punishments,
they are typically used to pressure people to do things they
would not freely do."
"All
rewards by virtue of being rewards, are not attempts to influence
or persuade or solve problems together, but simply to control."
"If
as a matter of principle, we would like to see disparities
in power minimized whenever possible, we already have a reason
to turn away from applied behaviorism."
"Rewards
are not solutions at all: they are gimmicks, shortcuts, quick
fixes that mask problems and ignore reasons. They never look
below the surface."
“Reinforcements
do not generally alter the attitudes and emotional commitments
that underline behaviors. They do not make lasting changes
because they are aimed at affecting only what we do."
"In
principle, behavioral interventions exclude from consideration
the factors that may matter most. In practice, behavioral
interventions distract those who use them from attending to
such factors."
"The
depravation of self-determination helps explain the damage
that extrinsic motivators do."
"It
(praise) sustains a dependence on our evaluation, our decisions
about what is good and bad, rather than helping them to began
to form their own judgments."
"The
managers job then is not to motivate people to achieve; instead,
the manager should provide opportunities for people to achieve
so they will be motivated."
Alfie
Kohn
"It
is better not to make merit a matter of reward lest people
conspire and contend."
Lao-tzu
"If
we want children to become able to act with personal conviction
about what is
right.. .we must reduce our adult power and avoid the use
of punishment and rewards as much as possible."
Constance
Kamii
"Praise
and manipulation can only serve to stifle natural motivation
and replace it with blind conformity, a mechanical work style,
or open defiance towards authority."
Randy
IIitz and Amy Driscoll
ARE
WE LISTENING?
(Some thoughts on the matter)
"Consequence
control is Elvis on velvet. Stimulus control is Michelangelo's
David"
Cameron/Kimball
“The
very fact that a challenging behavior exists indicates that
basic needs have been historically unmet an/or are currently
going unmet"
“lnstead
of working on the problem we need to be working with the person.
Prior to presuming that we have the knowledge and wisdom to
know what is best for anyone we need to first examine the
reality of the supports we are providing and be certain we
ar
listening closely to the individual"
"Attacking
a person's behavior is usually ineffective and disrespectful"
“Difficult
behaviors are messages which can tell us important things
about a person and the quality of his or her life" David
Pitonyak Ph.D.
"Instead
of responding to the person we typically react to the behavior"
"Most
of what passes as assessment seems to be denial about the
mutuality of our common condition"
“What
is the nature of the persons intelligence? Just because it
is different from mine doesn't mean it is inferior - or superior
- its just different"
“Positive
approaches is a way of striving for a world where we recognize
political and social inequities and work to contradict and
correct them personally" Herb
Lovett Ph.D.
“Positive
approaches is an ongoing process of learning about the best
in people and supporting them through the worst"
“Positive
approaches is based on a system that begins with the fact
that everyone's life has
meaning and purpose"
Kathy Lee
"It
is normal to be a woman with a developmental disability w
ho is blind. It is normal to get angry and to express that
anger. It is normal to expect respectable treatment and normal
to demand the service delivery system to respond"
Dave Hinsburg
"Our
job is not to fix people, but to design effective environments."
Rob Horner Ph.D.
"We
ask people who by definition have the fewest adaptive abilities
to make the most adaptations all the time." Ann
Donnellan
