Applied Behavioural Assessment Case Study

Applied Behavioural Assessment compositors case contemplateSophia A. JohnsonAbstractBehavioral sagacity involves a variety of methods including direct observations, inter vox populis, checklists, and tests to positioning and define engineers for expression change. (Miltenberger, 2012)This assessment give utilize evidence establish research to clearly identify put airs to assist our clients in implementing a successful intervention plan that is based on a manner modification plan that objective, clearly defined, measur competent and ge ared to the individuals circumstantial needs. We ponder that we go forth be able to reduce Emilys refusal to stop up tame, her crying tantrums and charge banging, as easy as change and increase Mr. smiths employees attendance and restore occupation to radiation patterncy.Case 1This case study examines why 6-year old Emily is exhibiting demeanor issues. Recommended by her pediatric psychologist her parents want to understand this change in demeanor that started when she started first grade. It appears that Emilys disinclination to attend drill which she claims is no long fun, often events in her having screaming tantrums in which cries and bangs her head on the floor. Her parents withal noned that she has not been able to sleep in her own pull back and they must take her theirs in sight for her to fall asleep, only if tear down afterwards falling asleep if they return her to her bed she allow for conjure and cry and scream until her parents return her to their bed. Due to these outburst she is often allowed to wait national from school.Her parents are tired and frustrated and in need of answers for this air change and an intervention to return their ho lend oneselfhold to normalcy. Emilys teacher reports that on most occasions she is well behaving and her basic academic skills appear to be at grade level.It is hypothesized that Emilys manner whitethornbe as a result of bullying and teasing , if we could conk out her to address her fears we result be able to reduce the screaming tantrums and fear of going to school and return her to the normal school environment.In communicating with Emilys parents we were able to identify the quarry behavior that they would like addressed. Emilys parents would like us to address her reluctance to attend school resulting in a screaming tantrums, which includes a chintzy piercing cry followed by her head repeatedly striking the floor.We deliberate this target behavior needs to be addressed because it poses a amicable signifi dismisst health risk which may result in somatic injury for Emily. This behavior is in addition organism targeted because it results in a ostracise reinforcement by escape from a task (Cooper, 2007, p. 49), this behavior is unknowingly universe reinforced by her parents reluctance to interrupt her so they allow her to remain scale. This cannot continue as it will to a fault affect her academic and social interaction skills, there may also be financial ramifications if the parents are missing work or having to observe a sitter to care for Emily while they go to work.It is hypothesized that Emilys general reluctance and tantruming would drop-off and that, with era, we would see her willingly wanting to attend school and interacting with others more frequently, we expect to see a decrease in the occur of tantrums and head bangings.As part of the intervention technique we will be able to form a confident rapport with Emily, where she can share her fears and concerns regarding school. Based on the information shared we will be able to change the target behavior by economic aiding Emily set to her school environment.We will carry out a functional assessment on Emily victimisation direct observation both at her home and school to assess and gathering relevant data on the target behavior, much(prenominal) as duration and frequency and whether or not they are preceded by a visible antecedent. The behavior modification design that will be used is operant condition using ordained reinforcement. all(prenominal) day that Emily goes to school without a resulting tantrum she gets to do an activity of her choosing with the family when she gets home. If she has a tantrum and refuses to go to school she has to do one hour of reading. We will be tracking her progress using a excel spreadsheet after which we will chart and graph the results on a hebdomadly foot and do a calendar monthly assessment. The data gathered will be reported by her family and teachers, so as to get an accurate view of her overall behavior in both environment.We chose operant conditioning using positive reinforcement because, operant conditioning is the means by which we use reinforcement or punishment to change ones behavior and the goal of behavior modification is to establish desirable new behaviors or skills. (Miltenberger, 2012), in Emilys case we hope to increase her desire to attend s chool by creating a positive experience and reduce her tantruming and head banging episodes by allowing her to use her words to express herself.Once per week on a Friday a visit will be do to Emilys school and home to collect the charts, refreshen any discrepancies and get a verbal feedback on Emilys behavior. We will meet with Emily as well to learn how she is doing and assess if the behavior modification is having a positive outcome. The data is analyzed by gathering the number of refusal to attend school for the week, the number of tantruming and head bang, as well as any debauched behavior in the classroom. We will be able to identify whether or not the intervention is successful if the data reveals a decrease such as yet once per week does her parents go through to stay on her home for refusal to attend school or if they do not have to keep her home at all.Table 1.1After a 3 month period a review of the behavior modification program will be assessed, if it is found to be unsuccessful or not progressing as expected, we will review the data to see if there are specific days when Emily exhibits continuous refusal to attend school, we could also assess the stimulus being used to reinforce the desired behavior, changes to the program will only help to benefit and address any future needs that may arise. If however, the program is successful and we are able to cause extinction of the behavior which is the passage by which a previously reinforced behavior is no extended followed by the reinforcing consequences, and the frequency of the behavior decreases in the future (Miltenberger, 2012, p. 516), we could say the behavior modification intervention is successful, even if there is only a decrement in the number of refusal to attend school, or even a reduction of the need for positive reinforcements.The scientific method has guided this experiment by helping us to evaluate the data using frequency of measurement, resulting in accurate, reliable, and beli evable data to create an individualized assessment intervention plan.Case 2Mr. Smith owns a manufacturing phoner which specializes in custom common fig tree skates. He has 30 employees who has highly specialized training required for the work of these skates. Mr. Smith is concerned that over the last year his workforce seems to be suffering from a high percentage of absenteeism, which is having a negative order on performance and the health of the fellowship. Prior to soliciting our help Mr. Smith has tested to address this behavior by claiming breakfast which consists of c finishee and donuts, he has also called a meeting and shared with them that the end result of move absence will result in the company suffering a financial loss and closing. He noted that neither of these interventions has worked and seem to only increase the problem.In the case of Mr. Smith the target behavior being identified is the consistent absenteeism which is defined as unreported or unscheduled ab sence from work by an employee who is not on vacation or other documented leave. This target behavior is being addressed because it affects productiveness and the overall well-being of the organization, employee morale and the community. The behavior also affects the social tariff of the individuals who have guideed to work for a specific period of fourth dimension and should give adequate notice or inform a four-in-hand of any absence.Antecedent Employee shift starts, production line short.Behavior Employee does not show up for work, does not call.Consequence Unable to meet production quota and financial obligations.Mr. Smith previous interventions of providing breakfast of coffee and donuts or sharing the company financial perspective, may not have worked because he did not do the adequate research needed to assess the situation and offer a contingency plan that was appealing to the employees, or his overall begin could also not have been appealing to the employees.It is our job as the behavior analysis to help Mr. Smith achieve his goal by selecting target behaviors that are the most directly and functionally think to those goals of his employees. Evidence suggests that the go on absenteeism maybe due to low morale, stress or sheer employee burnout. We hypothesize that after assessing and defining the cause of the absenteeism we will be able to create an intervention plan that will improve attendance, reduce employee burnout and restore the company morale.After gathering data from HR on the persons who are general absentees, individual interview was schedule for one on ones to understand the causation and what can be done to assist the employee in restoring their attendance record. For good reasons this information will not be shared with HR. Based on the results of the interviews and questionnaires completed by the other staff, we decided that a contingency contract bridge or a behavioral contract would be implemented to restore productivity wit hin the organization. Each employee will have the opportunity to be rewarded for completing their 40 hour work week for 30 proceedings of paid time off per week. The company will implement a time card system and HR will judge the time completed and award the time off accordingly, employees do not have to take their time off weekly but may roll and take as needed. Additionally, the organization will implement paid draw leave, a daycare reimbursement program, a schedule adjustment for employees needing time off during the work hours, and a monthly health truck run to ensure staff is mentally and physically fit. To address the morale issue Mr. Smith has agreed to supplement a breakfast and lunch program as well as quarterly picnics.Each person will be prone a task sheet to review and sign, this Behavioral contract will take effect the first of the month and the first review will be done a month later. We will be able to assess the success of the program by a decrease in the number of absenteeism and an increase in productivity and production, as well as employee morale.Charts representing the percentage of attendance versus absenteeism will also serve as a visual for performance.If the expected outcome is not obtained, we would reassess and fork out another strategy such as possibly a minimal economy system offering which is more tangible and is immediate in occurrence and reinforcements.Extinction is the process that weakens behavior (Miltenberger, 2012), Extinction/Response keep is ensuring that the behavior that has been reinforced for a period of time and is no drawn-out reinforced in the future. Measures need to be put in place to maintain the success of behavior that has now become extinct. In Emilys case the authorisation issue with extinction is that her tantrums may return but reinforced based on another behavior.According to (Miltenberger, 2012), a potential issue with extinction/response maintenance is that behavior often increases in frequenc y, duration or intensity prior to being extinct and may undergo extinction regardless of positive or negative reinforcement. proofAs behavior analysis we were able to determine that Emily and Mr. Smiths employees did not need to learn a new skill related to behavior. Instead we recognized the need to make changes to their environment and preferences in order to support them and change their behavior.Since Emily experienced such distress when being hustling for school, changes were made in the environment at home and school, and reinforcers were used to advocate a positive outlook for going to school. Mr. Smiths employees were given opportunities to not only change their attendance habits, but increase company morale and productivity.Despite these apparent drawbacks when creating an intervention plan in a controlled experimental settings, the findings largely supports both hypotheses suggesting that behavioral analysis when used in a scientific method with clearly defined target be havior, the result is an objective and measurable intervention plan.ReferencesCooper, J. H. (2007). Applied behavior analysis. Upper Saddle, NJ Pearson Education.Miltenberger, R. (2012). Behavior Modification Principles and Procedures. 5th Edition. In R. Miltenberger, Extinction . Wadsworth.