Problem:
Respond to the following students
Student 1: When the teacher asked the class to line up for lunch, Mei engaged in flopping to the floor. Following the behavior, the instructional assistant interacted with Mei by picking her up and telling her she could line up when ready, which may indicate access to adult attention as a maintaining variable through positive reinforcement. Mei also received access to the iPad while the other students lined up, suggesting the behavior may have been maintained by access to a preferred tangible item through positive reinforcement. In addition, the behavior resulted in a temporary delay or avoidance of the demand to line up for lunch, which may indicate a demand-escape function maintained through negative reinforcement. Need Assignment Help?
Student 2: After reviewing Toby's case, being asked to finish a math worksheet was the trigger or the antecendent of the screaming behavior. Once Toby started screaming (the behavior), the teacher removed the worksheet, allowing him to escape the task demand. The teacher also provided attention and gave him a teddy bear, which added both social interaction and access to a preferred item. These responses may have reinforced the screaming because Toby experienced several rewarding outcomes at the same time, including avoiding the assignment, receiving attention, and gaining access to a tangible item. As a result, the behavior may become more likely to happen again in similar situations.
Student 3: For this discussion post, I chose Toby's case. Toby's screaming behavior may have been maintained by attention, tangibles, and escape from demands. In the attention condition, Toby was working alone before screaming, and the teacher responded by consoling him. Since attention was added after the behavior, this represents a positive stimulus change.
In the tangible condition, Toby received a teddy bear after screaming, which also represents a positive stimulus change because access to a preferred item was given following the behavior. In the demand condition, the math worksheet was removed after Toby screamed. This represents a negative stimulus change because the demand was taken away. Overall, Toby's screaming may have been reinforced by multiple consequences in the environment.
Student 4: The case of Toby provides a quintessential illustration of functional behavior assessment (FBA), specifically regarding the contingencies of reinforcement that maintain maladaptive behaviors. To analyze Toby's screaming, we must deconstruct the functional relationship between the antecedent, the behavior, and the subsequent stimulus change.
The antecedent in this scenario is the requirement for Toby to engage with a math worksheet. When Toby begins to scream, he is experiencing an aversive stimulus (the academic demand). The teacher's intervention-removing the worksheet and providing a teddy bear-functions as a reinforcing consequence. By removing the task, the teacher provides negative reinforcement, as the removal of the aversive stimulus increases the likelihood of the screaming behavior recurring in similar future contexts. Simultaneously, the provision of the teddy bear serves as positive reinforcement, as it introduces a preferred stimulus (tangible) contingent upon the behavior.