Lesson 6: The ABC's of Behavior Management


Attention


Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:

  • Identify Antecdent, Behavior, and Consequence components of given case scenarios
  • Design accurate Antecedent instructions
  • Design accurate ABC Contingency examples to change personal and other persons' behaviors

Teaching

In this lesson we cover the final aspect of the ABC Contingency Theory by examining the A, or the Antecedents.

In general, the Antecedents are all the circumstances that create the opportunity for the behavior. The identify when, where, with who, with what, how, etc...behavior is to be performed. Here are a list of examples of the kinds of A's that can be utilized in Behavior Management, but the list is endless!

  • "Given 3 worksheets to complete Billy will...."
  • "Every Tuesday at 5 PM Sally will..."
  • "Each time Hank meets with his 1:1 counselor he will..."
  • "Each day that homework is due Mara will..."
  • "Each morning after breakfast I will..."
  • "Each anniversary of my wedding I will..."
  • "Using the attached instructions on cleaning a room, Hannah will..."
  • "Three times a week, I will..."
  • "Given four chances to get it right, Billy will..."
  • "On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays Mom will..."
  • "Each time I feel angry I will..."
  • "Upon completion of this lesson's material students will..." (sound familiar??)

As you can see...these statements "set the stage" and determine the circumstances under which the behavior will occur. They are simple, but they are vital.

Sometimes they are more complex and include detailed instructions.

Instructions

Instructions are the most exact of all the Antecedent descriptions! They provide the details of the traditional A's listed above and also describe the behaviors. If you have ever taken something like the SAT, or any other standardized exam, the instructions tell you about the time you have to complete it, where you have to take the test, details on how to answer questions, and often, details on how to fill in those little circles.

IF they are clear instructions, they are easy to follow! Instructions that are easy to follow are more likely to be followed...thus the person is more likely to earn their reinforcer!!

So good instructions are important!

Writing up Plans

You are ready to start writing up some plans! Keep these things in mind...

  • The Antecedents need to be clear about the circumstances under which you want the behavior to occur
  • The Behavior descriptions need to pass both the Dead Man's Test and the Stranger Test
  • The Consequences need to identify how much of the Behavior needs to occur before they get a reinforcer (or punishment) and it needs to describe the actual Reinforcer. (Also, the reinforcer needs to be appropriate to the task...you can't reward too little or too much)

Generally we like to write up plans in neat little tables like this (so I will be asking you to be a bit creative in your word processing skills):


Assessment

Lesson 6 Assignment

For this assignment I want you to create a series of three ABC Contingency plans. One must for another person in your life and two must be for you. You are to format these "plans" into a table as I present in the lecture slides with clear indications as to which part is the A, the B, and the C. They should look something like this:

At this point in the class we are going to be focusing on "real" behavior plans. What this means is that the behavior plans need to be focused on problem behavior that does not occur or needs to really change. And, the consequences need to be formulated as rewards or reinforcers in order to bring about that behavior.

For example: A "behavior plan" such as follows would NOT work...

A. Each day
B. I set my alarm for 6 am and get up when it goes off
C. I get to work on time

This IS an ABC relationship, but it is NOT a behavior plan. Consider if this particular example was a teenager who was just not getting up even though they set the alarm for 6 am...in that case, we need a behavior PLAN with some extra enticement to make the teenager comply.

A. Each day
B. Joey will set his alarm for 6 am and get up when it goes off
C. Each day Joey does this he earns $1 that he can put toward his new bike

Now, we know that in addition to getting the dollar Joey ALSO gets to school/work on time...but getting to school/work on time is NOT ENOUGH incentive to support the behavior, thus the need for a behavior plan!

Each of your plans should be of this type!

This part will be evaluated on the clarity of the plan, the Dead Man/Stranger Tests, and Mechanics (writing, spelling, grammar, etc.)

Here is the grading rubric for this assignment:

Title Page
10 pts
Plan 1
Clarity
10 pts
Dead Man and Stranger Tests
10 pts
Mechanics
10 pts
Plan 2
Clarity
10 pts
Dead Man and Stranger Tests
10 pts
Mechanics
10 pts
Plan 3
Clarity
10 pts
Dead Man and Stranger Tests
10 pts
Mechanics

10 pts

  Total Points
100 pts