Topical Blog Week #9 (Due Wednesday)

For this week’s topical blog, I have decided to focus my search on autism in children. From this, I will describe characteristics of autism or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), people who can diagnosis it, and treatment available. It fits into the topics we have discussed in our class because behavior modification techniques are used in treatment plans, such as using patterns of reinforcement. This interests me, because I have a younger brother with profound autism, which is on the more severe end of the spectrum. Much of the information I found on the internet was a review for me, since I have had this first-hand daily interactions with a person with autism.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be characterized by impairments with social interactions, difficulties in communication, and repetitive patterns of behavior. As far as frequency, it is estimated that one out of 88 children at the age of eight will have ASD. Males are also four times more likely to have autism than females are.

As an infant with ASD, he or she may be unresponsive to people or focus on one particular item for an extended amount of time. These children may develop normally and later withdraw from social interactions. They do not know how to how to play with other kids. Children may not respond to their name and avoid eye contact. They do not watch peoples’ facial cues indicating appropriate target behavior. Due to not understand social cues, individuals with autism have a hard time interpreting the feelings and thoughts of others. Thus, they may not experience empathy.

In order to diagnose ASD early indicators may include no babbling or pointing by the age of one, no single words by 16 months, no response to their name, loss of language or lack of social skills, no smiling or responsiveness to socialization. Growing up, they begin speaking later than other child. In my brother’s case he could speak when he was younger, but he lost the ability to speak and only makes noises now.

Several children emit a rocking and twirling behaviors, and possibly even self-abusive behaviors. This may include biting and head-banging. My brother displayed all of these behaviors, and often, when he was upset and would hit himself in the face, because he was unable to communicate his wants and needs to those around him. When he twirls an item or rocks back and forth, it is self-reinforcing, and therefore, it is also something he finds to have intrinsic value.

It is not known what causes ASD, but it is probable that both genetics and environment play a role. Some studies suggest individuals with ASD have abnormal levels of serotonin or other neurotransmitters. There is also a concern that childhood vaccines may be the cause for autism, but studies have not demonstrated a link between autism and the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine.

In order to diagnose ASD, health care providers use a questionnaire or screening instruments to collect information on development. A psychologist, neurologist, psychiatrist, speech therapist, and other professionals are part of the multidisciplinary team to diagnose children with ASD.

There is no cure for ASD, but different techniques have been used to elicit a more desirable response for individuals with autism. Each child with autism is unique, so the intervention plan should be modified to address the specific needs. Intervention may include behavioral treatments, medicines, or both. Behavioral interventions may be used to remedy specific symptoms and bring about improvement. Applied Behavioral Analysis has sessions that are highly structured and are skill—oriented to help children become better with language and social encounters. The earlier the intervention takes place, the better for the child. Commonly used behavioral therapies include floortime, pivotal response therapy, and verbal behavior therapy. Behavioral training uses positive reinforcement, self-help, and social skills training for a desirable consequence.

One technique we used for my brother was a picture book, and inside it were several different categories of images that he could select. These images were laminated, attached the book by Velcro, and placed next to similar items. Some of them included food, outdoor activities, and indoor activities. This book was a tool to guide communication, and within this book were different behaviors that my brother found to have a desirable consequence. My brother would mainly choose the food ones or to go swing. He did not receive continuous reinforcement for this, but instead it was variable ratio, because sometimes he was reinforced and other times, he would have to wait and ask again a few more times before he was allowed to have food or go swing.

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm
http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment
http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/autism-treatment-overview

Terms: reinforcement, behavior, frequency, target behavior, response, emit, self-reinforcement, intrinsic value, elicit, desirable, intervention, positive reinforcement, consequence, continuous reinforcement, variable ratio, reinforced

For this week’s topical blog I decided to look at the impacts of positive reinforcement in modifying the behavior of children who suffer from autism. I find this topic to be interesting because throughout this semester we have learned how positive reinforcement is used to modify the behavior of people and animal subjects but I am interested to see how it works when used with a person with a neurological disorder.

As autism is a developmental disorder that hinders an individual to form communication and social skills a normal individual would have it is important to understand how to teach people with autism socially acceptable norms in a non-punishing way. When it comes to interacting in social situations those who suffer from autism generally are withdrawn from conversations and avoid eye contact with others when spoken to. As they prefer to spend time alone a lack of empathy develops when it comes to the feelings of others, which sometimes generates abnormal behavior.

These behaviors generally tend to stem from their lack of social and communication skills. When a point they are attempting to make is difficult to get across or there is a lack of understanding by what someone means individuals who have autism will often act out in temper tantrums. These tantrums will often reveal themselves, as aggressive behaviors towards others as well as themselves and individuals with autism will sometimes overreact to certain situations.

Through my research on the Internet I have found it is important to always use reinforcement when it comes to attempting to modify unwanted behavior. With autistic children however it is very important to choose the form of reinforcement very carefully due to their introvert nature. With the use of positive reinforcement some children with autism may become uncomfortable with the attention they receive when they are praised or presented with a reinforcer after they have emitted a desired target behavior. As children with autism are very observant to visual cues it may be important to use something they can see progress with while being reinforced; such as the use of a sticker board to mark their efforts.

Another thing I have found is that punishment is not generally recommended for individuals who have autism. Autistic individuals who have a difficult time communicating will not always understand the punishment is linked to the behavior and will potentially act out aggressively in response to the punishment. The use of punishment for problem behaviors in autistic individuals is also not recommended because it does not generally last and the unwanted behavior usually returns shortly after.

Terminology: positive reinforcement, behavior, abnormal behavior, reinforcement, reinforce, emit, punishment and target behavior.

http://www.autism-help.org/behavior-punishment-autism.htm
http://www.autism-help.org/behavior-positive-reinforcement-autism.htm
http://www.drugs.com/enc/autism.html

I chose to go with the topic of Asperger Syndrome, which a more specific, high-functioning type of autism. This topic interested me as I wanted to know how Asperger's differed from a regular autism diagnosis, coupled with the fact that one of my all-time favorite musicians, Adam Young of Owl City, has Asperger's. I wanted to study the behavioral interventions used to help children with Asperger's deal with daily tasks.

In every single one of the websites I visited, they all stressed the importance of reinforcing good behavior over punishing bad ones. Since people with Asperger's struggle with taking subtle cues and social behavior in general, telling them what not to do will only confuse them as they will not know what they should be doing. Instead of using a punisher like saying "Don't do that!", one should direct them to a different, more desired activity. Asperger's patients love routine and hate the unexpected. When reinforcing a target behavior, the reinforcement must be constant, without extinction. If the child is going to be doing a new activity or not resuming a routine one, they should be notified long beforehand so they can mentally prepare. Without this warning, they may act out out of frustration or confusion.

The ABC model of behavior was brought up in one page and broken down in ways it can apply to Asperger's children. Set a clear antecedent so that the child will be lead to the correct target behavior. If they are rocking too much in their seat and poking/prodding the children around them, put some brightly colored tape around the area of personal space so the child can remember easier. This way you are reinforcing them to stay in their bubble instead of punishing them for breaking out of it. When a desired consequence is distributed, be sure to positively reinforce the child consistently, even after it seems like they understand what they should be doing.

http://www.aane.org/asperger_resources/articles/education/easy_to_implement_interventions.html
http://www.autism-help.org/intervention-applied-behavioral-analysis.htm
http://www.myaspergerschild.com/2011/04/behavior-modification-plan-for-your.html

Terminology: reinforcement, punishment, target behavior, extinction, ABCs of behavior, antecedent, consequence, positive reinforcement

For the topical blog this week, I have chosen to focus on behavior modification in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. I am interested in it because I am going to school to become a guidance counselor doubled with the fact that the number of children born with autism is increasing every year, I decided I should put in a little extra effort to find what one can do to help modify the child's life and make it a bit easier.

This topic fits into pretty much the entirety of the sections we have covered simply because it is about the modification of behavior in children with autism.

There is a form of therapy called ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis) that has been proven to be a method of choice for treating deficits in the childrens behavior with autism. From one of the articles I was reading this therapy is very beneficial because it tries to help from many angles such as social skills and self-management to name a few.

From another article they were saying that a good way to help a child through ABA therapy is by using positive reinforcement every time the emit the correct behavior. Reading on more into this article it is actually very nice because they give you examples of actual techniques they use during an ABA therapy session such as walk and peel, and count and mend. The article concludes with a success story about two twelve year old boys who have benefited from ABA therapy.

The third article I read was about modifying a child who has aggressive behavior due to their autism. Unfortunately this seems to be rather common, but there are ways people can learn to help and deal with it. Considering that children with autism have a brain disorder, they becomes trapped in a limited but highly secure internal world favoring minimal extremes and surprises. So with these children it can be the littlest things that set them off. By using behavioral distractors, it seems to be much more effective for these children. This allows the child to revert into an inner secure state since the aggression will be like a wave; it will come and it will go. This article also talks about the importance of positive reinforcement when trying to help a child learn the proper ways to react.

Terms: Behavior Modification, positive reinforcement, emit, reinforcement, behavior.

The topic for this week is autism. I am interested in the topic of treatment of autism because of the wide range of possible treatment methods available. This fits in with what we have learned in class because the behavior modification technique used in autism treatment must be chosen and used appropriately, since people with autism may have varying levels of functioning within their disorder.

Generally, autism is caused by developmental or functional difficulties in the brain, although it is not yet known specifically what may cause these difficulties. Some research has shown that autism may be hereditary, but no specific genetic structure has been found that indicates that a person may have a higher risk of autism. It is also thought that certain substances ingested into the mother’s body during pregnancy may increase the risk of the baby having autism, but this only indicates that the chances are higher, not inevitable. The true cause of autism has yet to be discovered. This means that the best course of action that we can take right now is the treatment of those diagnosed with autism.

Treatment of autism can vary, since there are several different types of autism. These are referred to as autism spectrum disorders, but they all share some common developmental difficulties. For example, a child with autism may lack social skills such as being able to read others’ emotions. As an adult, this could lead to problems interacting with others on a daily basis. Another difficulty faced by those with autism is an inability to interact well with others. This can lead to difficulty making friends, or even having a brief conversation. One type of treatment to help those with these difficulties could be applied behavioral analysis treatment. In this type of treatment, a plan is made to teach the skills that may be lacking for a person with autism.

These treatment plans are often customized to fit the level of functioning displayed by the autistic person. For example, someone with Asperger’s Syndrome may have a high-functioning level of intelligence, but be lacking in social skills. A treatment plan for this person might include interacting with other people. The plan would involve reinforcement for emitting socially acceptable behavior. However, a different type of plan would need to be used for someone who may have a lower-functioning level of intelligence, since it might take them longer to learn. A method that a therapist might use could be shaping the target behavior (good social interaction) by successive approximation. Rather than having the client immediately interact with others, they might practice reading people’s emotions on pictures, then by interacting with the therapist alone, then with someone new while still in a one-on-one situation, and then gradually move on to small groups.

This is just an example of treatment for one symptom of autism. Other symptoms can include repetitive behavior. A treatment form for this behavior could possibly be differential reinforcement of other behavior. Another symptom could be oversensitivity to stimuli, which could make an autistic person upset or aggressive in response to stimuli such as a telephone ringing. Perhaps a program of systematic desensitization would be helpful in a case such as this.

The point is that currently we don’t know what may cause autism initially, but we do know many ways that we can treat and help those who are living with it. While there are several types of autistic disorders, it is possible that with proper therapy autistic persons can learn to have lives in which they are able to interact with others, have jobs, and be more independent.

Article URL: http://www.autism-society.org/about-autism/causes/
Article URL: http://www.parents.com/health/autism/facts/types-of-autism/
Article URL: http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment
Article URL: http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment/applied-behavior-analysis-aba

Terms: autism, autism spectrum disorder, applied behavioral analysis (ABA), Asperger’s Syndrome, reinforcement, emit, shaping, target behavior, successive approximation, differential reinforcement of other behavior, stimuli, systematic desensitization

Autism

The topic this week is autism. I'm interested in autism because it can be a very challenging disorder to deal with and it starts at a very young age, so being informed about the disorder is key to identifying it in one's own children or in others. This topic relates to the class because there are a lot of concepts and behavior modification techniques that are currently used to help with the symptoms of autism.

In recent years, the number of children diagnosed with autism has skyrocketed, although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn't have any exact numbers. This trend is thought to be attributed to the fact that the criteria for diagnosing autism has become more broad than in recent decades, and that the condition is better understood, so symptoms are checked for during routine physicals in infancy and the first few years of a child's life.

Autism is also more likely to occur in boys than in girls. Researchers are still not sure what exactly causes autism, though they hypothesize that it's a combination of genetic and environmental attributions. There has been speculation as to whether vaccines are to blame for autism, but research currently does not show a strong association between vaccines and autism. Other causes are thought to be chromosomal abnormalities, diet, an inability to properly use vitamins and minerals, among others.

Symptoms of autism may be present before two years of age. Children with autism may exhibit a variety of symptoms, the major categories being related to: communication difficulties (slow or regressed language development); social interaction (avoiding eye contact and lacking empathy); abnormal sensory responses (oversensitivity or lessened reactions to sound, smell, sight, touch, and hearing); little imaginative play; and disruptive behaviors, including narrow interests and aggressive behaviors. Many tests are done to evaluate children's developmental progress in the first two years of life, which is when additional tests are usually done when autism is suspected.

Once autism has been diagnosed, there are a variety of treatments available to help combat the symptoms of autism and help the child to function at a higher level. A major component of treating autism involves forming creating daily routines because children with autism are very sensitive to change. These routines lessen the stress the child experiences when transitioning from one activity to the other because they know what activity to expect next. Another major concern for parents with a child suffering from autism is whether or not their child's speech will be impaired. Speech therapy is especially helpful with this, as well as using that in combination with sign language, as it often helps autistic children to remember words and phrases more effectively.

For last week's topical blog, I researched discriminative stimuli. One of the videos I came across was about ABA (applied behavior analysis) autism training, also known as autism intervention training. This program rewards small steps that eventually lead to larger goals, which is a lot like shaping and successive approximation because the child learns a little at a time until they are emitting the desired target behavior. This technique is used to teach desirable social behaviors, as well as academics, and is done intensely—twenty-to-forty hours per week with a trained therapist. And since I described ABA autism training fairly well in my last blog post, I’ll use it here as well:
“A discriminative stimulus is used (such as a question or command), which is sometimes followed by a prompt (similar to instructions on how to answer the question or fulfill the command). The command plus the prompt elicit the child to emit a certain response. Once the response is emitted, positive reinforcement is immediately given in a very enthusiastic way so as to keep the autistic child's attention.”

Another validated method of therapy is the Early Start Denver Model, which is used in young children ages 12 to 48 months old. This type of therapy also uses ABA autism training, though it is meant for younger children. Medications are another option, but behavior modification techniques should be used first or with medications, as autism cannot be fully treated with medication, only some of the symptoms (like irritability, hyperactivity, and sleep problems). No matter what type of therapy is used, they all are similar in that are structured, reward desirable behaviors and incorporate consequences for aversive behaviors.

-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002494/
-http://autism.lovetoknow.com/Techniques_for_Helping_Autistic_Children
-http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=discriminative+stimulus+youtube&qpvt=discriminative+stimulus+youtube&FORM=VDRE#view=detail&mid=E6775232CD33D475897DE6775232CD33D475897D
- http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment/early-start-denver-model-esdm

Terms: behavior modification techniques, discriminative stimuli, shaping, successive approximation, emit(ting), target behavior, elicit, positive reinforcement, desirable, aversive, reward

This week I decided to learn about Applied Behavior Analysis and how it is used in people with Autism. This relates to what we have been doing in our textbook because ABA is basically behavior modification that has been used to help Autistic children learn what to do and what not to do. This interests me because it is an interesting application of what we have been learning about this semester.

ABA is a method for teaching children with Autism or other developmental disorders and focuses on the idea that appropriate behavior can be taught with scientific principles. ABA rewards children for the correct behaviors and responses and ignores the incorrect ones. The idea is that the children will eventually stop doing the behaviors that do not elicit a reward. Over time the reward becomes less frequent as well to ensure there is not a need for constant rewards throughout the child's life. ABA has been used in children with Autism since the 1960's.

ABA has been proven time and time again to be an effective treatment for autism and is supported by the surgeon general and several state departments of health. ABA has been increasingly used in the past decade to help people with autism master basic techniques such as making eye contact and listening. It can also help with more complex tasks such as reading or understanding someone else's point of view. It has been shown to cause improvement in communication, relationships, hygiene, and in school and work settings.

Early intervention with ABA is possible and starts around age four. There are also comprehensive and intensive programs. Comprehensive programs encompass a full range of life skills, whereas intensive programs can range from 25-40 hours per week and can last up to three years.

ABA involves many steps in order to be successful. The first step is selecting a target (behavior) that needs to be changed. This is normally decided on by the child's parents or teachers. Once a target is chosen a specific outcome must be chosen. It is important to be as specific and clear as possible to ensure the best results. It is then decided how to measure the behavior. One measurement needs to be used by all people involved in order to ensure consistency and accuracy. A baseline of the child's behavior must then be collected in order to determine if a positive change is occurring later on. The adults involved must then decide how to begin the treatment. After the onset of the treatment data must be collected routinely to determine whether or not the treatment is working. Finally, the data is examined in order to determine whether or not the treatment is working and what areas, if any, should be adjusted to increase the likelihood of the child performing better.

As you can see, ABA is a process that has many steps and results can not be expected overnight. The rate of progress can vary based on factors such as age, level of functioning, and the goal that is being pursued. It is often much easier to teach a simple skill like reading rather than a more complex skill such as interacting with peers.

http://www.autismweb.com/aba.htm
This link gave me background information on what ABA was.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment/applied-behavior-analysis-aba
This link discussed the effectiveness of ABA and how it is used specifically for people with autism.

http://www.teamabi.com/AboutABA.htm
This site gave me step by step instructions for how ABA is implemented.

terms:
autism, behavior modification, ABA, target, behavior, reward

I chose to research treatments for autism. First though I looked at what autism is. Autism and autism spectrum disorder are disorders of brain development. It is characterized by a lack of social skills, poor nonverbal and verbal communication and repetitive behaviors. People can fall anywhere on a spectrum ranging from mild to severe. Signs of autism usually emerge when the child is between two and three years old.

Early intervention services are a group of behavioral treatments that are used for children from birth to about 3 years. These have been effective at helping kids with autism. These treatments include therapy to help the child talk, walk, and interact with others. These are usually administered through government programs. It is important to start treatment early in order to avoid falling behind as much as possible.

There are four different categories that treatment can be broken into. They are behavior and communication approaches, dietary approaches, medication and complementary and alternative medicine. Behavior and communication approaches use applied behavior analysis. Applied behavior analysis is similar to operant conditioning. They try and teach autistic kids skills by rewarding or encouraging positive behavior and punishing or discouraging negative behaviors. This approach works best when structure, organization and direction for both the child and family.

Dietary approaches don’t have much scientific research behind so they are not as widespread as behavior and communication approaches are. The idea behind this is that some food allergies or lack of vitamins or minerals cause symptoms of autism. There is no medication that can cure autism. There is some medication that can help with some symptoms of autism. These would include medication for seizures, the inability to focus and high energy levels. This medication does not work for everyone who has autism and some respond better to it than others. Complementary and alternative medicine is everything that does not fit into the other categories. These methods are often controversial because many are not backed by science and can potential be harmful to the child. Some examples of this type of treatment would be chelation which is a treatment to remove heavy metals like lead from the body and body-based systems like deep pressure.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/family-services/tool-kits/100-day-kit/early-intervention
http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/treatment.html
http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism

For this assignment I decided to focus on punishment and reinforcement and how it can help treat autism and help make the lives of people affected create a more normal routine. This is a very challenging thing for families to cope with so that is why reinforcement may help, even in the smallest way with some of the behaviors that occur starting at such a young age. this way of treating their behaviors has proved to be a more safe way that is also effective.

I just wanted to cover a little background and some characteristics of autism before I talk about how reinforcement can be an essential treatment for autism. Autism usually results in lacking of skills and impairments in social situations, communicating effectively and other strange patterns of behavior not normally seen in children. Children may lack focus and have temper tantrums often that sometimes seem uncontrollable. Positive reinforcement can help these children learn which behaviors are acceptable and which are not.

Positive reinforcement is shown to be one of the most helpful tools used in helping people affected with autism. One reason for this is because it can help the children learn alternative behaviors for behaviors that they cannot do through reinforcement. The timing of the reinforcement in this case, and most cases of reinforcement is key. It is important for the child to set a goal and attain it in a reasonable amount of time and with properly dispersed reinforcers and an appropriate target behavior. At first you will probably want to reinforce the child every time the right behavior occurs, but then slowly work your way to doing the behavior with less and less reinforcement. It is also important to reinforce the behavior, not the person specifically. Communication is also key. They need to understand the reason that they are being reinforced and why their other behavior may be wrong. In order to communicate effectively you must use short and clear and to the point words and make eye contact. Try not to laugh if something is cute or funny, but aversive because that could end up reinforcing them. Things that can be reinforced include proper communication skills, social skills, and school and play skills.

It is also important to keep a daily routine and environment, especially in a situation like this. The child will be familiar with the atmosphere and the routine and will emit a better response to the reinforcement than if they were flustered by the lack of familiarity. If possible you will want to try to get them into a regular education program so that they can also become familiar with an education routine as well as their home and social life. Once the situation improves you can start adding changes to their normal routine to see how the cope.

http://www.autism-help.org/behavior-positive-reinforcement-autism.htm
http://www.childbrain.com/pddq11.shtml
http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment/applied-behavior-analysis-aba

Terms: positive reinforcement, reinforcer, target behavior, emit, environment,

I’m not going to delve into autism and its signs/symptoms but instead I want to discuss a behavioral approach that has proven to be effective in treating some of the symptoms of autism in children. Research has shown that certain types of behavioral therapies are more effective than others at treating those with autism. The goal of behavioral therapy is to foster good communication skills with the child. One approach I thought was interesting is called verbal behavioral therapy. VPT is based off the teachings of Skinner who emphasized four word types. The first word time is called Mand. It hopes to teach an autistic individual that if he/she asks for an object, then they are more likely to receive that object. For example, an aide might have a child say a word such as “cookie”, once the child says the word; the aide gives the child the cookie. Positive reinforcement is an effective way for not only autistic children to learn but it also helps individuals without disabilities learn. In addition to a continuous reinforcement plan, an aide might utilize a variable or fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement to show the child that although communication is effective, it does not always result in one being reinforced. Tact is the second of the word types VPT emphasizes. This is used to draw attention or share an experience with an autistic child. An aide might point at the sky when an airplane flies by so that the child learns what an object looks and sounds like. The third and fourth word type categorized by Skinner and utilized in VPT is Intraverbal and Echoic. Intraverbal has a child answering a simple question such as “Where do you go to school?” Echoic simply has a child repeat a word or phrase. An aide might use one or all of these word types in a typical reinforcement pattern. For example, the aide might have the child recognize a cookie on the table, have them say “cookie” 3+ times, and/or ask them a question about the object.

What I thought was interesting about Verbal Behavioral Therapy for autistic children is that it used “errorless learning” to communicate with children. There is no right or wrong answer when using this method, but there is a right or wrong behavior. Take for example the child with the cookie. First the aide might have the child point to the cookie for reinforcement. Then the aide would progress to having the child mouth the word or the first letter, followed by saying the correct word with the child. Eventually the child will learn to say the word on their own and the aide can progress to more complex communication strategies. Positive reinforcement has been shown to be effective in fostering learning. B.F. Skinner even went as far as saying that punishment should never take place. We should always try and reinforce a behavior whenever possible. If reinforcement is not possible in one environment, we need to change the antecedent. I believe this is a fundamental aspect of reinforcement. First attempt to see what strategies may work to work when reinforcing a behavior. Then progress to changing one or more elements of the antecedent if reinforcement cannot occur.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment/verbal-behavior-therapy

http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment/applied-behavior-analysis-aba

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y_SFcxWAKU

terms: reinforcement, punishment, schedules of reinforcement, antecedent, behavior, fixed ratio, variable ratio, continuous reinforcement

Autism is a disorder that can seriously affect a child or adult. Children with autism are typically very quiet and are not interested in social interaction. Autistic children also may be preoccupied with one single object or part of an object. Poor coordination is also prevalent in those with autism. Children with autism often get very upset when routines are disrupted or when things do not behave predictably. This can induce shouting and acting out physically when such an incident occurs. Children and adults with autism may react excessively to stimuli such as bright lights and loud noises.

Autism spectrum disorder has several different categories. It can range from "mild" to "severe". Asperger Syndrome (which was removed from the DSM, but still used widely) describes those at the highest-functioning level of autism. Individuals with Asperger Syndrome are often very intelligent, but have difficulty with social communication--this falls on the "mild" side of the autism spectrum. Severe autism (although not an official diagnosis) describes those individuals that are non-verbal, intellectually disabled and have very challenging behaviors.

The most effective treatment for autism is behavioral intervention at an early age--beginning at 18 months. The most effective treatment so far is the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM), which is a form of the Lovaas Model of behavioral intervention. Because of the brain's plasticity at an early age, behavior modification treatments that involve positive reinforcement in autistic children can effectively lessen some symptoms of the disorder.

The Lovaas Model involves using positive reinforcement as well as aversive stimuli to punish unwanted behaviors. Because of the controversy surrounding the aversives, which included shouting and electric shocks, using punishment is rarely included in treatment today.

In a study, not only did the dependent group show a lessening of autism symptoms, but their brain activity appeared to return to normal as well after treatment compared to the group that received a placebo treatment.

Terminology: autism spectrum disorder, Asperger Syndrome, Early Start Denver Model, positive reinforcement, behavior modification, punishment, aversives

URLs: http://healthland.time.com/2012/10/26/behavior-therapy-normalizes-brains-of-autistic-children/
http://autism.about.com/od/whatisautism/tp/ASDs.htm
http://autism.about.com/od/whatisautism/a/symptoms.htm

For this blog, I decided to do positive and negative reinforcement in modifying unwanted behavior in autistic kids. My best friend’s mom owns a daycare that has a lot of autistic kids so this really interested me in how she probably works with them. We normally talk about simpler modifications or using behavior modification on animals, so I thought this an interesting topic.
Autism is a developmental disorder that hinders an individual to form communication and social skills compared to a normal individual. Which means people without autism have to understand how to help autistic people in a non-pressuring way. Especially since autistic people can avoid eye contact and communication all together. A lot of autistic kids will have more tantrums, hit more, perform self-injuries more, which means it’s important to be patient with them. It’s very important when they do perform desired behaviors to reinforce them. And when they emit aversive behaviors, to punish them. (But only when very necessary.)
Punishment is usually not recommended for individuals with autism. Autistic individuals have a difficult time communicating, therefore punishment is not always understood. They may easily mix up what behavior that punishment would be linked to. The target behavior often returns soon after more with autistic individuals.
Therefore decreasing a behavior is more useful with positive reinforcement. To extinct a behavior, the best way is to replace an aversive behavior with a pleasurable target behavior instead. It’s better to put them in a non-stressful situation because it’s easier for them to act up. Also not giving in to aversive behaviors helps. The amount of reinforcement should be a variable ratio.
http://www.autism-behavior-strategies.com/Autism-Behavior-Strategies.html
http://www.autism-help.org/behavior-positive-reinforcement-autism.htm
http://theautismhelper.com/teaching-tip-positive-reinforcement/
Terms: Positive reinforcement, target behavior, reinforcement, pleasurable, variable ratio, aversive, emit, punishment, negative reinforcement, behavior modification, desirable, extinct.

After reading more about ABA or the applied behavior analysis, I have decided that it is exactly the same thing as behavior modification; more specifically, reinforcement. This topic interested me because many articles related ABA to behavior modification, so I was curious as to why our class couldn’t be called applied behavior analysis, or other explanations to the difference in the two terms. This reminded me of what we are reading when it used the terms ‘shaped’ and ‘controlled.’ We just read these in sections 3.5 when discussing behaviors. This fits into what we have covered so far because it is a process on a human being’s behavior in which one modifies their behavior to reach an attainable goal. However, in this case it is not to get someone to behave a certain way for another person’s liking, instead for the betterment of the person being modified.
ABA is a type of therapy that mixes educational techniques with psychological ones that are made to fit the needs of different individuals to change their behaviors into desired ones. Autism makes children distracted and makes them unaware of subtle learning tools. Autistic children have to have more direct cues than other children to elicit more normal social behaviors. For example, some children learn to just listen to their mother because she is authoritative. Their parents can give them a dirty look and they know they are not behaving appropriately. However, autism makes children seek rewards in order to do a task. In a YouTube video, a mother notices that her son likes a certain toy. She uses this as a consequence. If he does what she asks, he will get the toy. She reinforced him.
Studies have shown that if ABA is a process used in an autistic child’s life before the age of five and between 20 to 40 hours a week, it should be successful and give them a shot at a more normal social life. However, there are also other problems that arise in autism. Many children need to develop their speech and language. Behavior modification does not aid in developing one’s speech. ABA is just a portion at making one’s life easier with autism. It also makes the parent’s job much easier and rewarding.
At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://www.autism.net.au/Autism_ABA.htm
http://autism.lovetoknow.com/Techniques_for_Helping_Autistic_Children
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbins7IVf4Y
Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.

Terms: behavior, desired, reinforcement, shaped, controlled, elicit, consequence, reinforced

For this weeks blog I looked into positive reinforcement for autistic school-aged children. This fits into our class because it involves positive reinforcement which draws in other material we have covered in class. I chose this because I think it is very difficult to discipline or reinforce autistic children. Teachers are not always able to give Johnny 100% of her attention because he/she has 20 other students to educate. Which is why it is very important that these students have an aid, one who assists the student throughout the day. When it comes to reinforcement with any child it needs to be consistent, and even more structured with autistic children. One of the articles I found was a very detailed plan on how to positively reinforce these children.
The teacher(and parents) need to sit down and write realistic goals for Johnny. Things that go on time intervals verse getting things done. Such as Johnny will sit through math for 20 minutes without disruption. As they would positively reinforce him the time would increase to 25,30,35 and so on. (It would be different for every child) Positive reinforcing ideas would be stickers, extra recess time, computer time, lollipops, etc. But they need to be different, one website had an idea of creating a "menu" of reinforcers for the student to pick out. These reinforcers could be given at a fixed interval or a variable interval. I personally think that variable interval schedule would be more effective because the child will do the wanted task more frequently in hopes that he/she will get reinforced. For example: Johnny will be positively reinforced on an average of 10 minutes for sitting quietly in class. Could be after 7 minutes or 15 minutes. The hope here is that Johnny will behave for longer periods of time without needing to be reinforced as frequently.

One of the articles discusses schools in Israeli and how students with autism and other disabilities in general are being kicked out of schools for misbehaving. There was also a poll taken in Israel and some astonishing things were shown. For example: 43% said that people with intellectual disabilities should be separated from the public, 60% said that they shouldn't have children, and 47% said that these people with intellectual disabilities should not be allowed to choose their own medical treatment. This is absolutely appalling to me. To tie in with the beginning I think that this is a very alarming situation. I am interested in this because people are misinformed on types of disabilities so some don't want to deal with them. I also believe that schools are very underfunded to give these students the type of "special" education they need.

http://www.connecttherapy.com/blog/therapy-strategies/tips-for-disciplining-child-with-autism-2/

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.573514

http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/sites/autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/files/Reinforcement_Steps-Positive.pdf

Terms:reinforced, reinforcing, variable interval, fixed interval, reinforcers

For this week’s blog post related to autism, I wanted to research more in depth positive reinforcement of those with autism in the classroom. This fits into the reinforcement section we learned early in the semester and have gone back to throughout the weeks. I was interested in this topic because growing up I had a boy in my class who had autism and when I was younger I never understood why he would receive different treatment than the other kids did. As I got older and became more aware of his condition I was able to see the way teachers taught him different things and interacted with him.

Autism is a complex disorder involving brain development that can vary in different degrees. Children with autism learn differently and are motivated by different things than children who don’t have the disorder. This knowledge is especially important when relating to the classroom where children are constantly being taught new things through various reinforcements. Through my research I was able to find ways in which children with autism are reinforced in the classroom.

One of the most important things to remember when modifying behavior of autistic children in school is to be sure to reinforce the behavior and not the student. This means that teachers or faculty need to identify ahead of time what specific behaviors they want to increase the frequency of, and then provide the reinforcer immediately after that behavior. If this isn’t done the correct way it can lead the child emitting the wrong behavior and faulty learning for the student. Another important thing to remember is to reinforce every time for new skills. If the reinforcers are spaced out too much and too fast the desired behavior may start to decrease. Because those with autism may not have natural interests in the kinds of activities and rewards as children without autism, it is important to note what good reinforcers could be. Edible rewards like raisins, pretzels, and candy are often very effective for these children.

It may be difficult finding what reinforcers work best for different students, but it is important to know that there are reinforcers for everybody. One thing that teachers can do if they are having trouble figuring out what works best for a particular child they can let that child wander around a room alone and see what draws them in. They can then use that object as a reinforcer and see if it increases the behavior. It is important to know that reinforcers get old, but that also means there isn’t just one reinforcer for everyone. Making a list of reinforcers for different students can help provide different activities that will help reinforce the behaviors that need to be increased.

http://www.newsforparents.org/expert_autism_reinforcement.html
http://www.autismclassroomnews.com/2010/10/reinforcement-in-classroom_19.html
http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism

Terms: target behavior, reinforcement, reinforcer, frequency, desirable, emit

Autism is not only an interesting “disorder” but also meshes very clearly with the subject matter of our class; behavior modification. I am personally very interested in the topic as I have participated in a play with an autistic teenage boy and also have a best girlfriend who has autism. As so called “complex disorders of brain development”, many autistic people lead completely normal lives, having highly proficient academia skills, extremely talented artists, and incredibly musically inclined. I have been very fortunate to have experienced a very expressive young man and to call one of my most dear friends an extremely successful secondary English teacher – both “sufferers” of this “disorder”

The CDC reports that autism affects 1 out of every 54 boys and 1 in 252 girls. Two million people are afflicted with ASD in the USA with tens of millions recorded worldwide. In the past few years, due to purported improved diagnostics and potentially environmental influences, the prevalence rates for ASD have risen 10-17%. It is caused by a multitude of different, usually rare gene mutations and changes and is truly case-by-case. Typically, most cases seem to be a combination of preexisting risk factor genes and early brain development induced by environmental factors. Interestingly, illness during pregnancy, birthing difficulties (those that deprive the baby’s brain of oxygen), and older parents seem to increase the risk.

Although two million people in the USA are autistic, over 40% have average-above average intelligence. 25% of individuals, although, are nonverbal and communicate through behavior modification techniques including signing. Currently, Autism Speaks and a multitude of other websites and state chapters are working to spread awareness about the autism spectrum, with the goal of improving the lives of those afflicted with the disorder. Recently, the docudrama Autistic License made a huge splash on the national stage. Minnesotan mother/newly-recognized playwright, Stacey Dinner-Levin, wrote a touching play concerning the lives of a family with two sons; one with and one without ASD. It captures the journey the family must endeavor upon to accommodate their unique child who perceives the world in an entirely different light. The disorder completely uproots the families’ life plan and spins in an entirely new direction. This play documents the warming signs, coping mechanisms, teaching techniques, and support systems, for not only the child, but the family as well. It takes ASD from being defined as a “disorder” and turns it into a relatable, moving subject all audiences can relate to.

When treatment plans, often fraught with frivolous medications, fell through behavior analysts began to determine how their profession may benefit the individual and family. The results have been highly effective. Oftentimes, lower-functioning autistic individuals develop repetitive behaviors that need reduced. Some examples include crying outbursts, throwing things, and dramatically collapsing to the floor. Through a series of behavior modification methods, therapists and parents have assisted thousands. Operant conditioning seems to be the preferred method of choice; during sessions and home-life, therapists and parents work to increase appropriate behaviors, while decreasing inappropriate ones. This is implemented through a counting/reward system. To establish the disapproval of negative behaviors, the “walk & peel” method is used, where the child is simply ignored (punished), receiving reinforcement for performing the correct behavior upon the parent’s/therapist’s reentry. Essentially, the adults are working on stamping out an undesirable behavior, while rewarding a desirable one.

In summary, autism is not JUST a disorder. It’s merely a person with a complexly different brain from those of us who are socially considered to be “normal”. Both high and low functioners are involved in incredibly amazing careers and workforces and deserve recognition as the highly unique individuals they are.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1504998/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl

http://www.autism-behavior-strategies.com/Autism-Behavior-Strategies.html

behavior modification, techniques, behavior, methods, operant conditioning, increase appropriate, decrease inappropriate, punished, reinforcement, stamping out an undesirable behavior, rewarding a desirable one

TERMS: behavior modification, trial and error, reinforcement, punishment, intelligence testing, IQ score, stimulus control, classical conditioning, trace conditioning, Pavlov, Skinner, social engineering, stimulus continuum, discrete,
When learning about behavior modification, we also should learn about social and learning disabilities that may arise in our profession. I am glad to research about autism since I will be hopefully becoming a school counselor. Autism is a disorder of social impairments, communication difficulties, and restrictive, repetitive patterns of behavior. In understanding the struggles of day to day life with autism, we need to remember that they would need to learn a different way than we would which leads us to practice trial and error until we find an effective way for that particular person. Some methods may need more reinforcement methods rather than using punishment. With the form of reinforcement as well as the trial and error, one must remember to be patient with the children who have autism or the adult. Just because the learning and interact in a different way than we do, doesn’t mean they are any less important or intelligent.
With all that being said, psychologists have been using a variety of intelligence tests on children who are thought to have autism to see what areas of the brain are being affected. Since children with autism have been misdiagnosed with mental retardation, researchers have been using two different forms of intelligence testing in order to verify if children with autism have a lower IQ score. With the testing of children with autism, they found out that children or adults with autism need stimulus control or structured area of learning. Things would need to be in order, quiet, and easy to understand in order for them to learn and expand in their intelligence. This would refer back to what we learned about in class last week which is classical conditioning. The child would need to be shown how to do something over a certain amount of time in order to associate it with another thing such as how to speak or read. I believe this would be trace conditioning because it matters when they are presented and in what order.
Although Pavlov began the classical conditioning method, Skinner expanded on it much more during his concept of social engineering. Skinner learned the difference between classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning is where the stimulus came before the response and the response was more flexible. Operant conditioning is where the stimulus follows the response and the response was more voluntary. I believe autism is a mixture of both of these concepts as would Skinner. Children or adults with autism would need stimulus continuum with very discrete learning cues. I look forward to class on Thursday so I can hear from someone with autism and make my own assumptions and connections to class more accurately.
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm
http://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/autism
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/positively-autism/200805/intelligence-testing-and-autism

I just googled how behavior modification fits into autism and came up with a few different websites I can use.
http://www.autism.net.au/Autism_ABA.htm
http://www.childbrain.com/pddq11.shtml
http://youtu.be/NEEp3FWt8nc

I researched how behavior modification can help autistic children. What I've found at the two websites and the videos above is that it's just reinforcement, and negative, not positive punishment. In the video it specifically says that when a child with autism does not respond to what they're asked to do or if they say no, you just don't give them what they want. Instead of punishing them by giving them a spanking, which they won't respond to, they just don't get the ice cream they ask for. Focus on the most dangerous problems first such as hitting, and other violence issues. The. Focus on making sure they have the ability to sit still while alone so they are able to go to school. The. Working on any weird behaviors that may make other kids judge them negatively so they have a fair chance to have friends.
I also learned that t helps to have a structured daily routine for the person with autism so they can get into that groove and really get used to something. They don't respond we'll to change,

The topic I picked is the language symptoms of Autism and how to deal with them. I think the topic fits into behavior modification because when Autistic children are observed: the people who are qualified can recommend the best treatment to help the children either learn to speak or find another way to communicate with those around them. I picked this topic because it seems that since all children develop language skills at different speeds, I wanted to find out when a child would be considered for possibly having Autism.

Children with Autism may show a variety of symptoms that impact their language development. They may take longer than usual to talk/babble or may never speak at all. They may even lose the ability to use words they previously knew and used. They may be able to repeat words and/or phrases word for word (called echolalia), but then not understand the correct context when using them. Even the tone of the words they use could be unusual: robotic, sing song, or just being excessively high pitched. Autistic children might not even make eye contact, which could make their speech difficult for others to understand (especially speaking from personal experience-I often have to tell the kids who aren't Autistic with high voices at work to look at me when they get upset as it becomes difficult to understand them without reading their lips and expressions). Autistic children who do speak may have trouble starting/keeping up with conversation as well as understanding simple questions or directions and social cues. If enough of these symptoms are present- the child could have trouble expressing basic needs and wants due to lack of vocabulary development.

These symptoms could negatively impact the lives of children with Autism, and that is when a person who knows how to apply behavior modification (different types of therapies) would step in as the symptoms would be causing a problem for the children. There are several different therapies aka “allied health services” that try to lessen the impact these symptoms have on the lives of Autistic children. One is Speech-Language Therapy, where the child works with a speech pathologist to set goals after assessment that try to help the child communicate(non-verbally and/or verbally depending on each individual case). Augmentative and Alternative Communication devices and methods can help non-verbal autistic people (both children and adults). A common example of this is the Picture Exchange Communication System. This is a card with pictures of common needs and wants the person would need to express but specialized ones are available/can be made as needed. Both paper and electronic versions (think iPad and specially programmed computers) This also helps the child build up their vocabulary, as it encourages verbal skills when used properly with anyone the child may come into contact with (family, teachers, and caregivers). Occupational Therapy can help with a wide variety of social skills, and often tries to help children learn social skills which would improve their ability to have successful conversations and read social cues given by others.

At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/autism/basics/symptoms/con-20021148
http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/Autism.htm
http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment/what-treatments-are-available-speech-language-and-motor-impairments

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
Behavior modification, echolalia, cues, “allied health services”, Speech-Language Therapy, speech pathologist, goals, Augmentative and Alternative Communication devices and methods, Picture Exchange Communication System, and Occupational Therapy.

I forgot to put my sources.
http://www.autismspectrumcenter.org/?gclid=CP7v0PKLjr0CFchFMgoduzsAtg

http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/symptoms

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm

Autism and reinforcement.

I am interested in this to see what kind of learning goes best with people with Autism. This interests me because as we have learned from other sections, reinforcement tends to be the best way to learn behaviors, especially when it comes to younger kids and dogs. I wonder if the same goes for people with Autism.

Autism is a spectrum disorder that is unique for each individual. Autism begins in very early brain development. Currently, there is no cure for Autism but there are ways to help treat it. Getting diagnosed early on is key because the earlier the diagnosis, the earlier treatment for the disorder can begin.

It has been researched that reinforcement is very effective for people on the Autism spectrum scale ages 3-22 years old in attaining academic, adaptive behavior, self-help goals, language /communication, and reducing interfering behaviors such as being disruptive or repetitive. If reinforcement is done effectively, then it can help those with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) regardless of cognitive level and/ or expressive communicative abilities.

Is reinforcement effective in every environment for those on the ASD? In short, the answer is researchers are still trying to figure that out. Most of the research has been done in clinics or in the classroom and mostly on a one-to-one teaching session with the ASD learner. While researchers have not dipped into seeing if reinforcement is effective in more naturalistic settings such as actives in homes or community-based activities, it could be effective in those settings as well.

What behaviors does reinforcement help with for people on the ASD? Researchers have found that using positive and negative reinforcement, they can help learning behaviors. These behaviors include but are not limited to: expanding speech production, decreasing interfering behaviors, increasing on-task behavior, and increasing physical activity.

Overall, it has been shown that reinforcement is effective for those on the ASD. As mentioned above, it helps with a variety of skills. They still need to research and see if it would work in more natural settings such as in the community or at home but they still have established that works for people from ages 3 to 22 years of age. Autism currently is a growing disorder, so the more we can learn about it, the better we will be at treating it and potentially on day find a cure.

Terms: Reinforcement, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, behaviors, and Autism.

http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/content/reinforcement

http://www.autism-help.org/behavior-positive-reinforcement-autism.htm

http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism

My research on autism dealt with what it is, prevalent inappropriate behavior, and methods of modifying that behavior. The biological explanation of autism spectrum disorder is that within the brains of these individuals is hyperfunctioning of local neural circuit. This is what causes hyperreactivity to certain amounts of stimuli that wouldn’t overwhelm people without autism. For all people, certain reactions become habit, and this is the case with autistic individuals. At times, their overwhelmed reactions to excess of stimuli becomes automatic (which is called memory-trapped). However, there’s a broad range the encompasses autism spectrum disorder. This developmental disorder is comprised of three subtypes: autistic disorder, asperger syndrome, and pervasive developmental disorder. Autistic disorder is characterized by communication and language problems, out of the ordinary interests and behaviors, and sometimes intellectual disabilities. Asperger's disorder is lower in severity than autistic disorder and includes some overlap. These individuals usually don’t have the same deficits in language and intelligence as those with autistic disorder. Pervasive developmental disorder means that the person didn’t meet enough of the criteria for the first two subtypes and due to this usually includes people with less severe symptoms.

Inappropriate behavior prevalent in Autism includes crying when nothing is wrong, laying on the ground, throwing things, knocking objects down, hitting, things that cause self-injury, and more. Often autistic children will emit these behaviors either because they haven’t fully learned social expectations/norms yet or because they are easily frustrated by situations. Professionals will use positive reinforcement with autistic children by giving the children rewards for desired behaviors. Interestingly, the article detailed that behavior is only to be rewarded if it is “clean”, meaning it is in no way accompanied by another inappropriate behavior. If a child does emit an undesired behavior, the professionals will wait for that behavior to end, redirect the child (change the antecedent/environment to elicit a different outcome) to a more desired behavior and then reward that behavior (the consequence). It’s important to wait out temper tantrums because people’s habitual reactions to situations can become more extreme with emotionally charged experiences. In other words, a child having a temper tantrum over being frustrated by being unable to do something and then be severely reprimanded by a parent may only make a future temper tantrum worse. This could also relate to the law of exercise and bring out how important intervention is in quickly extinguishing undesired behaviors. The article also told that when first reinforcing a behavior, it should be continuously reinforced, but after a while switched to intermittent reinforcement. Overall, I found learning more about autism to being interesting, especially the influential role that behavior modification can play within this developmental disorder.

Terms: behavior, modifying, positive, reinforcement, reward, emit, antecedent, elicit, consequence, continuously reinforced, intermittent reinforcement, “memory-trapped” (term from article), law of exercise, intervention, extinguishing

http://www.brightmindsinstitute.com/blog/2011/08/25/how-to-modify-aggressive-behavior-in-children-with-autism/
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/facts.html
http://www.autism-behavior-strategies.com/Autism-Behavior-Strategies.html

For this week, I chose to study applied behavior analysis (ABA) about autism and the ABCs of behavior. For children with autism, behavior interventions can work very well. The process is very detailed and measureable, we will prompt the child to ask for a drink, and reinforce this behavior with small rewards. This therapy works very well because the treatment is adapted to each client, their specific needs, and the target behavior they are working on. The also measure the effectiveness of the treatment using the data gathered throughout the treatment.

In addition to applied behavior analysis, I studied the ABCs of behavior. When working with autistic students, a common technique for modifying behavior is to change the antecedent. The antecedent sets the occasion, or makes a given behavior happen, while a consequence occurs after the behavior and dictates the likelihood of the behavior and dictates the likelihood of the behavior reoccurring given the same antecedent. Some examples of manipulating the antecedent are using schedules, warnings for changes in the schedule or transitions. These strategies work to prevent children with autism from getting distracted throughout the day and encourage the target behavior.

When applying behavioral therapy to children with autism, often the antecedent is used to prompt the target behavior. Children with autism are often paired with socially competent children to work or play together. Games may be combined with actions of affection to help the autistic children socialize. In cases like these, the antecedent is creating a game, the behavior is affection-based socialization, and the consequence is positive affect which results from physical affection. This makes it more likely for children to engage in physical affection in the future because they were rewarded with positive affect. A similar process can be used to manipulate any target behavior.

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), autism, ABCs, antecedent, behavior, consequence, behavior intervention, target behavior

Children with Autism can be seen as problem children for those who are not very well educated about this disorder, do not understand it, or who have never worked with people with Autism. I have worked with people with Autism for over two years, and it can be a challenge, but you just have to remember to keep schedules concrete and they have their own way of learning. Having a structured environment is very important for those with Autism, and I have seen when those schedules get disrupted for some reason there can be behavioral issues.
I want to look at reinforcement usage in kids with Autism, because I feel that it is a very important subject when looking at working with children with Autism. What I found was that sometimes effectiveness of positive reinforcement can be challenging in finding what positive reinforcement will work the best. An issue that bring this about would be the feeling of wanting to be left alone. I read that sometimes negative reinforcement can be more effective than positive reinforcement in these cases. This is only suggested to use when it is not clear what type of positive reinforcement will work. When reinforcing a child, the reinforcement needs to occur right after the desired behavior. And the stimulus should be taken away right when the desired behavior does not occur, the reason being so the child doesn’t get confused, because if it is taken away later they may not understand why it is happening to them and they might not remember what they did wrong in the first place and feel that something they just did was wrong, which may not be the case, so it needs to be reinforced right away. Children need other reinforcements rather than just physical things. They also need verbal reinforcements, such as praise. Sometimes praise does not work for children, it just depends on the child and making sure you get to know them, and what works best for them. If praises are used they need to be specific, immediate, and frequent.
If the child is asked what they would like to earn and it is something that also relates to the environment or social environment, it can help them be more willing because it is something they want, and it can also be something that can help them learn and grow as a person. Some different reinforcement schedules that work best with children with Autism are fixed ratio, variable ratio, and fixed interval. If the behavior that follows the reinforce does not increase, then that may not be the right reinforce for that child.

http://globalnaturopath.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=100:reinforcement&catid=45:aba-tips&Itemid=29
http://theautismhelper.com/teaching-tip-positive-reinforcement/
http://www.autismclassroomnews.com/2010/10/reinforcement-in-classroom_19.html

Positive and negative reinforcement, desired behavior, stimulus, verbal reinforcement, reinforcement schedule, fixed ratio, variable ratio, fixed interval,

I seriously thought I submitted this last week. I opened my Word only to find it was autosaved and after logging back into the site, it apparently never went through. I'm very sorry!

They say no two snowflakes are alike, and the same holds true for person’s impacted by autism. Looking at the grand scheme, this theory can be applied to all people impacted by behavioral and developmental disorders. Since no two person is impacted the same way, it is important to have an array of effective treatment options at hand. However, over 50 years of scientific research has found the efficacy of applied behavioral analysis has been shown to reduce the disruptive behaviors typically associated with autisms.

The 5 most common evidence-based, and researched based, professional interventions and treatments are: discrete trial training, pivotal response training, incidental teaching, applied verbal behavior, and picture exchange communication systems. These techniques would fit into Skinner’s social engineering theory, because these interventions are designed to create the right environment so we can predict and control behaviors to benefit society.

Generally speaking, each of these interventions target behaviors are broken into very small, clear, and separate components. Another common factor is the use of positive reinforcement; both verbally or materialistically depending on the level of intensity and length, but averaging 3-4hrs a day. By no means do these interventions “cure” autism. These interventions require a great deal of time, patience, consistency, and cooperation from everyone associated with the intervention and treatment.

Vocab: behavioral, disruptive, evidence-based, research based, intervention, treatment, discrete trial training, pivotal response training, incidental teaching, applied verbal behavior, and picture exchange communication systems, Skinner, social engineering theory, environment, target behavior, positive reinforcement, intensity, consistency.

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/childrens-hospital/specialties-services/departments-centers/center-for-autism/behavioral-intervention-autism.aspx

http://autismlab.ucsd.edu/about/pivotal-response-training.shtml

http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/content/discrete-trial-training-0

Autism
I was interested in getting to know more about autism in the first place, so this was fun for me to research. As fun as it may have been to learn more about autism, it is not a funny subject at all. I have noticed in the last few years how prevalent and “normal” autism has becoming in young children. I have heard different opinions and I am not sure exactly where I stand on the characterization of autism. People are different sometimes, does that mean we need to put a harsh label on them such as autism? That is a hard question to answer.
I read through a few different websites about autism and the one common concern was the lack of social skills that come with autism. As people, we need that intimate interaction with the people around us to survive. Without this skill, life can be tough and depressing. According to Autism Speaks, “Each individual with autism is unique. Many of those on the autism spectrum have exceptional abilities in visual skills, music and academic skills. About 40 percent have average to above average intellectual abilities. Indeed, many persons on the spectrum take deserved pride in their distinctive abilities and “atypical” ways of viewing the world. Others with autism have significant disability and are unable to live independently.” This shows just how confusing this illness can be. How can confine people to this label of “autism” when all of them can be so different? Some of these people are high functioning and just seem a little off from the rest of the world. Others become more transparent that they are not capable of being normal living people. It is crazy to think how we can stick some people in a corner and say something is wrong with them mentally.
There are many ways autism is being diagnosed. According to the US Deparment of Health and Human Services, “There are many different types of treatments available, such as: auditory training, discrete trial training, vitamin therapy, anti-yeast therapy, facilitated communication, music therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and sensory integration.” This is good to know they are approaching this illness in more than one way considering all of these people are so different. By using all of these different methods, I can see it being much more helpful with figuring out probable causes.
There is sadly not an ending to this autism story. The cure has not yet been found. They have not yet figured out the actual cause(s) of autism. Without this information, the problem cannot be quickly fixed. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, “Studies of people with ASD have found irregularities in several regions of the brain. Other studies suggest that people with ASD have abnormal levels of serotonin or other neurotransmitters in the brain. These abnormalities suggest that ASD could result from the disruption of normal brain development early in fetal development caused by defects in genes that control brain growth and that regulate how brain cells communicate with each other, possibly due to the influence of environmental factors on gene function.” All of my sources talked about similar causes such as these but there is no one hundred percent answer on if they are correct. This area needs a whole lot more further research.
Overall, autism is something that is on the rise and needs to be figured out. With all of the differences in symptoms and probable causes, it will take some time. Scientists are on their way to breaking down the illness in hopes that it will one day be cured.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism
http://www.hhs.gov/autism/
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm

I would like you to say what your topic is:

Since you stated behavioral interventions have been the most successful treatment for helping those with autism, I decided to research how effective positive reinforcement would be on children suffering from autism.

How exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far:

This fits into our class and the sections we have covered because we have talked about positive reinforcement a great deal and it can affect behavior greatly depending on the situation and if it is used properly.

and why you are interested in it:

I am interested in this topic of positive reinforcement because I am curious to know whether or not positive reinforcement is just as effective with children who have autism versus children who do not.

Next, I would like you to take the information you found related to your topic, integrate/synthesize the topic, and then write about the topic.

According to the research I have done, positive reinforcement is actually extremely helpful to children with autism because it is highly motivating for them. One website even says positive reinforcement is the most important and most widely applied principle when dealing with behavior analysis.
Positive reinforcement can also help autistic children learn new behaviors dealing with life skills as well as repetitive behaviors. There are certain ways to use positive reinforcement such as looking at what has motivated the child in the past, verbal praise, desired objects, or even attention such as smiling, asking questions, and joining in on activities. One thing I learned that was similar to what we learned in this class is how important timing is when it comes to positive reinforcement. Timing is so important because it is critical for the child to feel that the goal is achievable. According to one of the websites that contained a research paper, autistic children are actually very highly motivated so the key is to find out what their motivations already are and build out from there. With this being said there is still some lack of research that needs to be done in order to figure out what specifically motivates children with autism. I personally believe it depends on the child but in any case, positive reinforcement with autistic children is known to be extremely effective and helps with the treatment of autism. Based on everything I have researched from these three websites, I was able to answer the questions that I had and realized that yes positive reinforcement is a huge contribution when helping children with autism but I did not find anything which stated that positive reinforcement is more effective for autistic children versus children who do not have autism. Therefore I have come to the conclusion that positive reinforcement is equally effective and useful when dealing with many situations throughout life as well as extremely helpful for treating children with autism.

Three websites:

http://www.autism-help.org/behavior-positive-reinforcement-autism.htm

http://www.educateautism.com/behavioural-principles/positive-reinforcement.html

http://www.gardencolorado.org/media/8fcb74b2-9dd9-4da0-96cd-f9fccd9aaed7/The-Role-Reinforcements-Play-in-Autism.pdf

Terms: behavior interventions, positive reinforcement, motivating, behavior analysis, repetitive behaviors, goal, timing, autism

For this weeks assignment I choose to focus my attention on autism in young children. Autism occurs in 1 out of every 1,000 people. In young children however it affects 1 out of every 68. According to an online article I found parents usually notice signs in he first couple years of their child's life. Some sign may develop more slowly than others, and some children may develop more normally than others too.

Children with autism often struggle with speech. There is no known cure for autism. Children with autism often show emotion a lot differently than a person without autism, for example they might not smile as much or look people in the face.

Some common signs of autism include: not babbling by the age of one, not being able to form words by age 16 months. The main symptom is poor social contact. It is important for people to really understand that a person that has autism has a different behavior than other people typically might. A lot of people take offense if someone doesn't look them in the eye while talking to them. However, a person with autism just fails to respond to peoples names and they avoid eye contact.

What people need to also understand is that yes people with autism are different but from my own personal experience they have some very unique qualities. I had a boy that I went to school with that had autism and he was very good at math, but like the reading said he wouldn't give you eye contact. A lot of teachers actually would punish him because they just didn't understand.

Terms: punishment

http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm#259263082

For this assignment I decided to look into types of behavior treatments for children with autism. Many sources said that behavior treatment is a crucial part of taking the right steps toward normalcy for many children with an autism spectrum disorder. Treatments and procedures can be put under the umbrella term, Applied Behavior Analysis.

Behavior treatment focuses on the behaviors and the environment. Behavior being action and skills and environment being any influence that might change or be changed by one's behavior. A lot of the treatments focus on using positive reinforcement and the principles that explain how learning takes place. These treatments started in the 1960s. They can be done in structured or unstructured situations by parents or clinicians or in a group. Applied behavior analysis has been endorsed by the U.S. Surgeon General. Behavior Treatments foster basic skills such as looking, listening, and imitating and other complex skills such as reading, conversing, and understanding another persons perspective. Children that receive intensive ABA treatment show larger improvements. The procedure includes a detailed assessment, treatment goals that are developmentally appropriate and that are broken down into manageable steps.

A more specific type of treatment is called the Early Start Denver Model. This was developed by Rogers and Dawson. This treatment is aimed toward children with autism aged 12-48 months. It is a naturalistic approach with behavioral analytic strategies sensitive to a normal developmental sequence, deep parental involvement, a focus on interpersonal exchange and positive affect, shared engagement with joint activities, and language and communication taught inside a positive affect-based relationship. This method has been validated in a randomized clinical trial based off of treatment for 20 hours a week (15 with a therapist and 5 with a caregiver). This model has been showed to change the brain and redirect children toward normal development and reduce the severity of symptoms. The sessions may look like play but the treatment has been specifically designed to engage and reinforce children's social skills.

On all the sites that I visited I noticed that they all stated that it was important to make sure that the person offering these treatment plans was certified. They could be a clinical psychologist or a behavior analyst. A quick and easy way to find someone who is certified in the area is by searching the Behavior Analyst Certification Board.

Autism can be a challenge to anyone but with the right behavioral tools many problems can be solved. The most effective of those tools being positive reinforcement. A few examples of successful positive reinforcement would be using a behavior chart with stickers and motivational prizes or changes in an environment that is creating discomfort or unnecessary frustration.

Terminology: Autism, applied behavior analysis, positive reinforcement, Early Start Denver Model, Behavior Analyst Certification Board

Many doctors have looked at autism, and it was found that behavior interventions are one of the ways to treat autism. Behavior intervention is a behavior modification technique that uses operant conditioning to teach a behavior.
If we were to use this to treat autism we would develop a plan involving parents, doctors, and therapist to work together. We would try and replace specific behaviors with other target behaviors. Using positive reinforcements and rewards may do this. They may also eliminate aversive stimuli that trigger the child’s emotions.
These techniques are good to build a child up and teach them in encouraging ways. They are more likely to pick up on using behaviors if they are encouraged by reinforcement and support. We have study operant conditioning and found it to be very effective. This is way doctors feel developing an intervention plan based on this strategy may be extremely effective.

Terms: operant condition, reinforcement, rewards, h=behavior modification, emotions, stimuli

http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/behavioral+intervention
http://ec.ncpublicschools.gov/instructional-resources/behavior-support/resources/behavior-intervention-plan
http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment

The topic I chose to look into is Asperger’s Syndrome, which is an autism spectrum disorder, also known as an ASD. We have not specifically discussed Asperger’s or autism in class, but it fits into what we have learned in class because behavior that a person with Asperger’s displays can sometimes be shaped with behavior modification, whether reinforcement is used, or other types of behavior modification are used. I was interested in researching and learning about Asperger’s Syndrome because I have heard about it in the past, but I did not know much about the symptoms and how it affects peoples’ behaviors. This made me curious about it and want to learn more about it, and that is why I chose it as my topic.
People with Asperger’s Syndrome, also known as AS often struggle to develop social skills at a normal rate, and they can struggle to understand peoples’ facial and body expressions. They also often have certain mannerisms or routines that they do with their hands or bodies. People with AS often have limited interest in activities or hobbies and there are small amounts of certain things that they seem to show great interest in. These could be sports, movies, art, skateboarding, or other hobbies. These aspects of AS could lead people to view others that have AS as being strange or different from everybody else.
Not only do people with AS have trouble understanding facial expressions, but they can also have trouble with the understanding of language, and this might be because they use completely literal language. A person with AS is likely to have no problems developing language skills, but this does not mean that they don’t struggle to communicate. The use of literal language and trouble understanding the social cues that come from others can cause people with AS to have problems in conversations. Another symptom of AS is the lack of eye contact during conversations. This is another reason why a person with AS might struggle during social conversations.
There are multiple methods of treatment for Asperger’s Syndrome. The treatments can help with repetitive behaviors, awkward or clumsy behaviors, and social skills. When a person is being treated for AS, reinforcement can help to modify their behavior and this can permanently change their symptoms and behaviors. While it might not be a problem that a person with Asperger’s has a limited interest in activities in hobbies, their repetitive mannerisms and behaviors can still be treated, and a person with AS can still have practice with their social and communication skills. This sort of practice might be involved in cognitive training used to treat AS. Practice with these skills can make the person more comfortable in social conversations and more ready and comfortable to handle various social situations. The treatment might also involve confronting eccentric behaviors that a person with AS might perform that can affect social situations. This sort of treatment can also help a person become more comfortable and prepared for conversations. Medication can also be used to help treat a person with AS, but medication is not guaranteed to help someone with AS.
Overall, there are multiple treatment methods that can be used when approaching Asperger’s Syndrome. This disorder can involve symptoms that include repetitive movement and behaviors. As mentioned earlier, AS also involves a limited variety of interests. This means a person with Asperger’s is often interested in a few things, and these few things are hobbies or activities that the person narrowly focuses in on, and they can be great talents or skills that a person with AS has. The symptoms of Asperger’s Syndrome can obviously have a large impact on the social and communication skills that a person possesses, and this can make social situations difficult for a person with AS to face.
http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/mental-health-aspergers-syndrome
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/asperger/asperger.htm
http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/brain/asperger.html
Terminology: AS, Asperger's Syndrome, symptoms, treatment, behavior, reinforcement, behavior modification, disorder, cognitive training, autism.

The topic I have decided to research is autism in the workplace. There are varying degrees of autism; some people with autism can still have a relatively normal life, while others need institutional care. As Dr. Maclin mentioned, research shows that behavioral interventions can be extremely rewarding for those with autism. With the increase in people being diagnosed with autism, people have become more concerned about job opportunities for all of these people. However, through my research I found that some autistic traits can be beneficial in the workplace and there are programs that are helping people with autism learn appropriate behaviors for the workplace.

In the 1990s, the diagnosis of autism started to dramatically increase. 1 in 150 teens today are diagnosed with autism. These people diagnosed in the 1990s are starting to join the workforce and this has been a growing concern. Many think autistic people are not capable of holding a job, but this is far from the truth. In certain jobs, behaviors that would typically hold people back could possibly benefit their position. For example, it is common for people with autism to have OCD. OCD repetitive behaviors can be linked to a bit of superstitious behavior. One article I read talked about a man who emitted OCD behaviors that included pushing buttons and hearing the sound of swishing water. This man ended up starting a small business washing towels for hair salons. His autistic/OCD behavior helped him to open a small business! People with autism are known for being passionate about very focused ideas. For jobs in the archaeology field or museums, this mindset is what people need. They could spend their whole employment focused on an individual artifact or textile. Another common characteristic for people with autism is that they are very detail-oriented. This is a great trait to have for jobs like lab technicians or biological researchers. There are definitely jobs available for those with autism, and there are programs that are aiding these people find jobs.

A joint venture partner at Outback Steakhouse in Arizona, Matt McMahon, is working with SARRC to give people with autism job opportunities. What inspired him is that his son has autism and he wanted to help others be able to have opportunities like his son. SARRC, Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center, started a vocational school to give people job opportunities they would not normally have. McMahon hires people that go through SARRC to work for him at Outback Steakhouse. These people that come to Outback Steakhouse have a job coach that helps them learn how to properly do the job. When the autistic employees reach a target behavior, they are given positive reinforcement from their job coach which helps them stay motivated in their employment. This program is just one example of how it is possible for people with autism to be self-sufficient members of society. The opportunities are endless!

Terms: behavioral intervention, behavior, superstitious behavior, emitted, autism, repetitive behavior, target behavior, positive reinforcement, OCD

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2009/04/02/teenagers-with-autism-want-a-job

http://www.autismsupportnetwork.com/news/redefining-workplace-teens-and-adults-autism-2374892

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsrPqDy8lfE

The topic I have chosen to talk about is autism in the college setting. Many campuses today are trying to help individuals in the autism spectrum. One article talks about how the percentage of individuals on the autism spectrum has increased in the last ten years.

People with autism have a hard time emitting certain behaviors such as getting gas or driving a car. For a long time, people who were suffering this disorder were invisible to the system because there was never a sure fire way to detect it. But with the increase in students who have been diagnosed, colleges are taking action and expanding efforts to help these students graduate with their degrees.

Right now, more research is being done on the disorder. But today there are many treatments to help people with this disability. Such treatments include medication, educational and behavioral interventions, as well as other forms of therapy. These behavioral interventions are used to reduce or eliminate certain stereotypical behaviors. These can be modified through any types of reinforcement or punishment.

Terms: emit, behavior, reinforcement, punishment

http://www.forbes.com/sites/paigecarlotti/2014/07/31/more-colleges-expanding-programs-for-students-on-autism-spectrum/

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm

http://www.autism.com/symptoms_self-stim

For this weeks post I will focus on the therapy provided for children with autism, more specifically Discrete Trial Teaching. I will be talking about the definition of DTT, the method, and effectiveness of it.

Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT) is a subpart form of the broad therapy term Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy, which is the widely used scientific method of behavior modification for autistic patients. ABA and DTT are often confused for each other as DTT is the back bone so to say for ABA. In the 1970's psychologists Ivar Lovass and Robert Koegel of UCLA were the first to develop DTT.

Discrete Trial Training is Discrete trial training (DTT) is a method of providing intervention. According to Anderson et al. (1996), the discrete trial method has four distinct parts: (1) the trainer's presentation, (2) the child's response, (3) the consequence, and (4) a short pause between the consequence and the next instruction (between interval trials). This is a technique of behavior modification in that trials are used and clear set antecedents and consequences are implemented by the therapists.

ABA is a very effective method of therapy for children with autism, as it was found in a study that 47% of children who received therapy for 40+ hours a week would eventually be able to complete first-grade level classes and intellectual and education functioning. From more extensive research of ABA therapy there have come more data on different forms of the therapy such as early extensive behavioral intervention.

Behavior modification techniques such as giving positive feedback and positive reinforcement for correct behavior have been effective when treating children with autism. No negative punishment it seems is used as that would most likely upset and lead to regression in progress being made with the autistic child. Continued use and improvements of techniques will only help these children as they continue to grow.

URLS:
http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/content/discrete-trial-training-0
http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/?pageId=451
http://www.autism.net.au/Autism_ABA.htm

Terms:
Classical conditioning, positive reinforcement, trials, reinforcer, behavior modification, Applied behavior analysis (ABA), Discrete trial teaching (DTT), autism

My topic is Autism and behavioral intervention. This topic fits into lots of sections that we have covered so far. The basics of behavioral intervention begin with the ABC's that we learned about first. It also focuses heavily on reinforcement and punishment. The key is to pick out appropriate target behaviors and reinforce them with continuous reinforcement or other schedules of reinforcement. I am interested in this topic because my neighbor has a grandson with autism. Lately, he has begun to emit problematic behavior. I was curious about behavioral interventions effectiveness on children with autism.
Autism is a neuro-developmental disorder, its genetic marker is unclear and there currently is no cure. Children with autism struggle with correctly interpreting feedback from social interactions. An adult may choose to punish a behavior, but the child with autism might not believe it to be punishment. In turn they continue to emit the disruptive behavior. As the behavior continues, parents and other figures of authority may try to console or calm down the child during these times. Ultimately, it can develop into an attention seeking behavior. It's normal to want attention; however, giving attention to problem behaviors only allows the behavior to persist.
Applied behavior analysis has been found to be an effective treatment for problematic behavior in children with autism. This intervention typically begins in the school system, and matches the level of problematic behavior. Some principles used in behavior intervention include, reinforcement, shaping, and generalization. The antecedent that leads to the inappropriate behaviors are assessed and what consequences usually follow. Target behaviors are broken down more simply into the ones that the child should be emitting and that are expected. The professional then teaches them so they understand what will be reinforced and what will not.
In order to change the behavior the key is to stay consistent. Occasional reinforcement will not result in the extinction of the behavior. Ignoring it and allowing minimal contact is most useful, while neither approving nor disapproving. There are many different forms of interventions with differing procedures. Some examples of strategies that have been developed to improve autistic children's behavior are differential reinforcement of appropriate behavior and differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior. The first is when a child completes a task without emitting the problem behavior, they are then positively reinforced. The second one is done by positively reinforcing the child when the problem behavior does not occur for a period of time, like sitting still.
It is important to find what form reinforcement & reinforcement schedules will be most effective in teaching each child, because every case of autism differs. Also depending on the severity of the behavior, treatment may target one goal or range from 35-40 hours of intensive treatment. The latter appears to have more success.
Behavioral intervention is by no means a cure. It affects not only the individual with autism but the whole family as well. For success, behaviors and resulting consequences must remain consistent. With that in mind, it will likely develop into better interactions with peers, family and in school.

Terms: ABCs, Reinforcement, Punishment, Target Behavior, Reinforce, Continuous Reinforcement, Schedules of Reinforcement, Emit, Behavior, Shaping, Generalization, Antecedent, Extinction, Positive Reinforcement, Consequence.

http://www.autism.com/symptoms_attention-seeking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax9MAYJrsCA
http://my.clevelandclinic.org/childrens-hospital/specialties-services/departments-centers/center-for-autism/behavioral-intervention-autism

I have been interested in Autism ever since I have been watching the television show “Parenthood.” There is a family that has a boy named Max who is diagnosed with Autism and the show explains what it is like to have an Autistic child. I have never had experience with interacting with anyone who has Autism, but from the show to my understanding the do have problems interacting socially. In the show he does get behavioral intervention and does have a behaviorist to help him with his behavior.
I searched three different websites that explained how to improve autistic children’s behavior. I found a website that identified classroom yoga improves autistic children’s behavior. I am certified in yoga and I would agree that if the children practiced yoga correctly in the classroom it could have many benefits to the child’s behavior. This topic ties into reinforcement and operant conditioning. An autistics child’s behavior can be manipulated with reinforcement. They can also learned with operant conditioning. It may be stressful, but the reward is having the child emit wanted behaviors.
Behavioral intervention is also a way behavior can be improved with specialized counselors. Both the external and internal environment may impact the negative behavior autistic children exhibit. Some external environmental situations may include sensory stimuli, social triggers, communication problems, and interest. Some internal environmental situations that may cause behavioral problems to look for are pain, seizures, food allergies, hunger, thirst, fatigue, emotions, and coordination problems. Once the child’s needs are determined this will help with target behavior.
We may not understand many of the behaviors and autistic child exhibits, but we have to be aware of the idea of child's theory of sensation and perception. They do not engage in social situations as well as we do and we just have to try to read the “messages” they present. By really being aware of an autistic child's behavior may be the key to helping a child with autism. The “messages” they send can be the key to cracking the code to their needs. This allows for an individual to attend the child’s needs and not reinforce them for unwanted behavior. Anxiety and stress promote a lot of the behaviors autistic children emit.
With the practice of yoga in the classroom daily helps relieve anxiety and stress in the students. When anxiety and stress from the students is reduced they are likely to behave. Research suggests yoga helps kids focus and concentrate, along with improving strength, motor coordination and social skills. A study was done in the Bronx with a class of autistic children. Some of the students followed a yoga routine five days a week for seventeen minutes. The researchers studied these students for sixteen weeks and compared this class to the control group which was given the standard classroom procedure. The teachers who taught the group of students who practiced yoga noticed significantly fewer problematic behaviors.
Overall, improving an autistic child’s behavior is a process and will take work. More attention will need to be focused of them, but they are capable of emititng wanted behavior. By understanding their needs and reducing stress and anxiety in their life they will have less problematic behaviors. Behavioral interventions with specialized counselors also helps improve autistic children’s behaviors.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/10/12/162782583/classroom-yoga-helps-improve-behavior-of-kids-with-autism

http://healthland.time.com/2012/10/26/behavior-therapy-normalizes-brains-of-autistic-children/

http://www.helpguide.org/harvard/autism-behavior-problems.htm

Terminology: Behavior, emit, reinforcement, operant conditioning, target behavior

Because autism is so complex, no medicinal treatment will cure those who have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Drug therapies can only reduce specific associated symptoms, but behavioral therapies can teach life skills to help a person with ASD maintain a life of specialized independence. The Center for Disease Control advocates behavioral therapies and early intervention as the most effective treatment for ASD, but they also note that drug therapies, alternative treatments, and dietary changes can also aid treatment practices.
Early treatment is the most effective way to ensure that an individual with ASD can maintain the most functional life possible for that individual, Autism Speaks recommends the Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) and the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) as the top two accredited behavioral therapy methods for ASD. Before intervention can start, autism must be diagnosed, which is done by professional evaluations.
Parents likewise need to advocate for their children if they feel there is necessity for concern or diagnosis. The Autism Speaks website provides a list of “red flags” that parents or caregivers should take notice of if their infant child is not displaying normal communicative milestones, such as no smiling after six months of age or non-meaningful two word phrases by age two.
The ESDM is designed for children 12 to 48 months of age. This intervention process involves children as well as parents in effort to establish communication and functioning for the child and can be performed in a formal or home setting. What I love about this therapy approach is the involvement of parents in helping their child to learn skills that will prove necessary in their functioning. Professionals teach parents how to educate their children-family involvement has shown to be a successful therapy factor. Also the ESDM is the only method that has proven to be effective in young children displaying signs of ASD.
ABA is effective for children and adolescents, as well as adult who have struggled with ASD and can be a comprehensive method as well as early intervention. “ABA principles and techniques can foster basic skills such as looking, listening and imitating, as well as complex skills such as reading, conversing and understanding another person’s perspective.” (Autism Speaks) Unlike the ESDM, the ABA format provides a structured and individualized learning program for people with ASD of all ages. Group/individual/formal/ casual therapies are designed to assist in communication and function in all settings of life. The ABA platform uses positive reinforcement to enhance and encourage positive behaviors through a reward system.
Within the Behavior Modification text, positive reinforcement is defined as the “introduction of a desirable stimulus, contingent upon emitting a target behavior, with the goal of increasing the frequency of a response.” Reinforcement needs to be about the individual’s behavior rather that the individual, and multiple reinforcers need to be applied so that satiation of the reinforcement does not occur, and interest ceases. A variety of reinforcers can be used based on what the individual associates to be of desirable valence, and it does not have to be an object; people also desire verbal accolades, tasks that they enjoy, extra attention, etc.. Rewards however should be given on an intermittent reinforcement schedule in order to maintain effectiveness. At first rewards should be given after every desired behavior, and once capabilities have been established a variable ratio can be enforced so that the individual can continue to strive to learn and comply with learning practices to the best of their abilities.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/treatment.html
http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment
http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment/applied-behavior-analysis-aba
http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment/early-start-denver-model-esdm

Terms: positive reinforcement, variable ratio, stimulus, satiation, reinforcers, intermittent reinforcement schedule, emit, target behavior, valence

Techniques for Helping Autistic Children
The topic that I am interested in and have chosen to do more research on is techniques for helping autistic children. This topic relates to behavior modification because behavior modification is one technique that is used to help autistic children. I am interested in this topic because autism is a topic that I am always hearing about and thought it would interesting to learn about the techniques to help autistic children.

First off, autism refers to complex disorders in brain development. These disorders vary from repetitive behaviors, difficulties in verbal and nonverbal communication, and difficulties in social interaction. The repetitive behaviors could be extinction burst and/or spontaneous recovery in relation to behavior modification. Signs and symptoms of autism are found to emerge around 2-3 years of age and 1 out 68 children in the United States have autism. (Citation A)

There are many different types of techniques that are used to help children with autism. One of them is behavior modification. With this technique, a lot of repetition is required when trying to teach appropriate behaviors and it must be done deliberately. (Citation B) The most effective way behavior modification helps children with autism is through structured systems of reinforcement for desired (target) behaviors and consequences for inappropriate behaviors. ABA, or Applied Behavior Analysis, is a widely used technique to help with autism. It focuses on small steps working towards bigger goals with reinforcement for each small step completed correctly along the way.

Another technique that helps children with autism, that is not an obvious one but I thought was interesting, is with music. With this technique, music really engages autistic children. It helps them develop communication and social skills by dancing and singing. As found in a video (Citation C), autistic children will sing the same notes as their instructor and may even begin to communicate by singing. When working with the instructor, the children take interest in acquiring a certain skill (such as the boy ringing the corresponding bells to the piano in the video). Music is a great stimulus and/or antecedent to help autistic children reach target behaviors and to help them be more responsive to things around them.

After researching further on this topic, I feel I have become very well informed about not only autism, but other relative terms and concepts that are also used in our Behavior Modification class. I have always heard a lot of things about autism, but never knew much about it. It was interesting learning about some of the techniques people can go about to help children with autism.

Website sources:
A) http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism
B) http://autism.lovetoknow.com/Techniques_for_Helping_Autistic_Children
C) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFLJJlOCVsw

Terminology used: Behavior modification, extinction burst, spontaneous recovery, reinforcement, target behavior, stimulus, antecedent, behavior, consequence.

This week we were asked to do some research into autism. I choose to look at where it comes from, how to spot it, and more on the best way to treat it. This fits in with behavioral modification because it is the type of situation that behavioral modification is studied. They emit a behavior that we want to change or shape into a more appropriate or useful behavior. We have talked about many behaviors while in class but not and specific behavior disorder. I think having us research autism while show us a great medical and positive application to behavioral modification. This topic sort of hits close to home for me because a friend in my graduating class had a less serve case of autism. I knew a little about the disorder but not as much as I would of like. This is why I am doing a more general overview into autism instead of a more specific topic inside of it such as Aspergers.

Autism is a complex neurobehavioral disorder that stunts social development along with the development of communication skills and language. It ranges in severity from functioning to a person with this disorder must be institutionalized. Autism is not fully understood in the scientific world but doctors think that it is a combination of family and environment. In identical twin studies if one had it then there was a ninety percent chance the other would get it. This points to a strong correlation to genetics and the disease. They have identified several genes that seem to contribute to the onset of autism.

There are several key signs that a person my have autism.The first and biggest being trouble with social interaction. Also a baby may not be responsive to people or focus on only one object for a long time. As the child ages more signs may be not making eye contact or not responding to their name. Kids with autism may also do self abusive behaviors such as headbanging. Symptoms of autism usually lessen and become more manageable with age.

The most effective way to treat autism is behavioral intervention to elicit a more productive behavior. As an example intense intervention in toddlers (25-40 hours per week) has the consequences of a huge increase in language and cognitive abilities. One examples of treatments is simply the count and mand method. I personally had this done to me by my parents as a part of normal parenting. You just count to three and give the child time to calm down. The use of systematic desensitization is used in the cases that have the subject has severe intellectual challenges.

After having done the research on autism it has given me more insight to what my friend from high school was going through. It also gave a great look at how behavioral modification can and is used to help people that have actual mental disorders, not just to condition your friends to get you a soda. This research makes me look forward to finding out what else behavioral modification has had an impact on.

Terms used-Behavioral modification, Behavior, emit, shape, neurobehavioral disorder, behavioral intervention, systematic desensitization, condition, behavioral disorder, elicit, consequences

Sources-
http://www.autismspeaks.org/science/science-news/research-confirms-benefit-behavioral-interventions
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm
http://www.autism-behavior-strategies.com/Autism-Behavior-Strategies.html

A lot of the pages I found mentioned what is referred to as applied behavior analysis, or ABA. This being said, I chose to make ABA my focus because it relates a lot to what we've learned about reinforcement. And in all reality, working with a child and their behaviors when they have a form of autism is very similar to working with any other child, it's just broken down more and tends to be more intensive. However, the overall concepts of behavior still apply to children with autism, and that's why I am interested in this topic because I think it's important to understand that learning is very individualistic, especially for those who suffer from autism and it's important that people understand that they can be worked with and skills can be developed and mastered if worked with properly and if given the appropriate amount of attention.

I found a website that breaks ABA down to very simplistic terms and explanations. Essentially, research has shown that it's best to do this kind of treatment plan with younger children, and it is usually more successful when they receive more intensive treatment. What that means is that it's more beneficial for a child to receive more treatment for the development and mastery of many skills, rather than just focusing on one skill.

When using ABA, specialist take tasks or skills that children without Autism generally get the hang of pretty naturally. Overall, the concepts of behavior modification, reinforcement, punishment, etc., are all ways in which children learn and it comes by very naturally without much thought being put into it on either ends. So with ABA, they take a skill and break it down into smaller chunks and work with the child bit by bit. This kind of reminded me of the fixed ratio we learned about, but it's a little different. As they master one skill, they will either advance with that same skill, or they will go onto another skill. For children with Autism, it's very important that the expectations or "rules" are laid out very clear for them. There really isn't a lot of room for grey area. It also needs to be clear to them what the reinforcement is, or the punishment, so they can better understand and pick up on the skill that is being taught to them.

It is also extremely important that the person, or people, working with the child are extremely consistent. This is an essential part of helping a child with Autism develop a skill or understand a concept that others can learn pretty quickly and effortlessly. Once a child has developed the desired skill, they will continue to work on it pretty consistently, but they will also help the child to incorporate the skills they learn in other settings and situations.

TERMS: Behavior modification, reinforcement, punishment, fixed ratio.

SOURCES:
http://my.clevelandclinic.org/childrens-hospital/specialties-services/departments-centers/center-for-autism/behavioral-intervention-autism

http://www.autismspeaks.org/science/science-news/research-confirms-benefit-behavioral-interventions

http://sper.usu.edu/ASSERT/newteacher.pdf

JER

Autism, or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is a general name for a group of disorders involving the brain’s development. Disorders on the spectrum are characterized by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors. “ASD can be associated with intellectual disability, difficulties in motor coordination and attention and physical health issues such as sleep and gastrointestinal disturbances” (Autism Speaks).
The cause of autism has yet to be determined, but we know there isn’t one specific cause. Research is pointing to evidence that genetic factors in combination with environmental factors can influence the development of autism in a child. Each case is unique! It appears to have “roots” in the early development of a child’s brain, with symptoms really starting to show around 2-3 years old. According to the Autism Speaks website, about 1 in 68 American children is on the spectrum.
Because each case of autism is so unique to the individual, it is important to provide unique treatments, tailored to the individual. In class and in the assignments, we have been talking about behaviorism. Behavioral treatments are extremely common when dealing with someone on the autism spectrum and seem to show some positive results. Someone with autism may work with their family, professionals, teachers, and therapists. “With appropriate services and supports, training, and information, children on the autism spectrum will grow, learn and flourish, even if at a different developmental rate than others” (Autism Society).
Several decades of research seem to indicate that using a behavioral approach with an autistic individual can break down complex behaviors into easy to understand steps, allowing the supports to reward and reinforce the desired behavior. The behavioral approach also works to eliminate behaviors seen as undesirable.
When proper intervention happens, behavioral treatments may decrease the disruptive behaviors and allow the individual to develop skills for enable independence. Every website I looked at emphasized the importance of tailoring a treatment approach to the unique individual. In addition to behavioral treatments, professionals may encourage other kinds of treatments, such as diet modifications and medication.

Terms:
Autism Spectrum Disorder, behaviors, behaviorism, behavioral treatments, reinforce, desired behavior, elimination, enable

http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism
http://www.autism-society.org/living-with-autism/treatment-options/
http://www.everydayhealth.com/autism/applied-behavioral-analysis.aspx

While I was doing this research, I decided to use the Autism spectrum and compare it to the different behavioral classes that can be identified in any target behavior. The reason that I am going to talk about this comparison is because there is such a wide range of symptoms and severity within the Autism Spectrum, so it can relate to target behavior and behavioral classes easily.
Along the Autism Spectrum, there are a few different types that are more common than others. For example, there are types like Asperger’s, Rett’s, Childhood Disintegrative, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder (from http://etec.ctlt.ubc.ca/510wiki/images/thumb/2/2f/Umbie2.jpg/300px-Umbie2.jpg). Each of these types of disorders has there own set of symptoms that define the people within that disorder. They are characterized by different things like, cognitive delays, personal interests, continuous behaviors and communication levels (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_spectrum). Each of these characteristics can be viewed as different target behaviors that are categorized within a behavioral class. Typically there are many different target behaviors that take place within the class because different behaviors can be done different ways by different people or things. Similar with Autism, different patients are going to have different ways of expressing themselves through this disorder. Although all of these disorders that are listed are known as Autism, they are all unique to their own classification. The next thing that can be compared is the difficulty that comes about when trying to identify the actual target behavior. Sometimes it can be hard to nail down the actual disorder that someone on the Autism Spectrum has because there is so much overlap that goes on within the spectrum (from http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/autism-spectrum-disorders). When identifying a target behavior within the behavioral class, I remember trying to understand how specific you need to get before you can say that something is the actual behavior occurring. It was difficult because every person is going to identify the target behavior as something different than someone else. I feel that this is something that researchers and doctors have a problem with because they have to be very general or very specific when making a diagnosis at different times. Due to this level of importance, diagnosing Autism can be seen as the behavioral class of Autism, and the different forms can be known as the target behaviors. This can cause a lot of frustration because when people are trying to have closure about the diagnosis, they want the actual name of the diagnosis and what they can expect out of that diagnosis, and if someone doesn't have the actual facts about that disorder it can cause them to ask questions and become upset. Diagnosing Autism can be difficult but there are tons of people dedicated to bringing answers to the families and patients that are effected by the disorder (from http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism).

Terms: target behavior, behavioral class, Autism Spectrum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_spectrum 
http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/autism-spectrum-disorders  
http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism
http://etec.ctlt.ubc.ca/510wiki/images/thumb/2/2f/Umbie2.jpg/300px-Umbie2.jpg

APLK
The topic that I chose to do for this week’s blog post is over Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), and how it correlates to autism as an effective treatment. I chose to do further research on Applied Behavior Analysis because it has a strong emphasis on positive reinforcement. The aspect of positive reinforcement as a treatment fits into specific pieces of classical conditioning and is quite similar to the effects that the rats had while they were inside the Skinner box and the repetitive nature of it. I am particularly interested in Applied Behavior Analysis because it is a familiar therapy and I felt like I had good previous background knowledge on the terms so it would make it easier for me to understand what I was reading while I was researching my topic on autism.
Autism spectrum disorder is in the category of complex disorders of brain development. Those with autism suffer from the difficulties in social interactions, both verbal and nonverbal communications, as well as repetitive behavior. One way that autism can be treated is through an Applied Behavioral Analysis program. ABA focuses on principles that further explain how learning takes place and uses positive reinforcement. There is a wide variety of ABA techniques that have been created for increasing useful skills in learners with autism.
ABA uses techniques and principles to ultimately bring out a positive change in behavior. It is proven to be a safe and effective treatment for those with autism. Within the last ten years, the nation has seen an increased use of ABA to help people with autism live happy and dynamic lives. ABA techniques and principles help aid looking, listening and imitating, as well as reading, conversing, and the understanding of other people’s perspective.
During ABA, an instructor such as family members, or a therapist uses various behavior analytic procedures. A person with autism will have days structured aiming to provide planned and natural occurring opportunities to acquire and practice skills in certain daily situations. Positive reinforcement is a big aspect in ABA. The learner will receive a lot of positive reinforcement for emitting useful skills and correct behaviors. This creates enjoyable learning and makes the behavior more likely to be repeated.
Although Applied Behavioral Analysis is extremely effective, it is not a ‘one size fits all’ program. This just means that no ABA plan is the exact same to another. A skilled therapist customizes the intervention therapy to each person’s skills, needs, preferences, family situations, and interests.

-Skinner box, classical conditioning, positive reinforcement, emit

http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism

http://www.parents.com/blogs/red-hot-parenting/2012/04/30/health/an-example-of-applied-behavior-analysis-aba/

http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment

Autism comes in multiple forms and its degrees vary. There are mild forms that affect mostly your social skills, and more severe forms that are disabling. While there are many medicines that are prescribed to manage a variety of symptoms that come along with autism, behavior modification is one that is known to well manage many behavioral problems. Aspergers syndrome is a mild form of autism that impacts your ability to socially interact. While the problems associated with Aspergers are mostly behavioral, behavior modification techniques are a very important. Things we have discussed in our class, such as operant conditioning and modeling are used to help the person better function. I chose Aspergers over other degrees of autism for this assignment because it isn’t something that’s usually talked about. There are many people who suffer from Aspergers and don’t even know it. I think talking about it more and bringing awareness to the topic may catch the attention of people who may be suffering themselves.
Like I mentioned before, Aspergers is one of the milder forms of Autism. It comes with behavioral problems that seem off to other people. People suffering from Aspergers are usually socially awkward. They are unable to read peoples social cues and do not understand their feelings. The behavior they emit is not to elicit negative behavior, it is just done out of lack of common sense and lack of understanding. They often are very egocentric, focusing mainly on themselves. They do so because they do not understand others feelings so they come across as uncaring. While social problems seem to be the bigger part of Aspergers, other problems come along with it to. Often sufferers are unable to handle stress, and are stressed out easily. A minor incident can cause a total breakdown. Structure and routine are often needed in order to deter stressful situations. While there is medicine to help with symptoms that come along with Aspergers, behavioral therapy seems to be most beneficial. While researching I kept coming across the same few behavioral techniques used. Modeling; Modeling works by watching another person and copying that behavior. Modeling is used in Aspergers to show them what to do. It would help to improve their social communication and social skills. Operant conditioning; Operant conditioning is using punishment and reinforcement to shape the desired target behavior. This would be helpful in teaching social skills in an Aspergers person. For example after modeling an acceptable behavior you may reinforce the behavior with a sticker. Reinforcing and punishing behavior will teach the person who is already having trouble interpreting your emotions and intentions understand better. Since they are unable to read people, being able to tell concretely if they did the right thing or wrong thing is very important. Another technique discussed was Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT; CBT basically says that what you think, feel and do is all connected and feeds on each other. Since CBT sees everything being connected, it is very helpful when it comes to social skills. They start by teaching you how to think differently, then that will affect how you react and what you say. Teaching what is socially acceptable and reading others reactions is a big part of CBT and Aspbergers.
These changes would help improve social interaction dramatically. Using these three techniques among others that were mentioned throughout research are a huge part of overcoming obstacles that come along with Aspergers syndrome.

Terms: behavioral modification, operant conditioning, modeling, emit, elicit, behavior, shape, reinforce, punish,

http://autism.lovetoknow.com/Behavior_Treatments_for_Asperger_Syndrome
Had a lot of good information about Aspergers syndrome, including what it is, how you test for it, and treatment options.

http://www.pathfindersforautism.org/articles/view/parent-tips-cognitive-behavioral-therapy
Went into detail about one of the treatment options, cognitive behavioral therapy.

http://blog.autismspectrumdirectory.com/2010/12/30/how-people-on-the-autism-spectrum-learn/
The above link explains multiple treatment approaches when it comes to working with somebody with Autism. Explains what areas are most useful for what.

I was interested in finding out how social engineering came into play with those affected with Autism. This is particularly interesting because I recognized that many people with autism could be learning impaired and their developmental state could be affected. I also know that they tend to need extra help but I am curious as to the types of help they need to receive in order to learn age-appropriate things. I got to learn a lot about the processes used in shaping these individuals. First they must find a measurable target behavior, while considering that it should be reflective of autism in order to correctly identify a change. A good example I found was the use of anxiety as an antecedent, to which they then looked for anxiety related consequences that they could then pin target behaviors to. At a baseline, all participants in any study I looked at received very close scores based on cognitive intelligence, or developmental and chronological age. The baseline in these cases refers to those who received only normal amounts of excess help in school services and guidance and the testable attribute always related to professional help from psychologists. One intervention group took two years to recognize significant changes in development, but they certainly were significant. These interventions were also quite helpful with social interaction. I found that behavioral interventions actually worked quite well comparatively to the control group. The frequency of interactions with the autistic children increased while self-isolation frequencies decreased. It was certainly notable that while these interventions are quite effective, they should be administered at young ages, because the effectiveness increases with age in the beginning but begins to lose that effect as they get even older.

Social engineering, shaping, target behavior, consequence, antecedent, baseline, intervention, increased and decreased frequencies

http://www.sciencedirect.com.proxy.lib.uni.edu/science/article/pii/S1750946713000858

http://link.springer.com.proxy.lib.uni.edu/article/10.1007/s10803-014-2097-7/fulltext.html

http://www.aaiddjournals.org.proxy.lib.uni.edu/doi/pdf/10.1352/1944-7558-119.5.436

I was really excited to learn that our blog this week was going to involve researching a specific topic and then seeing how behavior modification plays a role because this makes me see how often behavior modification is used in day-to-day life. For this assignment, I chose to look at how behavior modification can help when it comes to the treatment of Autism in children.

First, I chose to look at what causes the behavioral problems in children with Autism. I found that Autism is a form of a brain disorder. This means that they have hyperfunctioning of local neural microcircuits in the brain which produce hyperreactivity and hyper plasticity. In simpler terms, this causes too much stimuli to occur in a person who can't necessarily adapt quickly or react appropriately to what is going on. This stimuli can be caused by both visual and auditory stimuli. As the children grow older, and they are driven by strong reactions to experiences, the brain is driven by overly selective states, which become more extreme with each new experience and may be accelerated by extremely emotional experiences and trauma.

One form of treatment used is Applied Behaviour Analysis, or ABA therapy. This therapy involves the usage of reinforcers and punishers, and can be seen as a form of operant conditioning. Therapists use these techniques in one-on-one therapy sessions to slowly shape a child's behavior. A reinforcer in this type of therapy can be anything from verbal praise, to being allowed to play with a toy. A punisher is never anything violent in this form of therapy. Instead, punishers could be verbal disapproval, or taking away a desired activity or object.

There are also ways to modify the behavior of children with Autism without being in a therapy environment. These are ways in which families try to change the behavior rather then a therapist. One way is to make a structured daily routine because children will perform best under conditions that they are very familiar with. There is also a lot of focus on how to help children when they are having a temper tantrum. The most successful technique is the holding technique. This is managed by holding the back of the child to your chest and holding their legs in-between yours while at the same time calmly communicating with the child. This will ease the child and cause them to calm down. Lastly, communication is highly important when trying to modify behavior. It is important that you are very short, clear, and loud but never yell at the child. Simple and to the point communication is most effective.

There are so many different ways that one can modify the behavior of a child with autism to teach them the appropriate way to act in different situations. I have only gone over a couple of the multiple ways, but there are many other courses of action to choose from. I really liked learning about all these ways to help children with Autism. Where there may not be a cure at the current time, I believe that having a way to at least help these children is incredible.

http://www.brightmindsinstitute.com/blog/2011/08/25/how-to-modify-aggressive-behavior-in-children-with-autism/
http://www.autism.net.au/Autism_ABA.htm
http://www.childbrain.com/pddq11.shtml

Terminology: behavior modification, reinforcer, punisher, operant conditioning

For this week’s topical blog, I have decided to focus my search on autism in children. I will describe characteristics of autism or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), people who can diagnosis it, and treatment available. It fits into the topics we have discussed in our class because behavior modification techniques are used in treatment plans, such as using patterns of reinforcement. This interests me, because I have known many people with ASD. The information I found on the internet was a review for me, since I have been around it my whole life.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may have impairments with social interactions, difficulties in communication, and repetitive patterns of behavior. It is estimated that one out of 88 children at the age of eight will have ASD. Males are also four times more likely to have autism than females are.

As an infant with ASD, he or she may be unresponsive to people or focus on one particular item for an extended amount of time. These children may develop normally and later withdraw from social interactions. They do not know how to play with other kids. Children may not respond to their name and avoid eye contact. They do not watch peoples’ facial cues indicating appropriate target behavior. Due to not understand social cues, individuals with autism have a hard time interpreting the feelings and thoughts of others. Because of this they may not experience empathy.

In order to diagnose ASD early indicators may include a lack of babbling or pointing by the age of one, not saying any words by 16 months, or responding to their name, loss of language or lack of social skills, no smiling or responsiveness to socialization. Growing up, they begin speaking later than other children.

Several children emit a rocking and twirling behaviors, and possibly even self-abusive behaviors; I worked at four oaks over the summer and many of my clients emitted this behaviors. This may include biting and head-banging. When they twirl an item or rocks back and forth, it is self-reinforcing, and therefore, it is also something he finds to have intrinsic value.

It is not known what causes ASD, but it is probable that both genetics and environment play a role. Some studies suggest individuals with ASD have abnormal levels of serotonin or other neurotransmitters. There is also a concern that childhood vaccines may be the cause for autism, but studies have not demonstrated a link between autism and the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine.

In order to diagnose ASD, health care providers use a questionnaire or screening instruments to collect information on development. A psychologist, neurologist, psychiatrist, speech therapist, and other professionals are part of the multidisciplinary team to diagnose children with ASD.

There is no cure for ASD, but different techniques have been used to elicit a more desirable response for individuals with autism. Each child with autism is unique, so the intervention plan should be modified to address the specific needs. Intervention may include behavioral treatments, medicines, or both. Behavioral interventions may be used to remedy specific symptoms and bring about improvement. Applied Behavioral Analysis has sessions that are highly structured and are skill—oriented to help children become better with language and social encounters. The earlier the intervention takes place, the better for the child. Commonly used behavioral therapies include floortime, pivotal response therapy, and verbal behavior therapy. Behavioral training uses positive reinforcement, self-help, and social skills training for a desirable consequence.

One technique we had at four oaks was a picture book, and inside it were several different categories of images that the clients could select. These images were laminated, attached the book by Velcro, and placed next to similar items. Some of them included food, outdoor activities, and indoor activities. This book was a tool to guide communication. If the children chose an item frequently they were not reinforced on a continuous schedule, so it was a variable ratio instead.
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm
http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment
http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/autism-treatment-overview

Terms: reinforcement, behavior, frequency, target behavior, response, emit, self-reinforcement, intrinsic value, elicit, desirable, intervention, positive reinforcement, consequence, continuous reinforcement, variable ratio, reinforced

Topical blog #9
Cassidy Monaco

The correct medical name for Autism is Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), because symptoms and level of impairment vary across a large spectrum. Behavioral interventions used to treat ASD show how the behavior modification concepts we learn in class can be applied to the real world. In my research on this topic, I learned more about the benefits of different types of behavioral therapies, what these interventions consist of, information about a child undergoing this process.
There are five different types of behavioral interventions, as researched by Dr. Geraldine Dawson of the University of North Carolina and Dr. Kate Burner of the University of Washington. With this research, they found many benefits. They discovered that early intensive behavioral interventions, which might consist of 25 to 40 hours a week for at least two years, produces significant gains in language and mental abilities, whereas shorter, targeted behavioral interventions of at least 6 months can improve social communication in small children. Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder benefit from group programs designed to enhance social skills. In addition, cognitive behavioral therapy paired with social skills training has shown to reduce anxiety and aggression in high functioning ASD children. Those with intellectual challenges can get the same benefits using systematic desensitization. Also, interventions done by parents seem to improve child-parent interactions. Clearly, these behavioral intervention techniques are doing good to those with ASD.
Interventions are not a magic cure to autism; they require time and energy. The goals of interventions are to decrease inappropriate behaviors that impair learning and social functioning and to increase functional behaviors and skills that will enable the child to be successful in educational environment or community. Children are more likely do what is reinforced and not do what doesn’t get reinforced, but kids with autism have a harder time picking up the hints of reinforcement. Applied Behavioral Analysis makes explicit rules, consequences, and expectations much more understandable to these children. Target behaviors are broken into small components and each skill is taught systematically utilizing reinforcement, shaping, and generalization. Then, they try to transfer these newly learned skills to a real world situation. The applied behavioral intervention curriculum consists of an involved three-step process of which the goal is for the child to be ready to function in a classroom setting. The first step is to teach the child “how to learn”, which reminded me of priming. They prime the child on how to take in new information and use it later. It targets skills such as imitation, matching, early receptive language, basic attending skills, and fine/gross motor skills. The second step acquires social skills. The child learns to vocalize and identify objects. Finally, the last step is to use this ability to vocalize to communicate and socialize with others through conversation.

TERMS: behavior modification, systematic desensitization, reinforced, target behaviors, reinforcement, shaping, generalization, priming

http://www.autismspeaks.org/science/science-news/research-confirms-benefit-behavioral-interventions
http://abiautism.com/about-abi/
http://www.autism-help.org/behavior-positive-reinforcement-autism.htm

Topical blog #9
Cassidy Monaco

The correct medical name for Autism is Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), because symptoms and level of impairment vary across a large spectrum. Behavioral interventions used to treat ASD show how the behavior modification concepts we learn in class can be applied to the real world. In my research on this topic, I learned more about the benefits of different types of behavioral therapies, what these interventions consist of, information about a child undergoing this process.
There are five different types of behavioral interventions, as researched by Dr. Geraldine Dawson of the University of North Carolina and Dr. Kate Burner of the University of Washington. With this research, they found many benefits. They discovered that early intensive behavioral interventions, which might consist of 25 to 40 hours a week for at least two years, produces significant gains in language and mental abilities, whereas shorter, targeted behavioral interventions of at least 6 months can improve social communication in small children. Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder benefit from group programs designed to enhance social skills. In addition, cognitive behavioral therapy paired with social skills training has shown to reduce anxiety and aggression in high functioning ASD children. Those with intellectual challenges can get the same benefits using systematic desensitization. Also, interventions done by parents seem to improve child-parent interactions. Clearly, these behavioral intervention techniques are doing good to those with ASD.
Interventions are not a magic cure to autism; they require time and energy. The goals of interventions are to decrease inappropriate behaviors that impair learning and social functioning and to increase functional behaviors and skills that will enable the child to be successful in educational environment or community. Children are more likely do what is reinforced and not do what doesn’t get reinforced, but kids with autism have a harder time picking up the hints of reinforcement. Applied Behavioral Analysis makes explicit rules, consequences, and expectations much more understandable to these children. Target behaviors are broken into small components and each skill is taught systematically utilizing reinforcement, shaping, and generalization. Then, they try to transfer these newly learned skills to a real world situation. The applied behavioral intervention curriculum consists of an involved three-step process of which the goal is for the child to be ready to function in a classroom setting. The first step is to teach the child “how to learn”, which reminded me of priming. They prime the child on how to take in new information and use it later. It targets skills such as imitation, matching, early receptive language, basic attending skills, and fine/gross motor skills. The second step acquires social skills. The child learns to vocalize and identify objects. Finally, the last step is to use this ability to vocalize to communicate and socialize with others through conversation.

TERMS: behavior modification, systematic desensitization, reinforced, target behaviors, reinforcement, shaping, generalization, priming

http://www.autismspeaks.org/science/science-news/research-confirms-benefit-behavioral-interventions
http://abiautism.com/about-abi/
http://www.autism-help.org/behavior-positive-reinforcement-autism.htm

There is a vast majority of treatment methods for people with autism. Research shows that behavioral interventions are one of the more successful treatment methods for helping those with autism. The complexity of autism is a very interesting topic but one of the most known problems is that the disorder impairs a person’s social capabilities. I began to think about how difficult it must be to have a child with autism because it creates an even greater barrier of communication between the adults and the child. There is already a barrier between children conveying their needs or thoughts to adults at times, but having a disorder that largely effects the child’s social abilities could create very stressful situations. I decided to research more about how behavior modification can be used to instigate more appropriate ways to teach children with autism how to properly and effectively communicate their emotions.
A lot of techniques have been implemented with behavior modification techniques in order to increase desired behaviors and extinguish undesirable behaviors. Therapy sessions are held in order to help a child develop a target behavior. Positive reinforcement is definably a reoccurring theme in the use of behavior modification and treatment of autism. Positive behaviors need to be immediately reinforced with a stimulus that brings joy to the child, such as verbal praise or a physical reward. If the child exhibits any kind of aversive behavior (throwing a tantrum/hitting/kicking/biting) the best way to react to this would be by emitting no response at all and ignoring the child’s outburst until they realize they are not going to be reinforced with attention. Extinction burst are very common and more repetitive in children with autism, according to the research.
Shaping behaviors in children with autism can be more difficult because their disorder impairs their ability to connect the repeated stimulus.
Another important thing to remember is that children with autism commonly emit self-stimulatory behavior such as hand flapping or bouncing up and down when they are excited. In most cases these behaviors do not interfere with the child’s learning and can be ignored or redirected into more appropriate behaviors.
Adults working with children who have autism need to remember that they communicate differently and as they are working on building communication with the child, they need to be sympathetic and very patient. Children with autism do not respond as well to negative or positive punishment and the addition of consequences such as time outs. When shaping the autistic child’s behaviors, one would need to remember that they communicate in, at times, a bizarre manner. The adults needs to make an effort to understand what the child is trying to communicate to make sure that he or she does not inadvertently reinforce the child by rewarding them aversive behaviors. Accidently rewarding the child for these negative reactions could create an more difficult barrier to reshape with in the child’s behaviors.

URLs: http://www.autism-behavior-strategies.com/Autism-Behavior-Strategies.html
http://autism.lovetoknow.com/Techniques_for_Helping_Autistic_Children
http://www.helpguide.org/harvard/autism-behavior-problems.htm

Terminology Used: behavioral interventions, behavioral modification, desired behaviors, extinguish, positive reinforcement, target behavior, stimulus, reward, reinforced, emitting, aversive, shaping, self-stimulatory behaviors, emit, negative punishment, positive punishment, consequences

On this week's topical blog research I looked up dealing with autism in children. Since I work with kids, and some are autistic, this is an area of interest to me. In the articles I read I looked up what autism is, some of the behavior problems, and what are the best ways to deal with it.
Autism is a general term used to describe a group of complex disorders in the brain development. It tends to show it's symptoms most obviously during childhood, and is most commonly developed in childhood. While answers are limited the causes of this disorder are still being researched. No cause has yet to be defined but multiple factors can be attributed to reduce the risk of children developing it.
There are many problem behaviors that arise out of autistic children, that don't always seem to make sense. A lot of these are triggered and have been found to be effected by the external environment. However there can be internal factors that cause the behaviors to occur.
Through much studying and research it has been found that positive reinforcement is the best way to deal with problem behaviors in autistic children. Not only that, but it can help autistic children to learn new desired behaviors as well. Positive reinforcement can be used to shape children by rewarding them with the behavior we elicit to be emitted. To do this you must first decide on the reinforcer you will choose. For autistic children it is best to pick your reinforcer keeping a few things in mind; asking the child what they want, looking at what they, considering the past and what motivated them then, and something that is both practical and ethical.
When you have chosen the reward for the child, it is important to start the process by rewarding them every time the target behavior occurs. This is a continuous schedule of reinforcement. After a while it is important to fade out in rewarding the child, until reinforcements are no longer needed because they are learned. Especially in autistic children you must model the desirable behavior yourself, and be very clear on what your requests may be.
Overall it's been found most effective to use positive reinforcement over punishment when trying to increase the likelihood of desired behaviors and extinguish aversive behaviors in autistic children.

Terms: behavior, positive reinforcement, desired behaviors, shaping, elicit/emit, target behavior, reward, continuous schedule of reinforcement, punishment, extinguish, aversive.

URLs: https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism
http://www.helpguide.org/harvard/autism-behavior-problems.htm
http://www.autism-help.org/behavior-positive-reinforcement-autism.htm

For this topical blog, I chose negative reinforcement in modifying unwanted behavior for autistic kids. This fits in with section 2.2. I am interested in this since I coach some kids that have autism in my gymnastics classes and can be difficult to work with, and would like to learn how decrease the frequency of their aversive behavior.
Autistic children have disruptive behaviors that they emit are acting out behaviors. Some of these acting out behaviors are tantrums, aggression, and non-compliant. Disruptive behavior of the child can lead to stress and frustration. When dealing with a disruptive behavior, you can expect it to increase and need to understand it before one can decrease it and protect them and others from the danger it can cause. The behavior does not just happen, but was conditioned (learned) since they noticed that it is effective in getting what they desire.
Some ways to decrease or make the behavior extinct is by replacing the aversive behavior with a pleasurable target behavior through consistency, patience, and teaching the replacement behavior during non stressful times so the child can be focused and understand. Another way is the count and mand technique, which is by ignoring the child's tantrum and looking away and counting to three silently, but holding up your fingers in front of them until they have calmed down and then reward the child. Another technique is to walk and peel away when things get frustrating and then once the child has calmed down, then you can return to them. The amount of reinforcement should be a variable ratio.
An example of negative punishment for an autistic child is a therapist working with an autistic child with the specific goal of teaching him to sign “all done.” This student hates coloring. The approach of using negative reinforcement would use coloring as a tool for learning. The child is introduced to the task that he dislikes and the therapist prompts him to sign “all done” and once the child does the task is quickly taken away. In this example the target is not the activity of coloring. The target is the communication sign “all done.” The task of coloring is used as negative reinforcement in order to motivate the child to indicate that he no longer wants to participate in the activity.
http://communicationatoz.wordpress.com/2010/09/15/autism-and-disruptive-behaviors/
http://www.uni.edu/~maclino/bm/book/sec2.2.pdf
http://www.autism-behavior-strategies.com/Autism-Behavior-Strategies.html
http://autism.lifetips.com/faq/120952/0/what-is-negative-reinforcement/index.html
Terms: Negative punishment, target behavior, frequency, aversive, pleasurable, variable ratio, emit, conditioned

3.5 million Americans are living somewhere on the autism spectrum disorder. One in every 68 births in the United States will be a child with some degree of autism. (CDC, 2014) It is – very worryingly – the fastest growing developmental disorder in the United States. Not only does autism put a massive financial burden on a family (or the state), around $2 million over a lifetime, but the destructive behavior associated with autism can be incredibly difficult to deal with. When this undesirable behavior occurs we need to disrupt the operant behavior quickly and replace the negative emotions with more desirable positive ones. We can do this through a technique known as conditioned emotional response.
We first learned about conditioned emotional responses (CER) when we read about how Skinner used electric shocks to instill fear in lab rats. While fear of punishment may be an effective deterrent to certain destructive behaviors it may lead to the autistic individual performing the undesirable behavior when they know they won’t be punished. Also, the process of instilling fear may be unethical, especially when dealing with an individual with low cognition who may not understand their actions.
Instead, we want to condition a positive emotional response when presented with a stimulus. Similar to how a baby or small child will stop crying when presented with their favorite toy (or another desirable stimuli), we want to manufacture a positive association between certain stimuli that is readily available. The desirable stimulus acts as an antecedent eliciting a desirable behavior; in this case that behavior is a pleasant emotional state (calmness, happiness).
Usually there is something the individual enjoys very much that can already be used as the stimuli. We can use this or, if the stimuli is not practical to have around all the time, we can create a CER by pairing a stimulus with a highly desirable stimuli to create an association between the stimuli and a positive emotional state. This technique is good for quickly changing the disruptive (and possibly violent) behavior quickly and easily. It’s simple, and can be done by anyone who knows what the conditioned stimulus is and has access to it.
Sources: http://www.autism-society.org/what-is/facts-and-statistics/
http://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Treatment/Psychotherapy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wakterNyUg
Terms: Conditioned emotional response, stimuli, antecedent, behavior, consequence, punishment, disrupting the operant behavior,

I chose to emit looking at treatments for autism. This fits into what we are discussing because one of the most popular treatments is behavioral interventions. One of the first things I found interesting was that children with autism are often taught how to tact, that is labeling things around them. By labeling things in the environment it helps the child learn and often leads to conversation building. Once the child labels a certain number of items he/she is reinforced with a fruit roll up. The children are also taught how to tact or label letter and numbers, this helps to establish pre academic skills. Researchers have found about five different types of behavior interventions that seems to reduce the effects of autism. These include: improving social communication in young children and toddlers by targeted behavior intervention, parents delivering intervention to improve children's interactions, group interventions to improve social skills, behavior therapies to reduce anxiety and aggression, as well as social skills training. Researchers also found that cognitive behavioral therapy in combination with social skills training works best for individuals with autism that are high functioning. Systematic desensitization is more effective for intellectually challenged people. It was also found that the earlier autism was diagnosed and recognized in children the better, also earlier intervention is key to reducing the effects of autism and allows individuals to get more social skill training for adulthood.
Terms- Emit, behavior, behavioral interventions, reinforced, systematic desensitization, CBT

Autism Spectrum disorder can be characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts; restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests or activities, and the symptoms must cause significant impairments in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning. Autisms is on a spectrum meaning a person’s symptoms vary in skills and levels of impairment or disability. With the prevalence growing of autistic children entering schools each year, it has become a hot topic of how to educate autistic children the same as adults.
Discrete Trial Teaching or DDT is a method of providing behavioral interventions in school systems for children with autism. It has four components: 1. The trainer’s presentation 2. The child’s response 3. The consequence, and 4. A short pause before repeating the process. This is very much like what is used in any behavior-modifying situation in which there is an antecedent, and behavior and a consequence. The difference seems to be that DDT programs generally involve several hours of direct 1:1 instruction each day.
Implementing a DDT program into a school involves highly educated professionals whom must understand how to implement such a program, but also have the ability to evaluate the effectiveness and appropriateness for each child. The fist for these professionals is to gain the child’s attention. This is part of the prompting process, getting the child’s attention is sometimes difficult due to deficits in social communication and interaction as some autistic children struggle with eye contact or being lightly touched. Then explaining what is expected in a little words as possible. As the child begins to learn the response prompting should be decreased so that the child will respond on his own rather than relying on help from the instructor.
The child’s response, following the instruction and/or prompting will be be in one of three ways: correctly, incorrectly, or no response. The way the child responds will dictate what type of consequence the instructor provides. For a correct response an instructor should immediately provide immediate reinforcement usually in the form of verbal praise in combination with other reinforces such as a high five or other positive stimulus depending on the needs of each individual child. Shaping can also be used when the correct response is sometimes particularly difficult. For example, suppose you were teaching a child to say the word “sat” using shaping, you would first reinforce the child for making just the “s” sound. When the child could reliably make the sound you would then reinforce them for making the “sa” sound. This would slowly progress until the child is able to give the correct response.
If the child responds negatively, the instructor provides feedback that indicates the response was incorrect. The instructor may do this by saying something such as “try again” or ignoring the incorrect response then pausing, and starting the whole process over again. The use of punishment in not good here because it discourages learning, instead a neutral response is preferred.

Terms: Antecedent, behavior, consequence, Discrete Trial Teaching, Autism spectrum disorder, positive. Negative, shaping, reinforcement, behavioral intervention

The behavioral aspect of autism is one of the biggest struggles. People with autism can display many difficult behaviors that need more attention to correct than people without autism. I find this interesting because I babysit an 8 year-old boy who has autism and it could really help me understand him better if I learn more about this topic.
Almost everyone on the autism spectrum has at least some challenging behaviors. These may range from the odd (spinning, flapping) to self-injury (head banging) to the truly dangerous (hitting, kicking, dashing into traffic). Autistic people may also find undesirable ways to avoid doing what they don't want to do: they may hum, slide under the table, or otherwise avoid non-preferred activities.
Often, parents and teachers are uncertain how to manage these behaviors. Unlike many people, they are not deliberately misbehaving, nor are they seeking attention. For the average educator or caregiver, it's hard to know how to improve behaviors while also, for example, cooking dinner or teaching 20 other children.
Educational and behavioral approaches are often a core feature of the overall treatment plan for children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. There are many different strategies currently being used, and new ones are being promoted on a regular basis. Many of these interventions differ not just in their implementation, but also in their philosophical approach to treating children with an ASD.
Limited evidence-based research is available for most of the behavioral and/or educational based programs. These approaches are particularly difficult to study using traditional research methods. For one thing, a classroom or therapist's office is a far cry from a laboratory setting. It is difficult to control for the many factors that can interfere with or bias research results. It is also often difficult to exactly reproduce any single intervention across settings.
Applied Behavior Analysis, or ABA, is the most well known of the behavioral approaches. Such programs focus on encouraging (or reinforcing) positive behaviors while discouraging negative ones. Practitioners carefully assess whether a child has been rewarded for any negative behaviors, and work to ensure that this no longer happens. They then work to establish new behaviors using a variety of methods, including discrete trial training. A child, for example, may be directed to hand his therapist a pencil. If he does, he will receive a reward – perhaps praise and a sticker or goldfish cracker. If he doesn't, he won't get the reward, but a prompt of some kind – such as the therapist moving his hand to the pencil.
Many studies have shown that ABA and similar behavioral interventions can improve intelligence test scores, language skills, and academic performance of young children with ASD. Some studies have also shown some measure of improvement in behavior or personal and social skills, while others have not. One issue has been generalization; that is, there has not been much evidence to show that children can transfer the skills they have learned through behavioral interventions to contexts outside the setting in which skills are acquired.
Many children taking part in these programs make significant strides. It is clear at this point, however, that such interventions do not result in a great number of affected children achieving "normal" developmental status, as was once claimed. ABA methods are used to support persons with autism in at least six ways. 1) to increase behaviors, 2) to teach new skills, 3) to maintain behaviors, 4) to generalize or to transfer behavior from one situation or response to another, 5) to restrict or narrow conditions under which interfering behaviors occur, 6) to reduce interfering behaviors.

Behavioral
Behavior
Reinforcing
Positive behavior
Reward
Aversives
reduce

http://autism.about.com/od/autismtherapy101/a/behaviorspec.htm
http://iancommunity.org/cs/what_do_we_know/educational_and_behavioral_therapies
http://www.centerforautism.com/aba-therapy.aspx

The topic that I have chosen for this assignment is parenting an autistic child. By learning more about the environmental cues that elicit behaviors from autistic children, parents are better able to understand their autistic child and use proper reinforcement for challenging behaviors.

Young children often perceive themselves as the center of their universe, and believe that everyone else thinks in the ways they do. As a person grows older, they gain an understanding that other people have different needs than their own, and learn to respect those needs. One issue with autism patients is that they do not develop this understanding of other people’s needs, so they may respond to social cues and behavior consequences differently than another person would.

Autistic children often behave in ways that many people do not understand. In order for parents to properly reward and punish behaviors, they must first try to understand them. Autistic children often emit certain behaviors to get a message across that they could not otherwise communicate to a parent. For example, a child may smear poop on the bathroom wall. A normal boy would need to be punished for this action, because he understands that it is wrong. However, if an autistic boy smeared poop on the wall, he may have believed that he was making art. The smearing of the poop is structurally similar, but is not functionally similar at all. If this child is punished, it may affect their desires to do art project at school or at home. In another example, consider that an autistic girl will not stop talking in class so her friend gives her a piece of candy to suck on in order to eliminate the talking. The autistic girl did not pick up on the cues that she wasn’t supposed to talk in class, so she then sees the piece of candy as a reward for talking in class and she will continue to do so once the candy is gone. There is a positive contingency between talking and candy.

The most important thing for parents to do in order to understand autistic behaviors is to focus on the antecedent and then arrange consequences accordingly. Some things in the environment may bother you and cause you to behave in an unusual way. Because of the unique way autistic children perceive their senses, things that bother them and things that bother the parent may be completely different. An example given in one of my sources was the hum of the refrigerator. This may not be annoying to the parent, but it might trigger annoyance in an autistic child and cause them to act out.
It is also important to use the correct consequences when raising an autistic child. Because the child may not understand that their action of smearing poop on the wall has a negative valence and is not considered a form of art, positive or negative punishment would not be affective. The child would be unable to pick up on the negative cues the parent is giving, and would not understand the situation. Instead, a parent would want to watch the child do an art task, and reward them with positive reinforcement. This will encourage the target behavior of making art with crafts instead of poop to increase in frequency. This coincides with Skinner’s idea that reinforcement is more effective than punishment. Schedules of reinforcement would only be effective for a mildly autistic child, because a child with severe autism may have no sense of environmental cues or discriminative stimuli in their surroundings. A severely autistic child may not be able to understand that after 5 times of emitting a target behavior they will be rewarded.

In summary, parents who are raising autistic children need to understand the principles of behavior and apply that knowledge to their child. This will increase the understanding of needs between the parent and the child, and help to increase the frequency of positive behaviors and decrease the frequency of negative ones.

Terms: Behavior, target behavior, antecedent, consequences, functional, structural, positive contingency, positive reinforcement, valence, positive punishment, negative punishment, discriminative stimulus, schedules of reinforcement

Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are characterized by social interaction difficulties, communication challenges and a tendency to engage in repetitive behaviors. These symptoms and their severity vary widely across these three core areas. So I decided just to look just the behavioral problems for autism. Basically, autism is not a hardwired impairment that is programmed into a child’s genes and destined to remain fixed forever. As parents, teachers, peers, relatives, etc. should pay attention to the different environments around and prior to incidents can lead to an understanding of the triggers to behavior problems. But as Stephen M. Edelson, Ph.D. states, “there are no quick fixes to reduce or eliminate these severe behavioral problems, which include: self-injury, aggressiveness, severe tantrums and destructiveness. Some fixes may or may not require a large amount of time and effort to implement. Also, sometimes coping with a child that has autism sometimes can be very difficult especially when they are displaying a stimulating behavior.

The behavioral problems autistic children come across may be due to difficulties in expressive language, receptive language, maybe even the florescent lighting in the classrooms, and/or low level of arousal, etc. When it comes to the florescent lighting teachers may way to turn off the florescent lights for a few days to see if there is decrease in the behavioral problems they are experiencing. When forming a strategy to treat these behavioral problems it is important to consider the level of arousal, meaning the behavior is often occurred when the student or person is over-excited meaning they are anxious or too much stimulation in the environment. It is also important to bear in mind that behavior has a function and that could be many of reasons for the behavior. These could include: difficulty in processing information, unstructured time, over sensitivity or under sensitivity, a change in routine or physical reasons like feeling unwell or tired or hungry. These behaviors can express outbursts and anger when it’s hard to be able to communicate these difficulties. Treatment should then be assisted by calming the person by maybe using calming techniques. Also, nutritional supplements can help in reduction of these behavioral problems as well as the children’s overall well-being. There are many more treatments or importance’s that can help decrease behavior problems in autistic children but these are strategies and ways I found to be seen and used the most.

For this blog we were asked to research more about autism. I think the topic of treating autism using behavioral interventions fits into what we have been discussing in class because behavioral interventions uses things such as positive reinforcement, shaping, and generalization to help people with autism. These are all major concepts in this class. Autism has always interested me because I have known and worked with young children who have it, and I have seen them go through treatment with behavior interventions.

Autism spectrum disorder is a group of disorders that affect brain development. It causes repetitive behaviors and difficulties in social interactions, verbal and nonverbal communication, motor coordination, intellectual development, physical health, and attention. Although it causes many difficulties and disabilities, most people with autism have a skill that they excel at, such as math, music, art, and more. Autism affects about 1 in 68 children in the United States, and is much more prevalent in boys than in girls. Early detection and diagnosis of autism is important because behavioral therapies are more successful when they are started early on. Reading about autism and all of the facts about it reminded me of a boy I used to know from a job. I worked at a daycare for a long time while in high school, and there was a little boy in my classroom that had Asperger’s syndrome, or a less severe form of autism. The main symptom of Asperger’s is trouble with social interactions and communicating. He was 3 when I worked with him, so he was lucky enough to be diagnosed early on. He was getting behavioral treatments, which worked wonders on his social interactions. He also had a special talent with math.

It has been found that one of the most successful and beneficial ways of treating autism spectrum disorder is through behavioral interventions and using applied behavior analysis. Behavioral intervention modifies behaviors and adds new behaviors using reinforcement, shaping, prompting, prompt-fading, and generalization to teach a child to not only know what is expected of them, but also to use their skills and behaviors more automatically. Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is the use of techniques and principles that have been developed by behavior analysts to make meaningful and positive changes in behavior.

Autism is something that is not curable, but the symptoms can be managed through behavioral control. That's where behavior interventions come in. There are two main goals of behavior intervention. They are 1) to decrease or eliminate inappropriate, maladaptive behaviors that interfere with learning and social functioning and 2) to increase appropriate and functional behaviors and skills, particularly in the areas of communication, academic, and adaptive, and/or the increase of vocational skills that will allow the child to be successful in educational settings and in the community. Positive reinforcement is a big part of behavior interventions for autistic people. ABA can help those with autism build basic skills in looking, listening, imitating, reading, conversing, and understanding other people and their perspective on things. ABA is also very complex, as it is not the same for everyone. A therapist customizes the intervention to fit each individual and their needs, skills, interests and preferences. It can be an intense, on going process, but it is an extremely helpful treatment for autism spectrum disorder.

Terms: behavior, behavioral interventions, applied behavior analysis, shaping, reinforcement, generalization, positive reinforcement

References:

https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/childrens-hospital/specialties-services/departments-centers/center-for-autism/behavioral-intervention-autism

https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment/applied-b

While there is no known single, specific cause for Autism Spectrum Disorder, there is a generally accepted idea that it stems from abnormalities in brain structure or brain function. Repeated research has shown that there is a genetic basis to the disorder, however. Knowing this, researchers in the area are currently looking for strings of genetic code that could be the cause or causes behind the genetic component of Autism.

A large cause for concern for researchers is that there has been a drastic increase in Autism over time. In the U.S. today, about 1 in every 68 children has autism in some form. that is a ten-fold increase in the last 40 years. Research in this area has shown that environmental components play a factor, not only genetics. Exposure to metals like mercury and other heavy metals have shown to play a special part, because those suffering with Autism may have a body which is less capable of metabolizing toxins, thus making them more susceptible to the negative effects these metals may cause.

Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder can occur through a wide variety of ways, including cognitive-behavioral therapy and behavioral management therapy, forms of behavior modification we discuss in this class. Behavior modification comes into play in treatment in several sublevels: Sensory integration therapy, play therapy, and social stories. The use of one or the other is largely based on the individuals needs and interests, where the needs are starters to pinpoint antecedents of behavior modification. These sessions of therapy are often intense one-on-one sessions with a therapist and caregiver involvement. In many cases, behavior modification is used where an individual will be reinforced for improving behavior or speech in therapy. Punishment is also used as negative punishment, where the individual is not actually punished in an unfair sense, but rather used as a teaching mechanism and is generally not harsh treatment as a consequence.

https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism
http://www.autism-society.org/what-is/causes/
http://www.healthcommunities.com/autism/children/treatment-for-autism.shtml#behav

Terms: Behavior, behavior modification, reinforcement, punishment, treatment, consequence, antecedent

For this week's topical blog, I chose to focus on researching Autism in children. Firstly, Autism Spectrum Disorder involves a wide variety of complex neurodevelopmental disorders that are characterized by social impairments, issues with communication, and restrictive, repetitive, and stereotypical patterns of behavior, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Autistic Disorder is the most severe form of of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

ASD can come in many different forms but effects people across ethnic and social classes as well as across age groups. However, boys are four times as likely to have an ASD than girls are. Experts have estimated that 1 out of every 88 children aged 8 years old have and Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Little was known about autism in the past, but research has made it easier for doctors to diagnose and treat earlier and earlier. Today, signs of autism can be recognized in children as early as 2-3 years old. However, autism screening can begin as early in a child's life as 16 months old. Some behaviors that are being emitted that may be signs of autism include; trouble interacting with others, not pointing at objects, and not exploring surroundings in a way that is expected of a child of that age, among others.

To elicit a diagnosis of autism in a child, a doctor may ask his or her parents to spend more time interacting with the child. They will then test the child on their abilities and evaluate their behaviors in learning, communication, and play. A doctor may also provide the parents with a questionnaire about their child. Brain scans are also sometimes used in diagnosis to rule out any other conditions.

There is no single known cause of autism. Some researchers believe that several genes as well as environmental factors, such as viruses for example, are to blame for the onset of autism. Research on sufferers of autism have shown that there are several abnormalities on various sections of their brains that may interfere with nerve signaling. The anomalies suggest that autism results from disruption of normal brain functioning in fetal development. There are many other theories as to the cause of autism but, as I said, the actual cause of autism is unknown.

Terms: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Autistic Disorder, behavior, emitted, elicit

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm
http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/learning/pervasive_develop_disorders.html
http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/child-psychology/autism-aspergers/autism_fact_sheet/

For this week's topic, I chose to research some effective methods for controlling and modifying an individual's behavior that has Autism. There are several methods that have been shown to be effective in reinforcing desired behaviors in those individuals whom have some form of Autism. This research will fit into the sections that we have covered so far because it deals with the general subject of modifying one's behaviors and that is what the the class is all about. I chose to cover this topic because it shows several methods that are effective at modifying the behavior of those who stray away from the norm., and I believe that understanding these methods will give insight into better forms of control for the average subject.

I would now like to write about some effective methods a person can implement to help reach a pleasurable outcome in one's behaviors. Like I mentioned before, many of these behavioral interventions can be applied to the average child/adult. First off, be it punishment or reinforcement, you want to apply your methods consistently throughout your time with the individual. After applying a positive or negative stimuli, you should make sure the individual knows and understands the antecedent and behavior that lead to the appropriate consequence. Individual's with Autism also are alike the average, in the fact that you need to be careful to not saturate the individual with the rewards that you chose to give them. Another method that you can use to increase the frequency of desired behaviors and decrease aversive behaviors is to seek the involvement of a behavioral specialist tat has experience with individuals with Autism. Overall, individuals with an Autism disorder can be conditioned very much similar to the average child or adult. You have to put effort as well as attention into your specific method of behavioral modification and if you keep at it, chances are you will succeed in producing your desired outcome.

Terms: Behavior, reinforcement, desired, punishment, pleasurable, aversive, frequency, positive, negative, consequence, antecedent, saturated, condition.

Sites:-http://www.autism-help.org/behavior-strategies-autism.htm
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juee5YGD30Y
-http://autismfieldwork.com/afw/node/4?q=node/21/

For this blog post, I chose to write about the various behavioral problems that are often associated with children who have autism as well as some methods used to deal with these issues.

For many individuals, an autism diagnosis is often accompanied with challenging behavior. However, this is not a cause and effect situation. Contrary to popular belief, the autism does not make a person emit troubled behaviors. The reasoning is actually far more complex than that. One way to sum up the relationship is that something in the biological process that result in autism elicit these troubled behaviors. In the same way that a person with Parkinson’s disease experiences behaviors that they can’t control, individuals with autism deals with the same insuppressible urges.

For some, these actions may be benign, for example some children with autism emit a “flapping” behavior with their arms when they feel over stimulated. Others may squeeze their eyes shut when in conversation or continually shut the kitchen cabinets while you are trying to put away the dishes. For others however, these behaviors may be more adverse. Some children emit behaviors of fecal smearing. Others may verbally create a scene in public.

So what is it that makes children with autism act in these ways? While there is wide speculation about the cause, many people believe that it is actually part of the child’s “fight or flight” response. For example, if you were walking down the street and suddenly saw a large dog running toward you, chances are you would immediately turn and emit a running behavior. This response isn’t one that you had to think about prior to emitting, it simply came naturally. That is because it was your instinct to flee the dangerous situation.

It is believed that autistic children emit these unique behaviors as a result of the same instinct. For an autistic child, flapping their arms, retreating and becoming non-verbal, or squinting their eyes shut may be a mechanism put into place to keep them safe from an undesirable or uncomfortable situation. Just like you don’t have to think before running from a dog, these behaviors come naturally and are an act of self-preservation.

So what does this mean for children who emit undesirable behaviors? Is there anything that parents of autistic children can do? Actually, the answer is yes.

Research has shown that the use of positive reinforcement is the most effective means of dealing with challenging behavior in children who have autism or Asperger’s Syndrome. Not only that, but it has also been shown to have great success in teaching children with autism new behaviors. Positive reinforcement is a form of behavior modification that uses rewards or reinforces to increase the likelihood of a desired behavior happing again.

This form of modification has found to be very successful among individuals with autism. This is believed to be because the reinforcement or reward creates a tangible connection for the child between the action and the outcome. This mental connection allows the child to see what it is that is desired of them and helps increase the likelihood of that particular action happening again in the future.

TERMS: positive reinforcement, behaviors, elicit, response, reaction, instinct,
SOURCES:
http://www.autism-help.org/behavior-positive-reinforcement-autism.htm
https://www.autismspeaks.org/sites/default/files/section_1.pdf
https://www.autismspeaks.org/sites/default/files/section_2.pdf

Behavior modification techniques are used to treat individuals with autism and have shown significantly beneficial. The National Autism Center states that the lifetime cost associated with caring for a child with autism can range as high as $3.2 million dollars, but research has shown that behavioral interventions are some of the most successful treatments and can significantly reduce these cost. Common behavior modification techniques used are rewards, removing attention (extinction), redirection and desensitization/exposure.
In section 3.4 we read about John B Watson’s contribution to behavior modification and one of the most interesting sections of the readings dealt with desensitization. For this assignment I have chosen to discuss how desensitization is used in order to help treat individuals with autism. Systematic desensitization and exposure were forms of behavior modification used in situations that trigger anxiety. To begin the process of systematic desensitization in a clinical setting, the individual is usually first taught relaxation skills in order to control fear and anxiety responses to specific phobias.
There are three steps to successfully desensitize an individual, first one must establish anxiety stimulus hierarchy which identifies the items that cause anxiety. Next coping mechanism or incompatible responses need to be learned, an example of this would be medication. Finally one must connect the stimulus to the incompatible response or coping method though counter conditioning, this step is carried out by having the individual relax and be presented with the lowest item on the stimulus hierarchy.
The goal of desensitization is to overcome an avoidance pattern by gradually exposing the individual to the phobic object until it becomes tolerated. Desensitization in behavior modification terms is the elicitation of the fear response is extinguished to the stimulus.

Terms: behavioral intervention, treatment, rewards, extinction, redirection, desensitization, exposure, systematic desensitization, anxiety, relaxation skills, phobias, stimulus hierarchy, coping mechanism, conditioned, tolerated.

Autism is a serious developmental disorder that impairs the ability to communicate and interact. I choose to do a research on what kind of behavioral issues autism can cause. People with autism tend to have impaired social and communication skills, and they tend to emit repetitive and stereotyped behaviors. Those with autism may have trouble in every day social situations. Some examples are they tend to look and listen less to people in their environment, they respond unusually when others show anger, distress, or affection, and they make less eye contact. Communication impairments autism might cause include being slow or failing to respond to one’s own name, developing language at a delayed pace, discontinuing “baby talk” after year one, and repeating words or phrases that they hear (echolalia).

Behavioral issues that autism can cause include repetitive, unusual, or stereotyped behaviors. For example, in autistic individual might become obsessed with specific things such as lighthouses, or any other mundane object. They may develop a habit of walking strangely or any specific pattern. Autism causes stiff, inflexible, repetitive, or stereotyped behaviors, and this is something behavioral intervention can help. By targeting one of these problem behaviors at a time we can condition the autistic individual to replace them with positive behaviors, thus rendering the target behavior extinct. Behavioral interventions operate upon the same core principles as any other behavior modification program. One must clearly define the target behavior, be consistent in reinforcement and sticking to the reinforcement schedule and the replacement behavior should be incompatible to the target behavior.

TERMS: Autism, behavior, behavioral, reinforcement, target behavior, extinct, behavior modification, reinforcement schedule.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/signs.html
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/autism-spectrum-disorders-asd/index.shtml
http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/Autism/

As stated above, Autism is a disorder that impairs social skills, communication, and may also induce repetitive actions or behaviors. With individuals who have this disorder, their development changes. They often show signs of misunderstanding and often show less attention to things other children might find interesting. For example, early signs of Autism show babies paying attention and focusing on specific items and often times avoiding eye contact. This is an early sign as it shows a decrease of social skills when compared to other babies. There might also be signs of decreased babbling and lack of interest in play. These signs and symptoms are red flags for development and education as they can inhibit the learning experience. Another symptoms that stands out with individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder is how they emit repetitive actions. These behaviors give the individual comfort that they may not receive from social experience. They will often perfume routines throughout the day that help them get through certain experiences.

One way that parents and friends can treat those with Autism can be with positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is used in many schools and education centers to help teach and educate those with the disorder. Whether or not it’s a physical item or just a motivating phrase, anything helps when it comes to this disorder. When it comes to behavioral change, parents can use techniques, such as positive reinforcement to help modify and change those behaviors. These changes can be used during behavioral modification therapy sessions. These sessions often have both the parents and the individual with the disorder. This way it helps keep both parties on the same page and give them insight on how to support the individual to help them learn.

When it comes to speech, they often use different techniques to help communicate better. People will often use pictures, objects, specific communication devices such as voice output devices, sign language, and many others to try to help those with the disorder communicate. These programs and devices are all tools that can be utilized for the improvement of communication skills in those with the disorder.

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/autism-spectrum-disorders-asd/index.shtml
http://www.autism-community.com/communication/strategies-and-solutions/
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/index.html

Terms: Autism, behavior, positive reinforcement, emit, behavioral modification

Autism is not only an interesting “disorder” but also meshes very clearly with the subject matter of our class; behavior modification. I am personally very interested in the topic as I have participated in a play with an autistic teenage boy and also have a best girlfriend who has autism. As so called “complex disorders of brain development”, many autistic people lead completely normal lives, having highly proficient academia skills, extremely talented artists, and incredibly musically inclined. I have been very fortunate to have experienced a very expressive young man and to call one of my most dear friends an extremely successful secondary English teacher – both “sufferers” of this “disorder.”

The CDC reports that autism affects 1 out of every 54 boys and 1 in 252 girls. Two million people are afflicted with ASD in the USA with tens of millions recorded worldwide. In the past few years, due to purported improved diagnostics and potentially environmental influences, the prevalence rates for ASD have risen 10-17%. It is caused by a multitude of different, usually rare gene mutations and changes and is truly case-by-case. Typically, most cases seem to be a combination of preexisting risk factor genes and early brain development induced by environmental factors. Interestingly, illness during pregnancy, birthing difficulties (those that deprive the baby’s brain of oxygen), and older parents seem to increase the risk.

Although two million people in the USA are autistic, over 40% have average-above average intelligence. 25% of individuals, although, are nonverbal and communicate through behavior modification techniques including signing. Currently, Autism Speaks and a multitude of other websites and state chapters are working to spread awareness about the autism spectrum, with the goal of improving the lives of those afflicted with the disorder. Recently, the docudrama Autistic License made a huge splash on the national stage. Minnesotan mother/newly-recognized playwright, Stacey Dinner-Levin, wrote a touching play concerning the lives of a family with two sons; one with and one without ASD. It captures the journey the family must endeavor upon to accommodate their unique child who perceives the world in an entirely different light. The disorder completely uproots the families’ life plan and spins in an entirely new direction. This play documents the warning signs, coping mechanisms, teaching techniques, and support systems, for not only the child, but the family as well. It takes ASD from being defined as a “disorder” and turns it into a relatable, moving subject all audiences can relate to.

When treatment plans, often fraught with frivolous medications, fell through behavior analysts began to determine how their profession may benefit the individual and family. The results have been highly effective. Oftentimes, lower-functioning autistic individuals develop repetitive behaviors that need reduced. Some examples include crying outbursts, throwing things, and dramatically collapsing to the floor. Through a series of behavior modification methods, therapists and parents have assisted thousands of individuals. Operant conditioning seems to be the preferred method of choice; during sessions and home-life, therapists and parents work to increase appropriate behaviors, while decreasing inappropriate ones. This is implemented through a counting/reward system. To establish the disapproval of negative behaviors, the “walk & peel” method is used, where the child is simply ignored (punished), receiving reinforcement for performing the correct behavior upon the parent’s/therapist’s reentry. Essentially, the adults are working on extinguishing an undesirable behavior, while rewarding a desirable one.

In summary, autism is not JUST a disorder. It’s merely a
person with a complexly different brain from those of us who are socially considered to be “normal”. Both high and low functioners are involved in incredibly amazing careers and workforces and deserve recognition as the highly unique individuals they are.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1504998/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl

http://www.autism-behavior-strategies.com/Autism-Behavior-Strategies.html

Terms: behavior modification, techniques, behavior, methods, operant conditioning, increase appropriate, decrease inappropriate, punished, reinforcement, stamping out an undesirable behavior, rewarding a desirable one extinguishing

With both a friend and a cousin that are on the autism spectrum, I can say from personal experience that there is a greater distance between those two individuals and how they understand the world than my friend and I. My aunt and uncle have been rather ill equipped to understand a child with autism, which has led to a significant decrease in his communication abilities over time, however individuals with mild autism are greatly benefited by behavioral therapies.
There are a few aspects that are important when attempting behavior modification on children and adults on the autism spectrum. One of the most important aspects is that of taking an approach to stopping the behavior based why the child is doing the behavior. What is the child accomplishing by emitting this problem behavior? Problem behavior is very common because of their restrictions in communication. If diagnosed early these types of behaviors can be prevented even before they big as kids between 18 months and 2 years that are placed in rigorous programs to manage behaviors cannot, or nearly be distinguished from any other kid of their age. This shows the potential behavioral intervention has to mold and alter the development of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder for their benefit.
Challenging behavior is labeled that for a reason, because it can be challenging, difficult, harmful to themselves or others and potentially embarrassing or disruptive. This can include behavior such as hitting, biting, kicking and spitting. Although it is easy to go for the quick move to attempt to shut down the behavior, especially within a public setting, I may be more helpful to oneself and the child to encourage or reinforce more positive behaviors and ignore problematic ones instead of punishing. Most often a behavior is emitted in order to receive a response from the parent or caregiver, or a form of escape from activities the child does not like. Children on the spectrum need more structure and need to know what behaviors are expected of them even more than an autism-free child.
Other than reinforcement for good behaviors, an even more effective means to eradicate problem behavior is to change the environment or the antecedent. In other words, create a space where that behavior can no longer happen. This can be done by avoiding certain things the child obviously is startled by or finds aversive such as hugs and cuddles, loud noises or certain clothes because of the way they fit or feel. Often times just distracting them can solve the issue, as to take the focus off of the seemingly aversive action or material. The key is to allow time for change in behavior. Parents can help kids internalize their behaviors by encouraging them to understand and repeat back the reason why they want them to do that behavior in the first place as in eventually I feel angry and by allowing them to acknowledge their emotion they can begin to see why hitting in that emotional state is not good. However, these types of behavior modifications can look a little too controlling than others.
A final promising intervention for those on the autism spectrum is to change the consequence. Often times kids will use a behavior either to get a response out of a caregiver or because it is used as a means of escape. If a child keeps running away from the bath tub, change the consequence for stalling by placing the child in the bath with their clothes on still. Caregivers often have to maintain neutral reactions and tones in order to stay on task but also ignore the behavior the child is resting on.

http://healthland.time.com/2012/10/26/behavior-therapy-normalizes-brains-of-autistic-children/

http://www.autism-help.org/behavior-strategies-autism.htm
http://www.autismtoday.com/top-10-positive-autism-techniques-for-managing-challenging-behavior/

Reinforce, elicit, emit, response, reinforce, aversive, antecedent, consequence

URLS: from my previous post. ^

https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism

http://www.autism-society.org

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/autism/

The topic that I chose to research more on is Autism and the various treatments they use for those who have this disorder. I chose this topic, because this information may be useful for me in the future. I want to work as an occupational therapist and one possible setting that I could work in would deal with children on the Autism Spectrum and the various treatment techniques I can use to help them improve a variety of behaviors. In order to talk about the treatment for Autism, it would be wise to have a better understanding of what Autism is. Autism falls on the Autism Spectrum Disorder and currently there is no cure for this disorder. Autism is a brain development disorder that is caused by a number of rare gene mutations. Most cases of Autism are caused by a combination of Autism risk genes and environmental risk factors that influence early brain development. This disorder impairs an individual’s communication and social skills. Some social impairments would include showing less interest in stimuli, respond less to their name, and they often lack social contact with other. This brain development disorder also causes repetitive behavior. Many children also emit a body rocking, hand flapping, or head rolling movement. The signs and symptoms of Autism emerge between the ages 2 and 3.

There is no medical test to diagnosis Autism. Instead children are screened for developmental milestones during routine visits to the doctor. If the doctor and the parents express concerns about the child and their milestones development, the doctor will refer them to a specialist for a developmental evaluation and early intervention. A typical diagnostic team includes and occupational therapist, physical therapist, speech and language pathologist, pediatrician, and a psychologist. My sister in law is an occupational therapist at Childserve in Des Moines and I have sat in on a diagnostic team evaluating a child to see if they have Autism. They would complete different tasks with the child and would evaluate their own results as well as combine the results of other members of the team to determine if the child should/could be diagnosed with Autism.

Early intervention for the individuals with this disorder can lessen disruptive behavior and other problems that may occur. There is no single treatment method for those who are diagnosed with Autism. Instead, there is often a combination of treatment methods that are used depending on the individual’s needs. It isn’t uncommon for Autism Spectrum Disorders to require life-long treatment. Some treatments for the Autism Spectrum Disorder may include occupational therapy, physical therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, speech and language pathology, medications, nutrition, and behavioral management therapy. Behavior modification is used to treat repetitive, aggressive, and inappropriate behavior that the may exhibit. Behavior modification allows individuals with Autism develop necessary skills to function well in their environment.

Another treatment method that is used is Applied Behavior Analysis or ABA therapy. This therapy is based on the principle that influencing a response that is associated with a certain behavior may cause that behavior to be controlled and shaped. Applied Behavior Analysis is intended to increase and generalize the individual’s skills in language, play, and socialization, as well as decrease behaviors that may interfere with learning. A form of ABA therapy is Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT). Discrete Trial Teaching uses learning theory research to be effective. This research found that when a behavior is rewarded, it is more likely repeated. Positive reinforcement is usually the most effective behavior management strategy in handling the challenging behaviors of children on the Autism Spectrum. It can also be used to help autistic children to learn new behaviors. Discrete trial training entails a series of distinct repeated lessons that are taught one-on-one. Each session contains a request for the individual to accomplish an action; a behavior, and a consequence from the therapist that is based on the response of the person.

Other applied behavior analysis techniques wok on communication, social, behavioral, and academic skills. Many children diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum Disorder often display an unwillingness to make eye contact and engage. This behavior is often the first target behavior during therapy. Another technique of Applied Behavior Analysis is reciprocal imitation training (RIT). Reciprocal imitation training was developed in order to teach impulsive imitation skills to young children on the Autism Spectrum Disorder, in a play environment. This procedure includes unanticipated simulation in which the therapist imitates actions and vocalizations of the child. Several of the children increased their spontaneous use of pretend play. In addition, the children exhibited increases in social behaviors such as coordinated attention after reciprocal imitation training. This suggests that together the imitative and the spontaneous play had involved a social value.

Self-management is another form of Applied Behavior Analysis that has been developed as an added option for teaching children on the Autism Spectrum Disorder to increase their independence and generalization without increasing their dependence on a parent or even a teacher. The self-management therapy usually involves some if not all of the following components: self-monitoring, self-evaluation of performance, and self-delivery of reinforcement. Ideally, this technique incorporates teaching the individual to monitor their own behavior in the absence of adults.

Before this blog post, I never realized how much behavior modification is used in the treatment of individuals on the Autism Spectrum Disorder. Behavior modification is crucial for these individuals to gain necessary skills for their life.

http://www.autism-help.org/behavior-positive-reinforcement-autism.htm
http://www.autism-help.org
http://www.autism.net.au/Autism_ABA.htm
https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment

Terms-behavior, emit, stimuli, response, behavior modification, applied behavior analysis, reward, positive reinforcement, consequence, target behavior, reinforcement, self-reinforcement

Topical Blog Week 9

For this week’s topical blog, I would like to look further into B. F. Skinner and his idea that free will does not exist. In the section we read this week, there is a portion called “Skinner the Writer”, and it talks about some of the works Skinner has done. This section states that Skinner came up with the idea of determinism. It also stated that the idea of determinism would disturb those who believe in free will. I am a very strong believer in free will, and I also think that this is a touchy subject. We cannot know for certain whether or not we have the ability to choose as we please. So I wanted to look into the writings of Skinner and his ideas on determinism. I believe in free will and I believe that we have the ability to make choices, but I want to look further into Skinner’s ideas to try and understand him more.
Skinner believed that everything we did was due to the environment. Every thought and idea we have ever had was not our own. Skinner thought that humans don’t even think, they only respond to environmental cues. This can be very troublesome to a lot of people because we like to think that we have the ability to make our own choices. If Skinner is right, and we don’t actually have free will, then people will start to question what the point of life really is. If I don’t have the ability to choose things for myself, then what do I have? Skinner’s ideas can be controversial. They make people feel nervous and uncomfortable - which makes me want to take an even deeper look!
Skinner believed that the terms “free will” and “motivation” were nonexistent. He also believed that they were made up to cover up the true reason for certain behaviors. Skinner focused only on the environmental reinfrocers and punishers. He believed that all behavior could be cause from a reinforcer or a punisher. We can see this in our class material very well. We use reinforcers and punishers every day in our class to discuss behavior modification and how we can change or manipulate a person’s behavior. When I was first reading this information on Skinner’s ideas I was thinking about how we are changing our water drinking behavior in class. As a class, we are trying to increase our water drinking behavior. For the last 4 weeks, I have been drinking more water than I ever have! And I first thought, “Skinner is wrong because I am choosing to change my water drinking behavior”. I thought that I was choosing and making my own decision to drink more water. But when I really think about it, I technically wasn’t. I was told by the professor to start drinking more water, and I felt that if I did well with this assignment, I would get a good grade (positive reinforcement). And when I didn’t meet my goal I felt bad (punishment). These are examples of reinforcers and punishers that happened even when I wasn’t consciously reinforcing myself to increase the water drinking behavior.
So maybe we don’t have free will. It is a scary thought, but we need to accept it to an extent. When I started thinking about the things that I choose for myself, I realized that in one way or another, I am getting reinforced or punished for those things. So are we really choosing? Do we really have free will? Skinner believes that over time, humans have evolved to run away and avoid aversive stimuli and stick around pleasurable stimuli. This makes perfect sense. We do homework because we get good grades. We know that if we don’t do homework, we will get bad grades. These are things we do without even knowing that we are working on a reinforcement schedule.
When it comes to things we “choose” it is the same type of thing. For example, I chose to stay in and watch a movie on Friday night rather than go out to the bars with my friends. I thought that I chose that, but when I relate that choice to Skinner’s ideas, I’m not sure that I did. I knew that I had to work early in the morning, so I didn’t want to feel rough when I woke up (addition of hangover/headache = positive punishment). So if I really think deeply about that, Skinner is right – I didn’t choose for myself. I didn’t use free will to stay in. I was avoiding an aversive stimulus, and I was doing so unconsciously. I did think to myself, “I don’t want to feel rough at work the next day”, but I didn’t think to myself, “I bet I will get a lot done the next day, if I don’t go out tonight”. But I did. I got a lot of different things done at work the next day, and even after work, I got more stuff done at home! But I didn’t realize that those were reinforcers while they were happening. I didn’t realize that I was acting on environmental cues. I really thought that I was choosing and using free will. I also didn’t realize that all of those things will make me more likely to behave that way (stay in Friday nights). So maybe we should all put a little more thought and consideration into Skinner’s ideas before we put them to rest completely.

URLs:
http://io9.com/why-b-f-skinner-may-have-been-the-most-dangerous-psych-1548690441

http://www.simplypsychology.org/freewill-determinism.html

http://www.haciendapub.com/articles/critique-psychologist-b-f-skinner%E2%80%99s-beyond-freedom-and-dignity

TERMS: B. F. Skinner, Free Will, “Skinner the Writer”, Determinism, Reinforcer, Punisher, Behavior, Behavior Modification, Manipulation, Aversive, Pleasurable

The topic I picked is the language symptoms of Autism and how to deal with them. I think the topic fits into behavior modification because when Autistic children are observed: the people who are qualified can recommend the best treatment to help the children either learn to speak or find another way to communicate with those around them. I picked this topic because it seems that since all children develop language skills at different speeds, I wanted to find out when a child would be considered for possibly having Autism.
Children with Autism may show a variety of symptoms that impact their language development. They may take longer than usual to talk/babble or may never speak at all. They may even lose the ability to use words they previously knew and used. They may be able to repeat words and/or phrases word for word (called echolalia), but then not understand the correct context when using them. Even the tone of the words they use could be unusual: robotic, sing song, or just being excessively high pitched. Autistic children might not even make eye contact, which could make their speech difficult for others to understand (especially speaking from personal experience-I often have to tell the kids who aren't Autistic with high voices at work to look at me when they get upset as it becomes difficult to understand them without reading their lips and expressions). Autistic children who do speak may have trouble starting/keeping up with conversation as well as understanding simple questions or directions and social cues. If enough of these symptoms are present- the child could have trouble expressing basic needs and wants due to lack of vocabulary development.
These symptoms could negatively impact the lives of children with Autism, and that is when a person who knows how to apply behavior modification (different types of therapies) would step in as the symptoms would be causing a problem for the children. There are several different therapies aka “allied health services” that try to lessen the impact these symptoms have on the lives of Autistic children. One is Speech-Language Therapy, where the child works with a speech pathologist to set goals after assessment that try to help the child communicate(non-verbally and/or verbally depending on each individual case). Augmentative and Alternative Communication devices and methods can help non-verbal autistic people (both children and adults). A common example of this is the Picture Exchange Communication System. This is a card with pictures of common needs and wants the person would need to express but specialized ones are available/can be made as needed. Both paper and electronic versions (think iPad and specially programmed computers) This also helps the child build up their vocabulary, as it encourages verbal skills when used properly with anyone the child may come into contact with (family, teachers, and caregivers). Occupational Therapy can help with a wide variety of social skills, and often tries to help children learn social skills which would improve their ability to have successful conversations and read social cues given by others.
At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/autism/basics/symptoms/con-20021148
http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/Autism.htm
http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment/what-treatments-are-available-speech-language-and-motor-impairments

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
Behavior modification, echolalia, cues, “allied health services”, Speech-Language Therapy, speech pathologist, goals, Augmentative and Alternative Communication devices and methods, Picture Exchange Communication System, and Occupational Therapy.

For this topical blog I have decided to look into the impacts of positive reinforcement when modifying the behavior of a child who has autism. I find this interesting because I know that children with autism don’t understand the exact same way as children without autism. They often act out more dramatically when they don’t get what they want simply because they don’t understand. I had a friend who has a sister with autism and I remember it being difficult to tell her ‘no’ because that simply wasn’t enough, and she needed to be taught why she wasn’t supposed to do certain things. We have learned about positive reinforcement and how it can be used to modify behaviors of people and even animals, but I am curious to learn how it works on people with neurological disorders.
According to autismspeaks.org autism is a term used to describe a group of complex disorders of brain development. The disorders are characterized by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors. Each individual with autism is unique and many have a unique way of viewing the world. For many individuals with autism social settings can be difficult. They may avoid eye contact and have abnormal behaviors in social settings.
Using a positive reinforcement method is an effective way to modify behavior, but using any kind of behavior modification can become more difficult with autistic children. Choosing the form of reinforcement is very important and must be chosen carefully to ensure it’s success. Using praise may make the child feel uncomfortable and even giving them something may backfire when the desired target behavior is emitted. Instead many autistic children are observant and using something where they can see their progress has shown to be a successful form of reinforcement. This may be something like a token, stickers, or certificates.
I think that knowing this information and how to modify behavior is important for many different reasons. Knowing how to modify the behavior of a child with autism can be very useful for teachers and special education teachers. These children can still be taught and can still reach target behaviors, but the way these things are achieved may be different and sometimes more challenging. Like I stated earlier finding an effective reinforce is key.

https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism
http://www.autism-help.org/behavior-positive-reinforcement-autism.htm
http://www.childbrain.com/pddq11.shtml

Terms: Target behavior, positive reinforcement, behavior modification, reinforce, repetitive behavior, emit

This weeks blog I want to learn how to use Positive Reinforcement with Autistic students. This topic interests me because I am wanting to become a teacher and some day I may have a child with Autism and I want to learn how I can make the child learn with the best of their ability. Using Positive Reinforcement is generally the most effective strategy with challenging behaviors with children with Autism. It can help Autistic children learn new behaviors, from life skills through to alternatives to repetitive behaviors. To find what type of Positive Reinforcement to choose with the student i would figure out what motivates the child and what the child enjoys, as well making sure the Reinforcement is practical, ethical, and valid for the targeted behavior. Through the websites I found they gave some great examples from a friendly smile to extra free time or enjoyable treats. The article I found states that timing is key and need to reward the child right after the targeted behavior occurs. In the websites I found it stated that Positive Reinforcement helps Autistic children learn by keeping the student always wanting the benefits for doing well in the class. This search was beneficial because I learned how to help Autistic children modify their behaviors to help them learn and get full potential in their learning and I need to learn how to teach them and keep them involved in the class.

Sources:
http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/inspb1/html/6_positivereinforcement.html
http://www.educateautism.com/behavioural-principles/positive-reinforcement.html
http://www.autism-help.org/behavior-positive-reinforcement-autism.htm

Terms: Positive Reinforcement, Autistic, Behavior Modification, Target Behavior, Motivate

This week i would like to talk about how positive reinforcement effects children with autism. Like anyone positive reinforcement works best to teach behaviors to someone. A common mistake when trying to teach autistic children material is the use of bribery, bribery and positive reinforcement are similar but not the same. Both attempt to increase the likely hood of a behavior but the difference is that the reward from bribery comes before the behavior as compared to positive reinforcement where the reward comes after the behavior. There are some specific rules for the use of positive reinforcement;

1. When starting out, it is best to reward the child every time the target behavior occurs. (this is also the same as continuous reinforcement)
2. always pair edible, social or toy reinforces with verbal praise. (association)
3. You will eventually only reinforce by using verbal reinforcers, soon your child will learn that the pleasure is a reinforcer.
4. It is also important to model desired behavior.
5. It is important to keep the request for the desired behavior concise and clear.

Teaching autistic children is not all that different from teaching the unimpaired but of course there are some differences. When it comes to behavioral modification, learning and changing behaviors is universal.

http://www.autism-help.org/behavior-positive-reinforcement-autism.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bifbo8fELxw

http://teaching.monster.com/benefits/articles/8761-22-tips-for-teaching-students-with-autism-spectrum-disorders

For this blog assignment I chose to study Applied Behavior Analysis or ABA and how it relates to autism and how changing the antecedents can help with treating autism. For children with autism, behavior interventions is a very useful tool in helping them cope with the problems autism pose with functioning in normal everyday life. This therapy involves the usage of reinforcement and punishment. Therapists use these techniques in one-on-one therapy sessions to slowly shape a child's behavior. A reinforcer in this type of therapy can be anything from verbal praise, to being allowed to play with a toy. A punisher is never anything violent in this form of therapy. Instead, punishers could be verbal disapproval, or taking away a desired activity or object. It is a very detailed and measureable process in which the child is asked to do small simple tasks like drinking water by themselves and reinforce this behavior with small rewards. This therapy works very well because the treatment is adapted to each client, their specific needs, and the target behavior they are working on. The also measure the effectiveness of the treatment using the data gathered throughout the treatment.

When applying behavioral therapy to children with autism, often the antecedent is used to prompt the target behavior. Children with autism are often paired with socially competent children to work or play together. Games may be combined with actions of affection to help the autistic children socialize. In cases like these, the antecedent is creating a game, the behavior is affection-based socialization, and the consequence is positive affect which results from physical affection. This makes it more likely for children to engage in physical affection in the future because they were rewarded with positive affect. A similar process can be used to manipulate any target behavior.

Terms: Applied Behavior Analysis, reinforcer, punisher, antecedent, behavior, consequence, behavior intervention, target behavior, reinforcement, punishment

http://www.autismbehaviorintervention.com/AboutABA.htm
http://positively-autism.blogspot.com/2012/08/examples-of-antecedent-strategies.html
https://www.teachervision.com/autism/teaching-methods/8201.html
http://www.brightmindsinstitute.com/blog/2011/08/25/how-to-modify-aggressive-behavior-in-children-with-autism/

The behavioral aspect of autism is one of the biggest struggles. People with autism can display many difficult behaviors that need more attention to correct than people without autism. I find this interesting because I babysit an 8 year-old boy who has autism and it could really help me understand him better if I learn more about this topic.
Almost everyone on the autism spectrum has at least some challenging behaviors. These may range from the odd (spinning, flapping) to self-injury (head banging) to the truly dangerous (hitting, kicking, dashing into traffic). Autistic people may also find undesirable ways to avoid doing what they don't want to do: they may hum, slide under the table, or otherwise avoid non-preferred activities.
Often, parents and teachers are uncertain how to manage these behaviors. Unlike many people, they are not deliberately misbehaving, nor are they seeking attention. For the average educator or caregiver, it's hard to know how to improve behaviors while also, for example, cooking dinner or teaching 20 other children.
Educational and behavioral approaches are often a core feature of the overall treatment plan for children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. There are many different strategies currently being used, and new ones are being promoted on a regular basis. Many of these interventions differ not just in their implementation, but also in their philosophical approach to treating children with an ASD.
Limited evidence-based research is available for most of the behavioral and/or educational based programs. These approaches are particularly difficult to study using traditional research methods. For one thing, a classroom or therapist's office is a far cry from a laboratory setting. It is difficult to control for the many factors that can interfere with or bias research results. It is also often difficult to exactly reproduce any single intervention across settings.
Applied Behavior Analysis, or ABA, is the most well known of the behavioral approaches. Such programs focus on encouraging (or reinforcing) positive behaviors while discouraging negative ones. Practitioners carefully assess whether a child has been rewarded for any negative behaviors, and work to ensure that this no longer happens. They then work to establish new behaviors using a variety of methods, including discrete trial training. A child, for example, may be directed to hand his therapist a pencil. If he does, he will receive a reward – perhaps praise and a sticker or goldfish cracker. If he doesn't, he won't get the reward, but a prompt of some kind – such as the therapist moving his hand to the pencil.
Many studies have shown that ABA and similar behavioral interventions can improve intelligence test scores, language skills, and academic performance of young children with ASD. Some studies have also shown some measure of improvement in behavior or personal and social skills, while others have not. One issue has been generalization; that is, there has not been much evidence to show that children can transfer the skills they have learned through behavioral interventions to contexts outside the setting in which skills are acquired.
Many children taking part in these programs make significant strides. It is clear at this point, however, that such interventions do not result in a great number of affected children achieving "normal" developmental status, as was once claimed. ABA methods are used to support persons with autism in at least six ways. 1) to increase behaviors, 2) to teach new skills, 3) to maintain behaviors, 4) to generalize or to transfer behavior from one situation or response to another, 5) to restrict or narrow conditions under which interfering behaviors occur, 6) to reduce interfering behaviors.
Behavioral
Behavior
Reinforcing
Positive behavior
Reward
Aversives
reduce

http://autism.about.com/od/autismtherapy101/a/behaviorspec.htm
http://iancommunity.org/cs/what_do_we_know/educational_and_behavioral_therapies
http://www.centerforautism.com/aba-therapy.aspx

For this blog assignment I chose to study Applied Behavior Analysis or ABA and how it relates to autism and how changing the antecedents can help with treating autism. For children with autism, behavior interventions is a very useful tool in helping them cope with the problems autism pose with functioning in normal everyday life. This therapy involves the usage of reinforcement and punishment. Therapists use these techniques in one-on-one therapy sessions to slowly shape a child's behavior. A reinforcer in this type of therapy can be anything from verbal praise, to being allowed to play with a toy. A punisher is never anything violent in this form of therapy. Instead, punishers could be verbal disapproval, or taking away a desired activity or object. It is a very detailed and measureable process in which the child is asked to do small simple tasks like drinking water by themselves and reinforce this behavior with small rewards. This therapy works very well because the treatment is adapted to each client, their specific needs, and the target behavior they are working on. The also measure the effectiveness of the treatment using the data gathered throughout the treatment.
When applying behavioral therapy to children with autism, often the antecedent is used to prompt the target behavior. Children with autism are often paired with socially competent children to work or play together. Games may be combined with actions of affection to help the autistic children socialize. In cases like these, the antecedent is creating a game, the behavior is affection-based socialization, and the consequence is positive affect which results from physical affection. This makes it more likely for children to engage in physical affection in the future because they were rewarded with positive affect. A similar process can be used to manipulate any target behavior.
Terms: Applied Behavior Analysis, reinforcer, punisher, antecedent, behavior, consequence, behavior intervention, target behavior, reinforcement, punishment
http://www.autismbehaviorintervention.com/AboutABA.htm
http://positively-autism.blogspot.com/2012/08/examples-of-antecedent-strategies.html
https://www.teachervision.com/autism/teaching-methods/8201.html
http://www.brightmindsinstitute.com/blog/2011/08/25/how-to-modify-aggressive-behavior-in-children-with-autism/

Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
I would like to talk more about Skinner. In the section for this week, Skinner was the main focus. I am interested in learning more about Skinner because he was more than the psychologist we have learned about in all of our psychology classes.
1) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
First, I would like to talk about Skinner’s life, where he went to school etc. Secondly, I am going to talk about his inventions, like the Air bed.
Lastly, I am going to talk about what Skinner did to contribute to psychology.
2) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
Burrhus Fredrick Skinner better known as B.F. Skinner was born March 20, 1904. At a young age, Skinner was interested in building different inventions. This continued into adult life as well. Skinner studied at Hamilton College, where he grew to love writing. After he graduated he attempted to become a famous writer, but did not have much success. He then went to school at Harvard, where he decided to study psychology. While at Harvard, Skinner created many inventions.
One of the inventions he created was the air bed. The air bed kept a steady temperature and humidity to comfort the baby. This lessened the crying of his second daughter. He also invented the cumulative recorder. This recorded the results of the rat in the operant chamber. The recorder was a rotating drum that held paper and a pencil. One of his most famous inventions is the operant chamber. This is a box that releasing food whenever the animal would emit a correct behavior. This would happen until the animal conditioned, and no longer hungry. Another one of Skinner’s invention is the Pigeon guided missile. Skinner made this invention during World War Two as a way to help Navy guild missiles to help sink enemy ships. Although, this is a strange concept, the tests emitted it proved that pigeons are actually capable of guiding those missiles. Around the same time though, radar was invented, so the Navy scraped the project. His last invention was the teaching machine. This machine would ask a question and if the correct response was given, the student would receive positive reinforcement. It is like the life size version of the operant chamber. Skinner believed this could be used in numerous subjects. The principal of this invention is still used today to reinforce children in their learning endeavors.
Skinner definitely contributed to psychology. One of Skinner’s most famous contributions is his theory of operant conditioning. Putting an animal in the Skinner Box, they would learn to press a lever to get a pellet of food. If the animal gets a pellet each and every time they press the lever they have been given a continuous reinforcement and have learned that for every time they press the lever is how many pellets they will receive. He then would stop giving food for each time the rat pressed the lever which led to the behavior to become extinguished. With this he learned about the Schedules of Reinforcement. Behavioral Modification is another contribution based on Skinner’s ideas. Skinner also wrote a book called Walden Two. Which is shows his ideas on raising children in a behaviorist daycare center. This shows peaceful ways to use behaviorism to deal with problems in society.
4) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://www.biography.com/people/bf-skinner-9485671
http://www.visionlaunch.com/bf-skinner-inventions-and-accomplishments/
http://www.psychologistanywhereanytime.com/famous_psychologist_and_psychologists/psychologist_famous_b_f_skinner.htm
5) Terms Used
Skinner, airbed, Operant chamber, Cumulative recorder, emit, behavior, conditioned, pigeon guided missiles, teaching machine, positive reinforcement, Skinner Box, continuous reinforcement, extinguished, Schedules of Reinforcement, behavior modification, Walden Two, behaviorist, behaviorism

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
This week I chose to look at successive approximation. This is a term that was brought to our attention in this section but I am interesting looking at how this can be applied in the “real” world.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
The first thing I will look at how it is applied to areas outside of behavior modification. I am going to look at is how it is applied to training animals. Last I will look at how it can work in a classroom or in other person to person interactions.
2) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
The first thing that most of the articles or videos talked about was what successive approximation is and it is shaping technique where behaviors similar to the target behavior are reinforced and then changing criteria until target behavior is the only one being reinforced. Many of these websites gave credit for this idea to P.F. Skinner. In the webpage with videos and articles about successive approximation in math or Newton’s Method they discuss how “close is good enough”. Although this is not exactly like successive approximation in behavior modification, I thought it was ironic that when we initially shaping behaviors through successive approximation we do reward behaviors that are similar to the target behavior; in other words “close is good enough” for the beginning stages. There were also many hits on google about successive approximation in analog to digital conversion. (I know nothing about this nor did I research it but thought it should be noted because of the high number of google hits.)
Successive Approximation can be used to train animals. An example that was used often is that of training a dog to bring its owner their slipper. You would start of the training by reinforcing the dog when it looks at the slipper. Then you would reinforce when the dog picks up the slipper but you stop reinforcing when the dog only looks at the slipper. Once the dog understands they are being reinforced for picking up the slipper the owner should only reinforce the dog when it brings the slipper to its owner. At any point when extinction happens, a behavior that was previously reinforced is no longer reinforced, an extinction burst might happen. Hopefully is the training is being done correctly the extinction burst will result in the next step toward the target behavior. All of the information on pet training states that there needs to be a basic understanding of commands before more complex behaviors can be learned but I believe you would be able to use this basic idea to teach them basic commands.
The last thing I wanted to discuss was how the articles talked about this being used in an attempt to get children to reach a target behavior. Some of the examples given throughout the articles may be accomplished within a much shorter time frame than other examples. One example was teaching a child how to ask for something. At first the child might be reinforced when they cry but after we know the child knows how to point or make a sound about what they want we stop reinforcing cry and start reinforcing gestures or sounds. The next step might be to teach the children sign language and only reinforce them when they use their sign language skills. The last step would be to only reinforce a child when they verbally ask for something. A different example may be inside the classroom where a student never does his homework. You might start by reinforcing the child when they remember to bring the assignment back to school. Then you might only reinforce them if he/she puts their name on the paper. After this you might only start reinforcing the child when they do some of the problems. Lastly you would only reinforce the child when they hand in their assignment fully done.
Overall I would say that a good way to describe successive approximation is that close is good enough but only for a little while and then closer is better. Being closer is great but only for a certain amount of time and then emitting the target behavior is success!
3) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://www.onlinemathlearning.com/successive-approximation-newton-hsa-rei11.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKdSTp62vW0
https://blog.udemy.com/successive-approximation/
http://www.behavioradvisor.com/Shaping.html
Terms: successive approximation, behavior modification, shaping, behavior, target behavior, reinforced, P.F. Skinner, extinction, extinction burst, emitting

I am interesting in discussing more about discrimination training. Discrimination training uses differential reinforcement. Some responses are reinforced while others aren't. It is used primarily in classical conditioning where you differentiate between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that have not been paired with an unconditioned stimulus.
I am going to focus on how Skinner used discrimination training in what is called the Skinner Box, how discrimination training can be used in drug dogs, and how discrimination training can be used to study young babies.
The Skinner box is a chamber that contains a bar or key that an animals can press or manipulate in order to obtain food or water as a type of reinforcement. It also had a device that recorded each response provided by the animals as well as the unique schedule of reinforcement that the animal was assigned. The purpose of the Skinner box was so researchers could study behavior in a very controlled environment; they could utilize the box to determine which schedule of reinforcement led to the highest rate of response in the study subjects.
Through discrimination, dogs learn to differentiate between stimuli that signal reward and nonreward. In drug dogs, discrimination training is used to teach to recognize contraband such as drugs and explosives at airports and border crossings. During training, they are reinforced only for approaching containers baited with drugs or explosives. A big thing in training drug dogs is rewards. When a dog smells a narcotic, it is put in the sitting position and given a reward making the behavior to sit down after smelling the narcotic more likely to happen. The only problem is that the dog doesn't understand that sitting to a narcotic door is what results in the presentation of food, and it will probably sit to the doors of many different objects. If the handler does not present the dog with food when it sits to other doors, the dog will learn to discriminate between doors that are followed by food with it sits and doors which are not followed by food.
Since discrimination training is the opposite of generalization, it can be difficult for a baby to realize that being scratched by a cat may not mean that a dog would scratch them. We can distinguish that, but babies may generalize this and think all animals around that size may scratch them. A study done to learn about babies' learning capacities was done by Hanus Papousek where he used a bell as the conditioned response and by using reinforcement of milk when the infant turned to the left. The use of a buzzer was introduced so that when an infant turned to the right side, reinforcement was administered, which was milk, again. The point was to detect the infant's ability to discriminate between two different signals, bell and buzzer, and to learn the contingency on which reinforcer was delivered. As Papousek explained, "The infant is now trained to turn his head to the left to the bell and to the right to the buzzer."

URL's:
-http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/a/introopcond.htm
-http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/749302.pdf
-https://books.google.com/books?id=2cN5AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA211&lpg=PA211&dq=discrimination+training+psychology+with+babies&source=bl&ots=6Iis2VGaRI&sig=oVbWiPveCHgPQ6Ik3g4KWl27X-I&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDwQ6AEwBGoVChMIjZH75MXSyAIVRHI-Ch0O5Afn#v=onepage&q=discrimination%20training&f=false

Terms: discrimination training, Skinner, generalization, rewards, reinforcement, discriminate, Skinner Box

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
The topic that I want to focus on for this section is successive approximation. I think that this was a very interesting subject because it explains how we eventually accomplish a certain task through reinforcement. This fits into the section that we are reading because Skinner used this to get his rats to perform the desired behaviors. With shaping we use it to actually shape the desired behavior and in shaping we use the technique successive approximation. Successive approximation is when someone or something does something close to the behavior it gets reinforced. Hopefully with reinforcing the small behaviors that we desire than they will eventually reach a point where their behavior is shaped.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
The first aspect of successive approximation that I would like to discuss is how Skinner used it; he was the first to use it in his experiments with animals. The second aspect that I want to discuss is animal training, since this is how Skinner started out I think that it would be interesting to learn if other people can use this with their animals. The last aspect that I want to discuss is using this with other people, I was thinking how much do we actually do this in real life situations and do we do this unknowingly.
2) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
Skinner started using this technique when he was trying to shape the rat into pressing the lever in his operant chamber. Obviously a rat is not going to know how to just press a lever in his operant chamber so he came up with the process of shaping the animal into knowing how to be reinforced with food which is from pressing the lever in his cage. When the rat emits a behavior that is close to pressing the lever (the desired behavior) than he will get reinforced. Skinner started reinforcing the rat with food pellets when the rat even looked at the lever. However, the rat does get conditioned from hearing the sound that the computer makes when it dispenses the food knowing that food will soon be in its cage. As the experiment/shaping goes on the rat will only be reinforced when it gets close to the lever and then after a while it is only reinforced for touching the lever. He then only reinforced the rat every time it touched the lever. This is how he used successive approximation; the reinforcement eventually reaches the desired behavior after smaller increments of behaviors and reinforcements. One of my sources explained successive approximation in dog training in the example of teaching a puppy to fetch which helped me understand this concept even better. They said that the first step would be to reinforce a puppy when it looked at or turned at the ball when it was thrown, so they would be rewarded with a treat. After the puppy did this a few times then the owner would eventually reinforce the puppy for making any movements towards the ball when it was thrown so the puppy would be reinforced with a treat. They then said the owner then should reinforce the puppy for any interactions with the ball that it makes. Then the puppy will eventually put the ball in its mouth and be reinforced for that step. Eventually the puppy will then be reinforced for returning the ball and so on. I think it is important to note that when each step is learned and reinforced then the reinforcement stops when they want another desired behavior to occur. From the video I remember when I volunteered at the Animal Rescue League and we used clickers to reinforce the dogs to not run out of the kennels when we entered and we then would reinforce them with treats after we clicked. Connecting this to successive approximation once the dogs first come into the ARL they are new to the concept of not rushing out of their cages so we slowly shaped their behaviors to not run right when someone opens their kennel doors. We would reinforce them when they would remain calm when someone walked by their cage, then reinforce them when someone would approach their kennel and stop and they would not jump on the door, then when they would sit their when we opened the doors. The ARL is a firm believer in using the clickers then reinforce with a treat so they hear the click and they know what to do. My roommate is a speech pathology graduate student here at UNI and she was describing a type of therapy that she does with her clients. I was searching on the internet for this type of therapy and they do a type of successive approximation where they will reward children for saying words that are close to the desired word. They eventually build up to the word that they are looking for through reinforcement every time they get closer to that specific word. I think that we can also use successive approximation in everyday life without other people knowing sometimes. If you want your roommate to clean more every time they accomplish little desired behaviors such as putting their plate in the sink reinforce them with positive feedback. They are just going to think that you are being nice but in turn they are getting satisfaction from the verbal reinforcement and every time they do something with cleaning it could eventually lead o bigger and better things like vacuuming or taking out the trash, if you reinforce the small things.
3) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
https://blog.udemy.com/successive-approximation/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKdSTp62vW0
http://www.apraxia-kids.org/library/the-successive-approximation-method-of-therapy-for-children-with-apraxia-of-speech/
Terminology: Successive approximation, reinforcement, Skinner, behaviors, shaping, operant chamber, emits, conditioned

1) For this weeks topical blog, I would like to talk about Skinner's method of successive approximation. It fits into our reading for this week because of it's introduction by Skinner and his use of this method when conducting experiments with animals, such as when he uses successive approximation to elicit the rats to emit desirable behaviors. I find this concept very interesting because it can be applied into our own lives, most of the time without us even realizing what it is.

2) I would first like to elaborate on what exactly successive approximation is. I would also like to discuss how it can be applied in animal training and also in human settings, such as in a classroom.
3) Successive approximation is defined as a shaping method, used a great deal in behavior modification. When using this method, an individuals behaviors are gradually trained to perform a desired behavioral response. They are usually being reinforced for a few specified responses that are close to the desired response. This process causes the individual to act closer and closer to the desired behavior until it is achieved fully. The individual usually continues the successive steps toward the main behavioral goal because of the reinforcements given, increasing the likelihood of the desirable behavior to occur.
This method can be used in animal training very easily. It can be used on pretty much any animal. To be honest, it is possible to teach a cat to play fetch if really desired. By starting with a small ball, if the animal turns toward it or looks at it after it has been thrown, you can then reinforce it by giving it a treat. After emitting this behavior more and more, the animal starts to learn the correlation between the ball and the treat. If the animal starts moving towards the ball, reinforcement should be applied as well. If the animal interacts with the ball in someway, either by touching or just simply smelling, reinforcement is required. After the animal finally picks up the ball, it is reinforced. And finally, the animal learns through reinforcement that they should carry it back to the owner. After each step is learned, the owner should stop reinforcing the previous steps. This helps to ensure that the animal knows exactly what is desired by the owner, learning new connections for what is desired.
It is not particularly desired to teach a child something of this nature, but successive approximation can be used in the classroom as well. It can be applied to situations such as a lack of participation or lack of motivation and willingness to do homework. By telling a child the first step needed to be accomplished in order to receive a reward, you are setting up the substeps to the end desirable behavior. When talking about class participation, you make it clear that if someone looks at the board and then at you, they will be rewarded (reinforced) by being given a piece of candy. After more students start to exhibit this behavior, you tell them that they need to start nodding or shaking their heads, giving some acknowledgement to whether they understand the question or not or if they understand the concept or not. Again they are rewarded with a piece of candy, and again you raise the amount of participation, staying that there needs to be some sort of verbalization when talking about the subject or question asked. This process will continue until the students achieve the end goal of class participation without a reinforcer. This is just one example of how successive approximation can be used in the classroom.

4) http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Successive%20Approximations
https://blog.udemy.com/successive-approximation/
http://www.behavioradvisor.com/Shaping.html

Terms: Skinner, successive approximation, elicit, emit, desirable behavior, shaping method, desired behavioral response, reinforced, reinforcement

1) The topic I decided to research for this week was discrimination training. B.F. Skinner used discrimination training with his schedules of reinforcement with the rats. The section talked about how the discrimination training was used in Skinner’s study but I want to find out more about it and if there were different types of training.

2) During my research on this topic, I came across the different types of discrimination training. I am going to talk about visual discrimination training, the difference between successive discrimination training, and simultaneous discrimination training, and how it goes along with psychology.

3) While researching about discrimination training I came upon many different forms of discrimination training. The first one, visual discrimination training, has to do with being able to distinguish between shapes, orientation, size, color, etc. Every human has been visually trained during school in every subject in school with math, reading, english, etc. With visual discrimination, along with telling the difference between things we can also find the relationship and connection between two different stimuli. This type of training can be associated with Mary Calkin’s paired-associate learning theory because of those reasons. An example of visual discrimination training would be when a person is trying to talk and they replace certain words with wrong ones that are similar to the word they were trying to say.

Successive discrimination has to do with getting a reinforcement for a certain response if the stimuli is present. An example of this would be asking parents for money and then either receiving it or not receiving it based on the number of people around. That is different than simultaneous discrimination because simultaneous is at the same time. Simultaneous discrimination is used in conditioning and is what individuals use to tell the difference between two different stimuli. Successive training has to deal with getting to a conclusion slowly but surely , where simultaneous training is where the conclusion is met very quickly because of the circumstances.

Discriminative training goes along with psychology because it relates to the different schedules of reinforcement and is a major factor when trying to modify different behaviors. This training was used in the operant chamber by Pavlov to get the rats on a certain schedule by flashing a light. After the rat knows what the flashing light signs then it is used to the schedule, then they revert to continuous reinforcement so that the rat gets the hang of things and is trained and conditioned to that stimuli of the light. The rat is then given differential reinforcement with different conditions so the rat knows what they are getting reinforced for. The idea of discriminative training is important because that is what signals the idea of behavior conditioning. Without that training the rat has no idea what the light signals because they would not be able to distinguish the difference.

4) http://courses.unt.edu/behv/5170/files/conditional_discrimination.htm - I chose this URL because it gives information about the difference between successive discrimination training and simultaneous discrimination training is.
http://www.schoolsparks.com/early-childhood-development/visual-discrimination - I chose this URL because it gave me a lot of information about what visual discrimination was. It was kind of difficult to find information about it so this website was very helpful.
http://www.pigeon.psy.tufts.edu/avc/young/successive.html - I chose this URL because it gave me more information about sucessive and simultaneous discrimination training. It was really hard finding information about those two types of discrimination training and it helped me understand it more.

Terms: Discrimination training, B.F. Skinner, schedules of reinforcement, behavior modification, Mary Calkins, paired-associate learning, reinforcement, stimuli, operant chamber, Pavlov, continuous reinforcement

1) The topic that I chose to research and look more into is Skinner’s approach to operant conditioning called shaping. I decided to go with this topic because I briefly learned about the term in my high school psychology class but we didn’t go into much detail about it. The chapter that we read this week talked about shaping and how Skinner used this technique on rats in his Skinner box and rewarded rats with food when they did something that related to a lever. He ultimately taught them how to press down the lever in order for them to get food. I wanted to know more about how the process of shaping works and the complexity of it all.

2) The three aspects I am going to talk about for this topic are what shaping is and how it works, how successive approximation works especially for complex behaviors, and examples of shaping, more specifically using shaping to train your dog. These elements are important to look into because it helps show why shaping is an effective way to perform operant conditioning, how it can work on complicated behaviors, and how to use it in everyday life.

3) As discussed earlier, in his operant conditioning experiments, Skinner would used an approach called shaping. Instead of rewarding only the target, or desired behavior, the process of shaping involves the reinforcement of successive approximations of the target behavior. The method requires that the subject perform behaviors that at first merely resemble the target behavior; through reinforcement, these behaviors are gradually changed, or shaped, to encourage the performance of the final target behavior itself. So as the subject moves through each behavioral trial, rewards for old, less approximate behaviors are discontinued in order to encourage progress toward the desired behavior. Shaping is useful because it is often unlikely that an individual or animal will display anything but the simplest of behaviors spontaneously. So this way, will lead the subject towards any type of behavior without confusion, or without waiting for them to do it on their own.
Shaping is a form of operant conditioning that uses successive approximation to help lead and modify the subjects behaviors towards the ultimate goal. These little steps towards the final desired behavior are what makes shaping one of the best ways when trying to reach a complicated or difficult target behavior. Successive approximation helps what could be a huge change in behavior or behavior desire outside of the norm become a more accessible behavior by building up to it. Few people succeed by going cold turkey and animals are highly unlikely to perform complex tasks on their own. Rather than looking at the final outcome as a major hurdle or difficulty, we see that breaking down the final desired behavior into smaller steps can increase the likelihood that the behavior will change.
Shaping is also a useful technique in human learning. For example, if a father wants his daughter to learn to clean her room, he can use shaping to help her master steps toward the goal. First, she cleans up one toy and is rewarded. The next steps may be that she cleans up five toys; then chooses whether to pick up ten toys or put her books and clothes away; then cleans up everything except a couple toys; and finally picks up and cleans her entire room. Through a series of rewards and small tasks that slowly get bigger, the daughter finally learns to clean her room like the father wanted.
One of the most common examples on the internet of shaping is the training of a dog to do a specific task such as learning verbal commands, becoming house-trained, or even fun things like fetching your shoes or picking up their toys. But one of the best videos that I saw was one of a dog being taught just the simple task of ringing a bell through successive approximation. The video clearly shows the steps that the owner takes when getting the dog to ring the bell. It starts out with the dog unsure of what he is doing, but when the pup acknowledges or basically looks at the bell on the floor, a clicker goes off, and he is given a treat. This continues for a while, until soon he is putting his nose down next to the bell which he receives treats for. Now placing his nose near the bell or even so much that he slides it across the floor a bit is what gets him a treat. When the dog just sits there and stares at the bell, he is not rewarded with a treat, so he goes back to interacting with the bell. He begins to hit it with his paw, which gets him some treats. After being rewarded for this behavior over and over again, his paw hits the bell ringing it, which the owner then showers the dog with treats because he has reached the final goal. It takes a few more tries but finally the dog learns that ringing the bell is the behavior he needs to emit in order to get treats. This was a really good example that shows exactly how the process of shaping works.

4) Links:
https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/learning-7/operant-conditioning-47/shaping-198-12733/
This link helped me understand more about shaping as operant conditioning, and what the process actually looks like
https://blog.udemy.com/successive-approximation/
This link helped me understand more about successive approximation and how the small steps are useful for complex behaviors
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0awwdWsDDug
This link gave me a great example of shaping being played out with a dog being taught how to ring a bell

Terms: Skinner, operant conditioning, shaping, Skinner Box, reward, reinforcement, behavior, target behavior, desired behavior, successive approximation, emit

1). I am going to talk about skinners inventions for my topical blog this week. This relates into this weeks reading because we talked about skinner and his work in this section. Skinners work is very interesting but I think his inventions make up a large part of his research. I think his inventions are very interesting and they weren’t discussed as much in the reading. I would like to learn more about these main inventions by skinner.

2). The three topics that I am going to talk about in this blog are the Skinner Box, Skinner Air Crib, and the cumulative recorder.

3). The Skinner Air Crib was invented in 1944 when skinner was having his second child. The air crib is a climate-controlled environment to make the newborns experience better and easier on the parents. Back then keeping a child warm but not to warm was the biggest priority and the air crib was supposed to help with that. The air crib consisted of metal walls, a ceiling, a safety glass pane where you would slide it to let the baby in and out, and a canvas base that was the bed with sheets. There was a control box that the parents used to control the temperature and the humidity inside the crib. The cribs were commercially made after Skinner tested it using his own child. It was believed then that this crib was superior to the alternative cribs. The crib was thought to be an experiment and no commercial company would get behind the movement because of the potential risk of bad publicity. There were some strong positives related to the crib the air crib never really took off because of the speculations between using it as an experiment and people associated it with the Skinner box. The Skinner box is chamber in which there is a key that the animal within can manipulate to produce reinforcement such as food or water. The size of the boxes can range depending on the size of the animal being used for the research. The purpose of the box is to let the researcher observe and study animal behaviors in controlled environments. Skinner developed this box while he was researching operant behavior and reinforcement schedules. He also used this to test positive reinforcement. He also created the cumulative recorder while he was researching schedules of reinforcement. The cumulative recorder is designed to examine the how rate of responding varies over time with different schedules of reinforcement. This recorder created automatically a type of graph that he named the cumulative record. How it works is every time there is a response the pen movies vertical one small notch while the pen moves slowly across the paper horizontally. All the vertical movements of the pen symbolize all the responses; the horizontal lines on represent the time between each response. The pen movement and the movement of the paper under the pen at the same time causes a line that directly indicates the rate of response. Steeper slopes indicate the higher rate shallower slopes indicate lower rates.

4). Skinner, Skinner box, operant chamber, cumulative recorder, Skinner Air Crib, reinforcement schedules, positive reinforcement cumulative record.

http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2010/september-10/skinner-air-crib.html

This link really helped me learn about the skinner air bed and it was very easy to understand and I learned a lot about the skinner air crib that I didn’t know before I read about it on this website.

http://psychology.about.com/od/sindex/g/def_skinnerbox.htm

This link really helped me find out about skinner box I didn’t know much about it and it did a really good job explaining things and it really helped me expand my knowledge.

http://users.ipfw.edu/abbott/120/Schedules.html

This link really helped me learn about the cumulative recorder and it did a great job explaining it with out being to complex.

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
The topic that I am deciding to write about is successive approximation used not only among animals but also humans. This is interesting to me because from reading in the book I think it makes the concept seem easier than it may actually be. I want to research and see if it actually is this easy or if there is more to it. I would like to find this out to see if I can use it in the future when I am working in juvenile detention centers with adolescents that have behavioral issues. If successive approximation works like the book and Skinner states, then I should definitely want to use it in the future in my field of study.

2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
I would like to see how long, generally, successive approximation takes to reach the final goal and for the human or animal to do the behavior you are desiring. I also want to see if an extinction burst will happen when the animal or human is not rewarded and see if they just keep repeating the same step or behavior over and over again until they get reinforced. Finally I want to look and see if successive behavior can not only make someone learn a new behavior, but make them change an already learned behavior. I would think that since successive approximation is using reinforcers that we would be able to change a behavior based just on this concept. I hope to find examples of things that successive approximation work in the best and quickest way.

2) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
The first website I looked at acknowledged my first question which was a general example of how long successive approximation takes. When reading the ABC's blog I thought that it made it seem like a very simple process that did not take very long. However, while looking into other articles I saw that this process happens over days and weeks. It also depends on who you are using successive approximation on though as well. Animals may take longer than humans because they do not actually understand what we are saying without learning the recognition of words with behaviors first. Most of the animals talked about throughout the articles were dogs and referring to them learning tricks. I could not find a really clear answer about if the child or animal would go through extinction burst and not go forward with steps to reach the overall behavior wanted. However, if the child or animal just keeps repeating the same step over and over without being reinforced they will eventually stop doing the behavior if the owner or parent doesn't give in and give them a reinforcer. I also wonder if you do not start reinforcing them after or during the extinction burst, if they will just give up and you will have to start all over with successive approximation? Although I did not find the answer I was looking for for that question, I did find information on successive approximation changing unwanted behaviors. I found that not many people can change their behavior by just going "cold turkey" and stopping what they are doing without taking it step by step. Successive approximation is a way that people with bad eating habits can take it step by step. One example in the article was saying that childhood obesity is fought with successive approximation and that they use that on the children to try and get them into healthy eating habits along with healthy exercising habits. The changing an unwanted or bad behavior may not be the quickest because there will often times be set backs. This is also used on drug addicts and they are reinforced for going one day without using. They will be rewarded with this for maybe a few days to a week, then they will no longer be reinforced for just one day, it may go up to two or three days. This is an example of there obviously being set backs because drugs are much more addictive than other bad habits.
So the majority of my questions were answered however I still do not have a clear answer on whether or not extinction bursts will ruin the successive approximation that was trying to be reached.

3) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
https://blog.udemy.com/successive-approximation/
https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/learning-7/operant-conditioning-47/shaping-198-12733/
http://gettingstronger.org/psychology

1) The topic I am going to talk about this week is B.F. Skinner's "air bed", or "air crib". This topic fits into the section we read this week because section 3.5 was about Skinner, and the work that he contributed to Psychology. One of the things he created was the air crib. I was interested in learning more about this because I had never heard about it before, and there was not very much information about it in the reading. I think it is a really cool idea, and I was surprised something like this had not caught on so I decided to do more research on it.
2) a. The three aspects I am going to cover for this topic are: what exactly is an air crib/why did B.F. Skinner invent the air crib, why did the air crib not catch on, and what kind of affects did it have on his daughter Deborah.
2) b. In the year 1945 B.F. Skinner invented the air crib. The air crib was intended for parents to use in replacement of a regular crib, and the child could sleep in it until around the ages of two to three years. The air crib was supposed to help parents take care of their children more easily by the means of less labor, saving time, and saving money. The air crib also would have benefited the child because it helped keep them healthy, learn new behaviors, and help keep them comfortable. The air crib was essentially a big box the baby could be kept in. It had three walls, the air crib also had a ceiling, and then the front part was made of safety glass. This way the baby could still see what was going on around it, and the parents could see what the baby was doing. The air crib was built higher up than regular cribs, so the parents had less strain on them when they bent down to pick up their child. The air crib had heat and humidity controls on the side, filtered air, and a "mattress" (more like a canvas) that could be easily taken off if the baby dirtied it. Many parents have problems keeping their babies at a comfortable temperature, and the air crib solved that. You could keep your child at a comfortable temperature, and if they emitted a crying behavior it was shown that the parent's response, changing the temperature, would calm the child down. Because the child's temperature could be regulated this way there was no need to constantly be putting more clothes on the baby, or wrapping it up in more blankets; the baby could be inside of the air crib with just a diaper on. This was very beneficial for multiples reasons: 1. This meant less labor for the parents by not having to keep putting things on the baby if they were cold/taking things off the baby because they can overheat easily, 2. this meant that the parents had to do less laundry, thus saving time and money 3. without the restriction of clothes and blankets the baby could have more exercise which helped keep it healthy.
While there were about three hundred children that were raised in air cribs, the idea of the air crib did not catch on. There was really not a positive light on the idea of the air crib in the public. Many people thought Skinner was using the air crib for his daughter as some kind of experiment. This is most likely due to the fact that Skinner was not a huge people person, and many of the things he said about the air crib sounded very scientific. Many parents of the time thought Skinner was trying to replace parental love with science, and therefor many companies did not want to sell them because it had a negative connotation. Also, when people first read about Skinner's new invention his article was titled "Baby in a Box". This really made everyone believe Skinner thought of it as one of his operant chambers, and that he was using reinforcement and punishment on his child. However, his daughter Deborah spoke out after being outraged from all of the bad things said about her father, and she made it very clear that her dad loved her. She said that it was not true that her dad tried to shape her life, and take away her free will. Her father cared for her, and she lived a very happy and healthy life. She discredits the rumors that said she was psychotic after her dad let her out of the air crib, that she sued him when she had grown up, and obviously she had not committed suicide. There were no experiments taking place inside of the air crib where she was punished, or rewarded; she even states that her parents said she never fussed when they put her back in the air crib. The air crib had no negative effects on Deborah.
http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2010/september-10/skinner-air-crib.html
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2004/mar/12/highereducation.uk
http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1946-00606-001
Terms: Air Bed/Air Crib, Skinner, behaviors, emitted, response, experiment, operant chamber, reinforcement, punishment, free will, punished, rewarded

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
For this week’s topical blog I chose to look more into the shaping technique of successive approximation. This topic was in this week’s reading section and I think that it is very relevant to the class and it can be very useful to people’s everyday lives. More specifically I want to focus on successive approximation therapy for kids with apraxia of speech.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
The aspects that I would like to discuss are the definitions of successive approximation and apraxia of speech, how can successive approximation be used to help individuals who suffer from apraxia of speech and whether or not it is an effective strategy.
2) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
To start us off, successive approximation is a shaping technique used to shape the desired behavior, when a behavior is emitted that is similar to the desired behavior it gets rewarded. Suffering from childhood apraxia of speech is not very common, and it doesn’t always mean that the child has a learning disorder, it just means that the child has difficulty with their brain communicating to their jaw and tongue how to make accurate movements in order to be able to speak correctly.
Successive approximation uses operant conditioning to teach the children how to correctly pronunciate the words in order to make them more verbal. They start by breaking down the words into smaller parts of consonants and vowels. Using reinforcement when the children say the part correctly and eventually teaching them the whole word. The best place to start is with a word that the child hears often and that they like. The tricky part would be trying to find the best way to section the word off to teach the child the easiest. It is also very helpful to use the object that you’re trying to teach the child, this way they have a visual and a verbal idea. Especially when combined with sign language it can be extremely helpful to children along the autism spectrum. The sign language and the verbal pronunciation of the word are paired together to teach the child what the word means. At first the child will feel more comfortable with the sign, but at least their communicating which is the main goal. Eventually the child will attempt the word while making the sign and will be rewarded for that as well. This can help the child learn faster and be more confident, since they’re learning to do part of the word they’re still being reinforced.
I think that successive approximation therapy is a very good technique to teach children, whether on the autism spectrum or not, how to vocalize their wants and needs. Research has shown it to be effective as well.

3) Terms: shaping, successive approximation, emit, reward, operant conditioning, reinforcement.

http://www.apraxia-kids.org/library/the-successive-approximation-method-of-therapy-for-children-with-apraxia-of-speech/
http://www.apraxia-kids.org/library/shaping-verbal-language-for-children-on-the-spectrum-of-autism-who-also-exhibit-apraxia-of-speech/
https://www.kintera.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=chKMI0PIIsE&b=699375&ct=3587661¬oc=1

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
For this week I decided to look further into shaping. Shaping was one of the big things that interested me during the chapter so I thought it necessary to look at it during this topical blog.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
I am going to look further into what shaping is, how it occurs, and why people use shaping to help with behaviors. I want to also discuss the difference in these issues because I think that this will help to further understand what exactly this is.
3) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
B.F. Skinner looked at shaping, a type of operant conditioning as a way to train through successive approximation towards a target behavior to be reinforced introduced shaping. One of the first things that I read about was an example of about how successive approximation can be used in a rat. Some of the things that would be reinforced were stepping towards the lever, depressing the lever, touching the lever, and going the direction of the lever. By reinforcing these instances, the rats’ behavior was about to be modified and shaped into pressing the lever in order to get a treat to fall. I found this to be very interesting, especially because they were able to shape an animal, something that clearly doesn’t talk or able to communicate with us. One thing that I did not previously take into account during the readings was why shaping occurs. When searching this I realized that it occurs when the behavior the researcher is trying to reach seems a little hard for the human or animal. By adding in shaping, they are able to slowly reinforce the organisms to respond to the ultimate behavior they are trying to reach. During my research, I also came across the reasoning’s behind the term successive approximations. Basically, the term broken down means the approximating of something, or getting close to it (a target behavior often times) and successive is to take steps. So basically what they mean in this is they are trying to take steps to ultimately reach the desired behavior or goal, and as we have previously talked about in this class, reinforcement is often a faster way to reach a desired behavior or goal. During research, it was also made clear that researchers do not use this as a method to manage appropriate behavior. This is something that kind of surprised me. I was confused as to how shaping didn’t help to provide a guide to better behavior. This is something that I would research further into because I am not sure that I completely agree with that statement. Overall, I thought that shaping within its self was quite interesting. I think that it is a good technique to help you receive the desired behavior in another person. I feel it would be hard to use it on yourself, unless you would consider providing baby steps towards an ultimate goal. But I am not sure if this would then be considered an alternate definition.

3) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaping_(psychology)
http://www.intropsych.com/ch05_conditioning/more_about_shaping.html
http://www.behavioradvisor.com/Shaping.html

Words used: B.F. Skinner, successive approximation, target behavior, reinforced, shaping, behavior, and operant conditioning.

I decided to do my research on Skinner’s air crib because it was the thing I found most interesting in this week’s reading assignment so I would love to read more about it. It fits because the section talked about Skinner and the most important concepts related to him like social engineering or successive approximation. In order to have a good perspective of Skinner work I will talk about his most famous experiment in the first place, and then I’ll talk about the history behind the air crib and the consequences on his daughter.
Skinner was the first one to deeply study behavior modification; his experiments were based on operant conditioning. This form of conditioning consists on a behavior being followed by a consequence that will modify the tendency of the repetition of this mentioned behavior. If the consequence works as a reinforcer then there are more chances of that behavior to be emitted again, on the other hand if the consequence works as a punisher there are less chances of that behavior emitted again in the future. Skinner, like many other psychologists, had to create their own labs in order to study behaviors, most of the times in animals, so his invent was the “Skinner box”. It is a special cage with a pedal that the rat has to press to get food. As we can see with this, the behavior occurs before the reinforcer. He was also the one who came up with the idea of shaping, or “successive approximation”. It consists on reinforcing a behavior every time it gets closer to the desired behavior. He also studied the schedules of reinforcement that we have seen in previous sections.
During 1944 Skinner and his wife were expecting their second child and he started thinking how he could make the task of raising a child easier for them, and every other family. This was such a kind thought and he ended up building the air crib. What this crib does is let the child develop in a comfortable climate because you can set up the temperature. The air crib is an oversized metal crib with a ceiling and solid walls, but one of the walls is a safety-glass so you can see what the baby is doing. There is also a control box when the parents set up the temperature and the humidity. He came up with this idea because he lived in a cold-weather place and sometimes it is hard to adapt a normal crib for a child because they need so many layers of clothes and blankets that don’t let them move freely. Deborah, his second daughter slept on this crib her first two years of her life. She never had any social problems, or health problems. He made a research about it with his own daughter and he observed how dropping the temperature a couple of degrees would prevent the baby from crying. This shows the importance of a stable and correct environment. The crib was actually put for sale and around 300 people bought it. People were confused about using science instead of a normal crib and the physical contact even in the crib.
Since Deborah was the first child to use it she’s been asked a lot about how she felt about it and she had any troubles after it. At the time she was using it there was all kind of rumors going on like she was unloved and dead in the crib. Now she says she doesn’t really remember her first years so life, she was a healthy baby that only cried when hurt or injured. Skinner’s idea was great and against what everybody thought he only found good things about it, not only for the children but also for the parents. Even though his air crib didn’t make the market there is still some of them out them. One of them is in the gallery at the Center for the History of Psychology in Akron, Ohio. The fact that Skinner’s daughter turned out just fine proves that there is nothing wrong with the crib, and his first daughter actually used it with her children. But Skinner was best known for his box for rats to study their behavior so people made comparisons and didn’t want to feel like they were putting their babies in a locked up cage like animals.
Skinner, air crib, social engineering, successive approximation, shaping, behavior modification, operant conditioning, consequence, reinforcer, punisher, Skinner box.
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/skinner.html
http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2010/september-10/skinner-air-crib.html
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2004/mar/12/highereducation.uk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRNf1RseGXQ

1)For this week I have decided to talk about shaping, how does it occurs through successive approximation and how this is done through intermittent reinforcement. I feel like even though these are three different terms all of them are connected in the process of shaping a behavior in order to get the desired behavior to be adopted and therefore emitted by the subject. This was what one of the Skinner’s experiments of the reading of this week was about and I feel that it is something to learn more about since this is used by humans when wanted a particular behavior to be emitted.

2)For this assignment I am going to talk about shaping, about how it is possible to shape a behavior through successive approximation and how intermittent reinforcement is used in order to be successful and shape a behavior.
For shaping I found a website that talked about shaping, how it works and its applications. Shaping was defined by the website as a process that involves reinforcement of successive approximations in order to increase the likelihood of a target behavior to take place. Shaping was found really useful because since in people’s nature the most spontaneous response is the one that takes place we can make a target behavior become part of the person’s nature. The website also talked about the steps that are followed in order to shape a target behavior. These steps were first the subject is rewarded by any response given; second, the subject starts to be reinforce when it goes a little bit nearer to the goal; third, the subject is reinforce for the nearest response to the target behavior; finally, the subject is only reinforce when the target behavior is emitted. Applications of shaping mentioned by the website involved especially in training and teaching processes. In first place was used for rats in Skinner’s experiment. It is commonly used when training dogs and it can also be used with human especially young kids in the middle of their learning process period of time. The reading of this week talked about shaping defining it as a technique that it is used in order to shape a desired behavior leading to an increase of its frequency.

For successive approximation I found a blog that talked about getting to know successive approximation, successive approximation and complex behavior changes, and successive approximation in training dogs. Successive approximation is sometimes call shaping. This term refers to a progressive increase or decrease of a target behavior. This is the best way to be successful in shaping a target behavior. Successive approximation consist of rewarding the subject for every improvement that is made until the subject it is just rewarded when the desired behavior takes place. It does not really matter what type of behavior we are trying to change the process of successive approximation works in the same way regardless human or animal subjects. The reading talked about successive approximation when shaping a behavior. For the experiment of the rat showed in the reading, successive approximation was shown by rewarding the rat for any type of improvement at the beginning. The reward started to be restricted to just when the behavior was near to the desired behavior. Finally, the rat was only rewarding when the rat emitted the desired behavior.

Finally, for intermittent reinforcement I found a video that even though I really liked because it perfectly reflected and explained how intermittent behavior affects the frequency of a behavior leading to a decrease or increase of the behavior that it is being displayed. To explain this concept the lady of the video used her pet which was a pig to show the effect that intermittent reinforcement has on a behavior. To show it she talked about how when she was going to eat and food would drop on the ground the pig would be there to eat it becoming an obstacle for her because if she would try to move or anything she would trip with the pig and she wanted that behavior to disappear. She would make the pig stay in a corner of the kitchen and in order to get that every time the pig would get near to the desired behavior she would reward the pig. After a while the lady would just reward the pig when the target behavior was met so the pig would make the connection between the corner and reward leading the pig to just stay in the corner whenever the lady was eating. The reading of this week talked about this term and it applied to the experiment of the rat. The experiment used that type of reinforcement in order to shape the target behavior, increasing its frequency.

3)https://www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/learning-7/operant-conditioning-47/shaping-198-12733/

https://blog.udemy.com/successive-approximation/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r_zEA_8W0I

Terms and terminology used: shaping, intermittent reinforcement, desired behavior, target behavior, successive approximation, reinforcement, target behavior, emitted, display, behavior, increase, decrease.

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
- For the topic of this topical post I decided to look more into Skinners career and his accomplishments in research, as well as his inventions. This topic fits in with what we read for this chapter because Skinner was the main focus for this section of chapter 3. I decided to research and write about Skinner because I found his experiment with the operant chamber to be very interesting and wanted to learn more about his work.

2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
- For this topical post I would like to discuss his work with the operant chamber, I really enjoyed this part of the reading and would like to try to learn more about it. The next thing I would like to talk about would be Skinners Air bed. This was just briefly mentioned in the reading so I would like to learn more about it. The last area I would like to touch on is Skinners background and history growing up.

3) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
- The operant chamber also known as skinner box was invented by B.F Skinner while he was studying at Harvard University. Skinner created it as a variation of the puzzle pox (by Thordike) during his graduate studies. As we read in class the purpose of the skinner box was to study behavior conditioning or in other words training. This box was used mainly to study operant conditioning but could also be used to study classical conditioning. The box worked by placing an animal in the box in this case a rat, which would then be reinforced when it elicited the target behavior of touching the lever. His research with the operant chamber lead to great gain in understanding scheduled reinforcement. Along with this operant chambers have become a popular tool in behaviorist research.
The next topic I would like to discus is skinners air bed. Like I mentioned earlier I decided to research this because it was mentioned in the reading, however in the reading it was very brief and didn’t really explain what it was. Skinner invented the Air crib because his wife and him were expecting their second child.
The idea behind the crib was that he could create something that would improve and simplify the parenting process with new born babies by providing a climate controlled environment for them. This was important to him because raising his child in Minnesota a state with rather hash winters lead to a concern with keeping the child warn without the need to use lots of blankets. The problem with blankets is that they cause extra work for parents to keep them clean. Along with this it is easy for babies to become overheated or become smothered by the blankets. The design of the crib was a large metal box with to which clean air could be filtered in and temperature and humidity regulated. The style of the crib was also designed to stand taller so that parents wouldn’t have to bend over as much to reach their child. Skinners daughter was raised in the box for two years and ended up being perfectly healthy. While the experiment turned out to be a success and serve its purpose the invention didn’t take off as only 300 children where believed to be raised in them. This was believed to be due to the way the crib was presented. Many say it as an experiment and didn’t like the way it sounded.
The last thing I would like to discuss in this topical post is Skinners life. Skinner was born 1904 in Pennsylvania, the son of a lawyer. Skinner as a child showed an early interest in trying to build and manipulate contraptions. After graduating Skinner tried to purse one of his passions in writing but ended up with little success. It was after this that Skinner decided to go to school at Harvard university. After Skinners successes with the skinner box and other inventions he became a teacher in Minnesota and later becoming the chair on the psychology department in Indiana University. Skinner was diagnosed with leukemia, passing away the following year in Cambridge Massachusetts 1990.

Terms: classical conditioning, operant conditioning, B. F. Skinner, Air Crib, Operant chamber, elicit, conditioning, target behavior. Puzzle box, Thorndike

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operant_conditioning_chamber

http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2010/september-10/skinner-air-crib.html

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
I chose to write about B.F. Skinner's "air bed" experiment, because it was the most intriguing part of the section to myself. This is because it can provide a much safer sleeping environment for children, and could become a huge resource in the future. It fits this section well because it is a great way of forming positive social engineering.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
The three aspects of this experiment are the problem of warmth, the problem of cold temperatures, and temperature changes and their effects.

3) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
The problem of warmth can become a huge problem for adults to their children, especially when the child is newly born. This is a reinforcer, because most parents fear that their child will become cold throughout the night and risk going through hypothermia. In this case, many adults will wrap their child excessively, which can end up creating an even bigger issue. This can cause the child to overheat which can force the child to mouth breath. This could possibly cause the baby to induce poor health, all chronic diseases, and possibly fatality.
Cold temperatures is a huge problem for many children due to the fact that they are under covered or are in an overall colder environment. This mainly happens because the parents fear that overheating will occur, which causes them to wrap their child less. This brings the risk of over breathing to the child as well which can cause various problems. This includes larger possibilities to colds, infections due to the reversal of the citric acid cycle and poor immune function.
Temperature changes can effect the behavior of your child, let alone adults, quite remarkably. This is the main reason that Skinner created the clever idea of an 'air bed'. This made it possible to change the temperature according to the child's behavior in order to adjust how the baby acts. He noticed that raising or lowering the temperature by more than one or two degrees made a surprising change in the babies condition or behavior. He also acknowledged that as the baby gets older, the temperature can slowly be lowered. This makes it easier for the child to adjust as their body heat rises.

4) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.

http://www.normalbreathing.com/causes-heat.php
http://www.sleepdex.org/thermoregulation.htm
https://www.mssociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/Documents/Factsheets/Hot%20and%20cold%20-%20temperature%20factsheet%200213.pdf

Terms: B.F. Skinner, social engineering, reinforcer

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
The topic I would like to talk about is species specific responses. Species specific responses fits into the section we covered because it was mentioned when talking about a conditional emotional response from the rat associating a sound with food. Later it discussed how different animals act in a specific way when provoked. The reason I am choosing species specific responses is because there was not a whole lot from this chapter that caught my eye besides this. There was not a whole lot about it in the section so I thought reading more about it outside of the chapter would be interesting.

2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
The three aspects of the topic I would like to discuss are why the rat in the experiment froze up when it was scared, some other examples of species specific behaviors, and how we can work with the species specific behaviors.

2) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
A species specific behavior is a unique behavior that is only seen in certain animals. In Skinner’s experiment, a rat was tested to see what would happen when the bars under its feet were electrocuted. The rat froze up, which is something other animals do not show. The rats are showing an example of a freezing behavior. The freezing behavior is a response that is seen in many prey animals in an attempt to play dead. The freeze behavior is said to be part of the fight or flight response, just an extension. The information they show helps us learn about anxiety. The more anxious we make them, the more likely they are to show the behavior. Rats are not the only animal we can learn from. Cognitive-behavioral research goes by the idea that we are close enough to animals that the behaviors they show will also happen in humans. The section gives the example of raccoons washing their food before eating. From a cognitive-behavioral standpoint, it shows us that we are wired to clean food to avoid things like bacteria. The snails tucking in to their shell is another way of freezing. The video on the goats talks about when they are scared instead of running they will faint in an attempt to play dead thinking whatever shocked them will leave them alone. They have a condition called myotonic congentia that is unique to them. When it comes to fight or flight, both the goats and the snails choose a form of “flight” only they are capable of. Humans also have species specific stimuli. Infants have been shown to be able to tell apart a human face from another species even at a young age. This is a very common trait among the more social species. The rat in the study from earlier was just trying to survive. It was doing so by using traits that are in their brain. While the rat froze up, other species may immediately try to fight, some will run, and some will do something completely unique.

3) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnbeh.2010.00158/full

http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/366/1571/1753

http://youtu.be/uT-UGTQd6zQ

Skinner, species specific responses, conditional emotional responses, cognitive-behavioral

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
The topic that I am writing about is nature versus nurture. This relates to the chapter that we read this week because it talks about how Skinner believed that modifying a person’s environment can shape them to become anything. I am interested in this subject because the debate about how much of nature and how much of nurture makes up a person’s behavior has not been figured out yet, but having an answer would help with a lot of psychology research. Like Skinner, I believe that a person’s environment plays a large role in who they are and what they become, but their genetic makeup is also an important deciding factor.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
The first thing that I would like to address is exactly what nature and what nurture is referring to in a psychology context. After that, I would like to talk about how nature and how nurture could affect a person’s behavior.
2) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
For the first part of explaining nature versus nurture, a person’s nature refers to their genetic make up. In the debate between how much of each part goes into a person’s behavior, if someone thought nature makes up a person’s behavior, they would believe that a person’s behavior is coded in their DNA. It has been proven that genes affect physical attributes a person has, such as eye color, height, and whether or not they can roll their tongue, but it is still unknown how much DNA affects things like personality, likes, dislikes, and intelligence level. Next, nurture is referring to how a person’s environment takes part in the way that they are. People who believe that environment plays a large role in who a person is or will be, like Skinner, they are saying that a person’s behavior is learned from what they are introduced to within their environment. Things like a person’s intelligence, interests, and personality are a product of what they have learned. Part of the reason that figuring out how much of a person is a product of nature and how much is a product of nurture could be hard is because many people live with and are raised by their biological parents. This makes it difficult to tell whether a trait has been passed down to the child from the parent or if the trait has been learned through the environment that both the parent and child lives in which was shaped by the parent. One research method to test this is with twin studies. In a twin study, a trait is observed between the two identical twins and two unidentical twins. Identical twins share 100% of their genes and unidentical twins only share about 50% of their genes, meaning that if the trait occurs significantly more often in the identical twins than the unidentical twins, it is more likely that the trait is hereditary. Still, to know for sure, the distinction between how much is nature and how much is nurture must be made. I believe that some parts of who we are are made up of our genes, some parts of who we are are made up by our environment and some parts of who we are are made up of both nature and nurture. Skinner believed that a child can be shaped by their environment to be anything. I think that environment makes up a lot of who a person is, but a person can not deny what they are made up of. For instance, if there is a problem in someone's DNA and they have some sort of disability, it may be hard to do certain things which would greatly affect their behavior. For our environment, one of the sources that I am using makes raises a good point by saying that one of the reasons that behavior can be hard to change is because we live in the same environment for so long. When we are growing up and being conditioned how to behave, we typically stay in the same house, school, and with the same people. Behaviors typically stay the same because our environments do. It is hard to say how much environment and how much DNA makes up who a person is and what they will be, but both parts do play a role.
3) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://jamesclear.com/jonas-salk
http://psychology.jrank.org/pages/219/Environment.html
http://study.com/academy/lesson/biological-influences-on-human-behavior-genetics-environment.html
https://explorable.com/nature-vs-nurture-debate
Terms:
Nature, Nurture, Skinner, Modify, Environment, Behavior, Genetic, DNA, Twin Study, Trait, Conditioned

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
I chose operant conditioning and how it relates to parenting. We read about Skinner in this last chapter and I was interested to see how it applied to parenting.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment? I will talk about social engineering, operant conditioning, and how it can be applied in parenting.
2) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
Skinner believed that we could control behavior by controlling the environment. He believed that with the right type of environment, we could predict and control for desired behavior. This is known as social engineering. In order to have this, we need a to apply a few different things, and one of them is operant conditioning. This is reaching a desired behavior by using positive and negative reinforcement and/or positive and negative punishment. That is, adding or taking things about of the environment to either reinforce or punish behavior. By manipulating the environment like this we can modify for desired behavior. This can be applied to parenting, and will be successful if applied properly. One of the ways you can do this is getting a baby to soothe himself to sleep. Make sure he is nice and comfortable, then leave him in the room by himself. If he cries, let him cry for a few minutes, then go in and do something along the lines of rubbing his back without actually picking him up. Each time you do this wait longer and longer to go in. This is creating an environment that is soothing for the child, without reinforcing his crying by picking him up when he cries. He knows you are not going to pick him back up. With operant conditioning it is most important to be consistent. If you are not consistent you may (and very likely will) actually encourage bad behavior, not just now but in your child’s future as well.
3) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
https://my.vanderbilt.edu/developmentalpsychologyblog/2013/12/to-condition-the-child/
http://www.kars4kids.org/blog/parenting-b-f-skinner-it-all-boils-down-to-operant-conditioning/
http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html

What we would like you to do is to find a topic from what we have covered in this week's readings that you are interested in and search the internet for material on that topic. You might, for example, find people who are doing research on the topic, you might find web pages that discuss the topic, you might find youtube clips that demonstrate something related to the topic, etc. What you find and use is pretty much up to you at this point. But use at least 3 sources (only one video please and make sure it adds to the topic).

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the chapter we have covered this week, and why you are interested in it.
For the topical blog this week I have chosen to research ethology.

2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
I am interested in defining ethology, providing examples of ethology, and looking at interesting research that has been conducted or prominent psychologists who were influenced by this material. Ethology relates to the current material because species-specific behavior is mentioned in relation to mating rituals, etc.

3) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
Ethology is the scientific study of animal behavior (Link 2). Ethology specifically observes the animal in its natural environment to see how it will behave. Researchers who study this behavior often use naturalistic observation unless they are specifically looking to change an animal’s behavior. This naturalistic observation is also known as an overt behavior; in other words, it is a highly visible, easy to spot behavior. A stereotypical pattern of behavior can occur between predator and prey. For example, prey provide stimuli, which causes the predator to react (visualization and odors are examples of stimuli; pursuit and catching are examples of the reactions). These overt behaviors can be expressed in terms of drives. There are multiple types of drives that animals display. A couple of these internal (or external) drives include: a hunger drive and a sex drive. A high sex drive, in relation to animal behavior, results in mating rituals. These mating rituals are species-specific (as we learned in this week’s section). This article also went in-depth about innate behavior (nature, genetic and/or biological behavior) versus learned behavior (nurtured behavior). Natural behaviors are linked to instinctive tendencies that animals express. Another display of animal behavior is aggressive encounters between competing creatures or between potential mates when fighting for the female creature’s attention. Examples of what makes a trait innate is if it is: heritable, stereotypic, intrinsic, consummate, or inflexible (Link 2). Examples of what makes a trait learned is if it is: extrinsic, non-heritable, permutable, progressive, or adaptable (Link 2).
Animals also have their own type of communication. A few types of verbal communications within species include: songs, “mechanical noise,” and brief calls to the other gendered bird. One classic example of innate behavior in animals is when Konrad Lorenz studied ducklings (Link 1). Another example includes fixed action patterns, which is an umbrella term for: courtship behaviors, food begging, mobbing of predators, brood parasitism, and migratory behavior (Link 1). Alex the intelligent parrot is another example of a well-known animal interaction. Alex had amazing cognitive abilities and expressed an intelligent use of human language. Alex the parrot was able to reason through simple exercises and also could also use certain words creatively. His trainer, Pepperberg showed the scientific community that an animal did not need to have a larger brain to comprehend certain words or tasks.
A few prominent scientists who studied, or had roots in, ethology that I discovered include: Spalding, Darwin, Whitman, Altum, Heinroth, and Craig. These individuals interest in the scientific study of animal behavior led to it being transferred/linked to certain aspects of human behavior (Link 3). According to the third link I found the main purpose behind ethology is to explain the functional relationships of every factor that is involved in the behavior patterns of animals (and sometimes humans).

Link 1: http://www.d.umn.edu/~seel0083/Lecture6Behavior.pdf.pdf
I used this link to provide prominent research material so that I could add it to my paper. In this slideshow that I found I learned that Alex the Parrot had died. I had heard of him before but I had no idea that he was born in the mide-1970s.
Link 2: http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent425/tutorial/Behavior/
I gave a detailed overview of ethology by defining it and providing detailed examples. I also used it to discuss the nature versus nurture issue that appears in all species.
Link 3: http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/ethology.aspx
I used this link to provide names of prominent researchers in the field of ethology.

Terms: ethology, behaviorism, naturalistic observation, overt behaviors, drives, mating rituals, traits, internal behavior, learned behavior

My topic this week will be related to conditioned emotional response. As we have learned, a conditioned emotional response will evoke a response upon the sense of a conditioned stimulus. I would like to discuss how this topic relates to the reading, relates to our daily lives, and also one of the most famous studies on emotional conditioning, “Little Albert.

The reading discusses Skinner’s experiments on rats. Within that, we discuss the “specific species response,” where the study concluded that rats froze up when afraid. This fear was conditioned by an electric shock stimulus. The reading states that this CER is not just operant conditioning, but it is also combined with classical conditioning. In addition to this, my research also indicates that behaviorists, like Skinner, also believe that all behavior is not only learned but genetic or evolutional. The nature vs. nurture debate comes into play here. I believe it is difficult to pinpoint our individual behavioral responses into each category—it is nearly impossible to study and make a full conclusion. Back to the rats, would we place the freezing up response in the genetic category or the environmental category? And would the offspring of these specific rats have the same response without a conditioned stimulus? We could also subcategorize this kind of behavior into phobias. Now phobias are considered irrational fears, so we would have to say that they are somewhat a CER. Perhaps everyone has a phobia of some kind. I am afraid of deer, but have never been hurt by them. I have, however, seen a TV show where a runner gets attacked by a domestic deer. Furthermore, in order for behavior modification to be successful, we need to be or eventually need to become susceptible to stimuli and reinforcement.

In everyday life, we fail to notice some of the stimuli around us. For example, advertisements in commercials or newspapers; if we see one, it may invoke an excitatory response, and we may go out and buy whatever we see on the television. When we cry during a movie or while watching a sad Youtube clip; that is considered a conditioned emotional response. Another good example I can think of is “road rage.” When I get stuck behind a slow or stupid driver, it always makes me angry. I might cuss or yell in the car, without even thinking at times. Furthermore, when we eat or smell good food, it can make us feel happy or excited. These are all examples I came up with relating to CER.

Little Albert is one of the best examples that comes to mind of CER categorized as phobia. This was one of the more famous experiments, which we read about in previous sections. Can phobias be created? Can fear be conditioned? These were questions Watson and Rayner aimed to answer. Fear studies are less simple and accepted now, especially in children. The subjects must be susceptible as well as willing to receive the experiment, otherwise it may not be socially or morally accepted in our time. In these psychologists’ time, however, the experiment proved many things. No actual danger was present, yet Albert eventually developed a fear—an irrational fear, or a phobia. They also proved that this development was a result of conditioning.

In sum, conditioned emotional response is very much a part of our everyday lives. This can alter our behavior differently based on different experiences. This may also bring up the question of reversal of conditioning? Can a modified behavior be either re-modified or reversed? It would have been interesting to see how Watson and Rayner would have attempted to reverse Albert’s developed phobia. We have read and learned so much in previous sections as well as other psychology classes, but I believe this is one of the more important topics, as it is most prevalent in everyone’s everyday life. We all experience some kind of emotional response repeatedly, sometimes without even knowing. Sometimes bad or irrational emotion responses need to be recognized, however, in order to be altered. In order to alter or fix these behaviors, we must first figure out what stimulus evokes a response in us. Like with the baby experiment, we could try and reverse it, but would need a plan to do so.

Resources:
http://www.wisaba.org/about-behavior-analysis/common-misrepresentations-of-behavior-analysis/misrepresentation-3/
http://www.johnwiley.com.au/highered/cyberpsychv3/interactives/06_1_class%20conditioning/06int1.html
http://psychology.about.com/od/classicpsychologystudies/a/little-albert-experiment.htm
http://www.emotionalcompetency.com/conditioned.htm
http://www.simplypsychology.org/classical-conditioning.html

Terms: Conditioned Emotional Response, Conditioned Stimulus, Response, Stimulus, Experiments, Operant Conditioning, Classical Conditioning, Behavior, Nature vs. Nurture, Stimuli, Reinforcement, Little Albert, Behavior Modification

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
The topic I have chosen is Skinner’s air bed. When reading the section for this week one thing really jumped out at me that I found interesting and that was the air bed. I am really interested in it because I think it’s a really great idea. The more I read about it the more I liked it. I didn’t see any problems with it and started to wonder why I haven’t heard about it before and ask why it isn’t used today. The Skinner air bed is essentially an at home incubator crib. At first I thought this was a behavioral way of parenting. But it’s not altering any behaviors; it’s just changing the environment before the child has the chance to develop any undesired behaviors. It still might be a behavioral way or parenting, after all it was in our BMOD book, but I plan on asking more about it in class on Thursday to clarify.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
Three aspects of the topic that I would like to talk about is how the skinner air bed works, the success of it, and is it still being used today?.
2) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
The skinner air bed is like a large version of a hospital bed. It’s a tall box with glass windows and a door. The temperature can be adjusted to where the baby is comfortable and can sleep well. It eliminates the need for extra clothes and blankets, which can make the baby too hot or be a safety hazard. Skinner used this air bed with his daughter. She said that she was a happy baby who only cried when injured or hungry. She didn’t have a cold until she was six years old and has had good health all her life. She was happy with the outcome. Skinner’s wife said that it even made for less laundry because less clothing and blankets were being used and it also resulted in fewer rashes on the baby. The baby didn’t need as many baths and parents had less crying to deal with. That being said I found it very interesting that when I was looking for videos on the air bed and I typed “Skinner’s air bed,” the only things that came up were advertisements for beds and showing how to blow up air mattresses. So I tried a different approach. I typed “Skinner daughter” and the first option to come up was “Skinner box daughter.” When looking for information on this subject I found a lot of negative things. People back then confused his air bed also called an air crib with his skinner box. They thought skinner was putting his daughter is a small box and treated her like a test subject like the animals he put in his skinner box. In fact there was an article written in a magazine with an unsettling picture of a small girl in a small box and her hands pressed against the glass of the box. I found many articles saying that it caused psychological damage on his daughter and that she sued him and later committed suicide. None of that is true. So why aren’t the skinner beds used now? Do they even still exist? Information on the air beds in today’s society was scarce. I did find that some air beds still exist but they have been passed down or were homemade projects. People were so concerned about all the possible negative things that might result from the bed that all the potential benefits were ignored. Therefore the bed was never mass produced and it’s not known or really even used today.
3) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://www.snopes.com/science/skinner.asp
http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2010/september-10/skinner-air-crib.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-RS80DVvrg

Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your
Skinner, Skinner’s Air Bed, behavioral, psychological, environment, skinner box

1) Once you have completed your search and explorations, I would like you to say what your topic is, how exactly it fits into the section we have covered so far, and why you are interested in it.
I chose to research operant conditioning. This relates to this section because we are discussing operant conditioning or type R conditioning in this section when we talk about Skinner’s invention the operant chamber.
2) What are three aspects of the topic you want to talk about for this assignment?
The three aspects of the topic that I am going to discuss are what operant conditioning is, how it works, and skinner theory of operant behavior.
3) Next, I would like you to take the information you found from the various sources and integrate/synthesize* them into the three aspects of the topic, and then write about the topic.
Operant conditioning is a learning process in which the likelihood of a specific behavior is increased or decreased through positive or negative reinforcement each time the behavior is exhibited, so that the subject comes to associate the pleasure or displeasure of the reinforcement with the behavior. Operant conditioning works by action being followed by a reinforcement that increase or decrease the behavior from reoccurring. Operant conditioning was thought of by Skinner. Skinner got the idea for operant conditioning from Thorndike work with the law of effect. Skinner build on the idea of law of effect and added reinforcement to get his idea of operant conditioning. By adding reinforcement to law of effect it made it so that behavior would be reinforced to increase that behavior or by not being reinforced the behavior would be extinguished.
4) At the end, please include working URLs for the three websites.
http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/a/introopcond.htm
http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/operant+conditioning

Terms: operant conditioning, type R, Skinner, operant chamber, reinforcement, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, behavior, law of effect, Thorndike, reinforced, extinguished

I wanted to do my topic blog this week on psychopaths and their conditioned emotional response, or lack there of. I have always been interested in the way that psychopaths think, and I find their differences very intriguing. I have talked in another blog about how reinforcement schedules do not work for psychopathic people, and this will explain another way that behavior modification would not work on them. This relates to the reading this week; this section on Skinner briefly talked about conditioned emotional responses. This is in addition to what was already discussed when reading the section on classical conditioning two sections ago.
First, I want to talk about what a conditioned emotional response (CER) is, and where Skinner got the idea to try this. He was not the first person to use the methods behind conditioned emotional response, but he was the first one to use the term. Secondly, I would like to talk about conditioned emotional responses, and their nonexistence, in psychopaths. Psychopaths do not associate two things like you and I might. Lastly, I want to talk about what this means. How does this affect why psychopaths may become serious criminals?
Conditioned emotional responses are emotional reactions that are learned as a response to predictive cues. Although called conditioned emotional responses by Skinner, this idea first started with Watson, who called it fear conditioning. We saw this with his Little Albert experiment; they added the neutral stimulus of a white rat to an unconditioned stimulus of a loud tone that made Little Albert cry. Eventually the rat became a conditioned stimulus, as he became deathly afraid of it. Skinner eventually became the first person to coin the term conditioned emotional response, probably borrowing this idea from Watson’s research. I’m not sure that was a great idea, with how controversial Watson’s work was, but whatever. Maybe he didn’t see it that way in the twenty year difference between the two’s research.
Anyways, Skinner would send electric shocks through the bars of the chambers that the rats were in, while at the same time playing a tone. When rats are scared, they have a tendency to freeze up. Eventually, they would freeze up whenever they heard the tone, because they associated the tone with the shock. This shows us a conditioned emotional response, or more specifically, a species-specific response. As we saw in Section 3.3, most of the time, the presentation of a shock (unconditioned stimulus) is used to elicit the unconditioned response of freezing up. We can use this in other scenarios.
Researchers did the same thing with known psychopaths. Their lack of fear was their response to being shocked or by losing points to a game. It did not cause them to emit a different behavior; it did not affect them at all. This is why psychopaths that are arrested and convicted are more likely to recidivate than normal people. Psychopathy impairs aversive classical conditioning, as well as other things that are relevant to fear, like recognizing fear. There is one conditioned emotional response that appears to be present in psychopaths: anger. However, very little research has been done on anger in comparison to fear in psychopaths. It should also be noted that it is not one hundred percent certain whether anger is a response to a threat, like the electric shock, or a response to failing to achieve a goal. Like I said above, some researchers call this fear conditioning. They did a test on three year olds, presenting a tone with the punishment of electric shock, and found a significant lack of conditioned emotional response (or fear conditioning) in those that were more likely to become criminals later on.
The problem here does not necessarily lie in the fact that psychopaths are just never scared. There is more research that needs to be done; instead, the problem comes with the theory that psychopaths do not have the ability to make associations between conditioned stimuli. In other words, the lack of response to being shocked is entirely because they fail to associate being shocked with fear. This is one reason why psychopaths sometimes commit horrendous crimes. Our morals tell us that killing someone is wrong. However, our morals are an emotional response. Trust me, ask any conservative about abortion and you’ll see a very emotional response that typically involves moral reasoning. (I’m not judging; I’m one of those conservatives.) Psychopaths do not develop conditioned emotional responses, so they do not view morals the same as you or I. They see them as just conventions.
Knowing the above information could be used to think of other ways of dealing with psychopaths. Obviously punishment does not bother them, and trying to scare them is not going to work either. Instead, there needs to be separate therapy options designed specifically for people with this personality.
http://www.intropsych.com/ch05_conditioning/conditional_emotional_responses.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3650475/
http://www.livescience.com/13083-criminals-brain-neuroscience-ethics.html
http://neurowiki2013.wikidot.com/individual:psychopathy
https://philosophynow.org/issues/82/Morality_is_a_Culturally_Conditioned_Response
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conditioned_emotional_response
TERMS: conditioned emotional response, Skinner, Watson, fear conditioning, Little Albert, neutral stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, conditioned stimulus, species-specific response, unconditioned response, elicit, emit, behavior, stimuli, punishment, aversive classical conditioning, reinforcement schedules