Clinical Methods Test #2

Aversive events that when negated or removed continengently, result in an increase in the frequency of a response.

Example: Turning on the air conditioning when you go into a hot room-removes the heat, thus making it more likely that you'll repeat that behavior.

Procedures of reducing a behavior by presenting a stimuli or withdrawing certain others immediately after the behavior occurs.

You can't predict a punisher.

Terminating the reinforcer for a response which results in a decrease of a response.

An important part of extinction is identifying what the reinforcer is.

The greater the amount of reinforcers earned, the greater amount of resistance to extinction.

The loss of opportunity to earn reinforcement.

There are different types of time-out- isolation time-out, exclusion time-out, and non-exclusion time-out.

Response-contingent withdrawal of previously earned reinforcers that results in a decrease of that response.

It should be used in later in treatment, during carryover, transfer, etc.

A behavior that prevents the occurrence of an aversive event.

Dr McL's def: Contact with the aversive stimulus does not occur as long as the correct response occurs which increases the future probability of that response.

Example: the client wants to avoid making you scowl when they have an incorrect production, so they try to only make correct productions.

Escape is where actual contact with the aversive stimulus is terminated. It is the act of avoiding or evading something undesirable.

• Example: When a client trys to leave the therapy room.
• Example from Dr. McL: White noise terminated immediately following 19 seconds of fluent speech.

Those events that when presented or delivered contingent upon a correct response increase the future probability of that response.

Can be edible, money, tokens, or social praise.

The use of conditioned, generalized reinforcers in which tokens can be used and exchanged for a variety of things.

There must be a menu of things to choose from, one reward for a token is not a token economy. Token economy should always be paired with social reinforcement.

Providing information regarding performance (beyond praise for correctness) that influences future performance.

Types: Biofeedback, Specific Verbal, and Visual.

Reinforcers whose effects depend upon past learning through association with primary reinforcers.

Examples: Pat on the back, eye contact.

Disadvantage: may not work well for autistic children, neglected or abused children-but you still use it.

A relationship between the number of responses and the amount of reinforcement or the responses and the time interval between delivery of reinforcement.

Two different types: continuous and intermittent.

Increasing desirable behaviors and decreasing undesirable behaviors.

Those events that follow a behavior contingently and influence its future occurrence or nonoccurrence.

-Whether a response will be learned

-Whether a response will be maintained

-The strength and frequency of a response

Contingencies are interdependent relationship between variables. For example: response --> consequence

Treatment is the effective management of contingencies

• Consequences should be:
• -clearly formulated
• -consistently applied
• -continuously evaluated

*Consequences determine whether the response is learned.

Reinforcement and punishment.

*Should be empirically denoted

those events that when made "conditional" response contingent will increase future probability, strength, and frequency of that response.

• 1) MYTH: Reinforcers are defined in terms of subjective feelings.
• FACT: Reinforcers are defined in terms of their effects.

• 2) MYTH: Reinforcers are determined beforehand (a priori)
• FACT: Reinforcers are determined after the fact by their demonstrated effect. 'a posteriori'

• 3) MYTH: Reinforcers are effective for all clients
• FACT: Reinforcers are effective for individual clients as evidenced by each client change in behavior.

• 4) MYTH: Reinforcers for a client will always be effective for that client.
• FACT: A reinforcer that is effective for a client might not always be effective for that client.

Primary (unconditional)

Social (conditioned)

Conditioned generalized reinforcers (Token economy)

Informative feedback

High probability behaviors (Premack Principle)

Multiple contingencies (combinations of the above reinforcers)

Reinforcers that do not depend on past experience due to their survival value: do not require a learning history.

Example: food, water, air, warmth, or social contact

-doesn't depend on past experiences

-very powerful especially given a deprivation state

• -only effective given a deprivation state
• -susceptible to satiation
• -not a natural reinforcer for speech language pathology (doesn't occur in real life)
• -messy, interrupts the training sequence
• -health concerns-always get clearance from parent
• -expensive

• -not susceptible to satiation
• -more natural for speech language behaviors
• -may promote generalization
• -does not interrupt sequence of training

-Weakest in certain populations/histories like autism, children of abuse

• Conditioned: depends on previous learning history
• Generalized: does not depend on a specific motivation/deprivation.
• Reinforcer: increases response when delivered contingently.
• Reinforcers that do not depend upon a particular motivation because their history is generalized across or associated with a variety of other reinforcers. (variety refers to back up menu of reinforcers)

• -does not depend on single state of deprivation
• -easy to administer
• -do not interrupt the training sequence
• -may be able to record a large # of responses for a specific reinforcement

-Requires a variety of reinforcers which may be expensive to maintain.

Caution: should be paired with social reinforcers and thinned out gradually.

• -Biofeedback
• -Specific verbal feedback
• -Visual feedback

A type of informative feedback that is information regarding physiological performance.

Example: electromyography, galvanic skin response, nasometer & or Seescape

-detailed verbal information regarding performance regarding articulatory placement, production of language structures, fluent production, easy onset, etc.

-illustrating success or progress graphically: usually more relevant to overall performance than to specific responses

Example: sports games, balloon games, racetracks for children; simple graphing of progrsesing for adults.

A behavior of high probability is made available contingent on the occurrence of a low probability behavior.

Example: would involve access to puzzle/listening to music following production of a specificed # of correct responses.

• Every correct response is reinforced.
• Strength: can generate a very high rate of response quickly.
• Limitation: very susceptible to extinction (and satiation when primary reinforcers are used)

• (FR____)
• A predetermined number of correct responses is required for a reinforcer.

• For example: FR3 means that every 3rd correct response is followed by a reinforcer.
• Strengths:
• -Can gradually generate more responses with the same amount of reinforcement by increasing the ratio.
• -Generates an "all or none" cyclical response pattern-the subject is either working very hard or not at all.
• -Similar to "piecework" in which workers are paid for a specific # of "pieces" produced.
• Limitations:
• -Ratio strain can occur if the ratio is increased or "stretched" too far, too fast.

• (VR____)
• The # of correct responses to earn a reinforcer varies around a specified average.

For example: if reinforcement follows 1st, 7th, 3rd, 4th, 10th, 8th responses=30 responses that resulted in 6 reinforcers-30 responses/6 reinforcers=VR6

• Strengths:
• -More powerful than fixed ratio for developing sustaining (vs. creating/establishing) behaviors
• -Better for developing consistent high rate of responding.

• (FI____Mins)
• Reinforcement is made available for the first correct response following a specified duration of time.

• Strengths
• -Rate of response increases as the interval passes; generates a "scalloped" response pattern.

• Limitations
• -does not encourage consistent responding
• -responding is predictably associted with "anticipated" end of interval.

For example: FI3 would require 3 minutes to pass, then the next correct response would be reinforced.

• (VI____Mins.)
• Reinforcement is made available for the first correct response following variable durations of time that vary around a specified average.

For example: VI3 would mean that the first correct response that followed durations that all vary but average around 3 minutes in duration would be reinforced.

Differential Reinforcement of Other behaviors

"Catching them being good" and reinforcing it.

-reinforcing any other behavior than the undesirable behavior.

Differential Reinforcement of an Alternative (better) behavior

For example: Reaching and vocalizing vs throwing a tantrum

Differential Reinforcement of an Incompatible Behavior

Example: fluency- stuttering. By reinforcing fluency, and fluency then increasing, stuttering decreases.

Increase in aversive behavior after a mild aversive punishment.

When punishment actually acts as a reinforcer...