Define and identify the target behavior, the antecedents, behavior, and consequences of the current situation. What behavioral modification principle is maintaining this behavior (e.g., operant, respondent, both)? What cues are currently in place? How would you propose to change this behavior using what we have learned in this course? How would you test your intervention? How would you assess if it worked or not?
Child under care
A child (TJ) lives in a group home for children with developmental disorders. There is a 24-hour staff (4 at a time) that help and care for the children. TJ is nonverbal, meaning he does not speak but occasionally grunts or mumbles to get his point across or signal that he wants something or is upset. TJ exhibits self-injurious behavior (SIB) several hundred times a day. He does this by banging his fist on his thigh. It can get so bad that his bruises have turned into a deep callus. The staff has tried many approaches to get TJ to stop, but the behavior continues. They have brought you in to help see if you can suggest an intervention that may help. You observe the staff and TJ for a day. You notice the only times when TJ is not exhibiting at least some SIB is when he is playing with his iPad, eating, or sleeping. The SIB usually begins relatively soft in intensity and progressively gets harder and harder until one of the staff intervenes to stop him. One staff member ignored him while he was exhibiting SIB, and TJ's response was to slowly walk closer and closer to the staff member and hit his leg harder and harder.