The target audience we chose is students with ADHD. ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It is one of the most common childhood disorders that can continue through adolescence and adulthood.symptoms of having ADHD include difficulty focusing, difficulty controlling behavior, and hyperactivity. There are three sub-types of ADHD and they are hyper impulsive, inattentive, and hyper-active and impulsive.
No one knows the causes of ADHD, although most studies done have shown that genes play a large role.
A few symptoms related to ADHD include being easily distracted, becoming bored with a task after only a few minutes, having difficulty focusing on one thing, difficulty learning a new task, and struggling to follow directions.
Anyone is at risk for ADHD. ADHD affects about 4.1% American adults age 18 years and older in a given year. The disorder affects 9.0% of American children age 13 to 18 years. Boys are four times more at risk than girls.
Overview of Intervention
-Sections include DRL, DRO, DRI, and DRA. These are different types of reinforcement schedules that are used to increase and maintain appropriate behavior.
DRL- Differential Reinforcement of Low Rates
How to do it
This is a schedule of reinforcement in which you only reinforce a behavior if it occurs at a low rate.
In students with ADHD, this reinforcement schedule can be used to decrease distracting behaviors, such as blurting out, distracting other students, and difficulty focusing or maintaining attention.
Variations
There are two types of differential reinforcement of low rates schedules, limited-responding DRL and spaced-responding DRL
Limited-responding DRL is a reinforcement schedule that determines a maximum number of responses, or behaviors, in a certain time period. if the maximum number of responses is exceeded during the specified time period, reinforcement does not occur. this reinforcement schedule should be used when the behavior is tolerable, but less of the behavior is preferred.
For example, if you are working with a child with ADHD and are tying to reduce the behavior of talking without first raising their hand, you would need to specify the maximum number of times that the student can talk without raising their hand. You would also need to determine the time period, whether it is one class period, or intervals within that class period. If you decide that the student will only be able to talk 3 times without first raising their hand during one 60-minute class period, you would only give reinforcement to the student if their number of responses during the class period was 3 or less.
Spaced-responding DRL is a reinforcement schedule where instances of a behavior must occur over time. In this reinforcement schedule, the behavior you are trying to reinforce must not occur during a certain time period, but must occur after that time period in order for you to reinforce it. This reinforcement schedule should be used when the behavior is a positive behavior, but the frequency at which it occurs is too high.
For example, if you are working with a student with ADHD who asks a lot of questions during the class period, you wouldn't want to eliminate the behavior of asking questions, but you may want yo reduce the behavior because it is occurring too frequently and disrupting the class. To enforce this type of reinforcement schedule, you will need to identify the time period that the behavior cannot occur during. If the time period you have selected is 30 minutes, this means that once the behavior has occurred, it cannot occur again for another 30 minutes, and if it does, it will not be reinforced. If the behavior does not occur within 30 minutes of the last occurrence of the behavior but occurs after the 30 minute time period, the behavior should be reinforced immediately.
Who Implements (teachers, counselors etc.)
In the classroom setting, teachers and paraprofessionals should implement this reinforcement schedule. In order for this type of reinforcement schedule to be successful in reducing behaviors, it should be used consistently throughout the school day, by all teachers and paraprofessionals that interact with the student. Parents can also use this type of reinforcement schedule to reduce the occurrence of behaviors at home.
Materials Needed
If you are going to reinforce this behavior with something other than positive verbal reinforcement, you will need to identify what you are going to use to reinforce the behavior. You will also need a clock to keep track of the time periods you have chosen.
Examples of materials
Stickers
Clock
Money
Toys
Potential Pitfalls
If this reinforcement schedule is not used continuously in the school setting, behavior that you are attempting reduce may continue to occur at its normal rate.
The child may learn that they should exhibit desirable behaviors at a low rate because that's the only time they are reinforced.
DRO- Differential Reinforcement of Zero Responding
How to do it
You want to reinforce for engaging in any behavior other than the target behavior for a given period of time and you do not want to reinforce if the target behavior occurs with in the time interval.
Say you had to deal with someone who constantly scratching themselves and you want them to stop you can set a time limit on them and if they do not scratch during that time interval then you can reinforce with tokens they can exchange for treats or some form of reinforcement and than increase the interval of time until it is for the entire day. However, if they were to scratch the reinforcement would not be given and the time interval would start all over again.
Variations
There are no real variations of DRO. However, you can use different time intervals each time one interval is complete. For example if Bobby does not scratch himself for two minutes you can reinforce him for not scratching and than increase the time interval to five minutes and so on.
Who Implements (teachers, counselors etc.)
Anyone who is working with a child can use DRO to remove an unwanted behavior. In the classroom setting a teacher or paraprofessional may implement the behavior. In hospitals it could be implemented by doctors and nurses and if parents want to use DRO in the home they most certainly can.
Materials Needed
the only materials needed to implement DRO would be the type of reinforcement you plan on using and possibly a timer if you want to keep track of the time interval you plan on using.
Examples of materials
Tokens
Candy
A simple timer
Favorite toy
Potential Pitfalls
The behavior may continue to occur if you forget to reinforce the previous interval when completed with no mistakes.
The reinforcement becomes satiated.
Other
Using DRO can be useful when wanting to eliminate an unwanted behavior, but you have to watch out for more unwanted behaviors coming into action. For example you don't want someone who has been scratching themselves to begin to smash his head on concrete floors. So you have to be careful of those other unwanted behaviors.
DRI- Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behaviors
How to do it
This is similar to DRO in the sense that you are ignoring the unwanted behavior.
If you’re a teacher and you have a kid who is running around the room and has ADHD, you obviously don’t want him running around the room, but just telling him “no” is probably not going help. Therefore, you reward him when he does something that he CANNOT do if he is running around the room.
For example: You could say “Jake, if you can sit in your desk quietly then you’ll get tokens” because it’s physically impossible for him to do both at the same time.
Variations
Similarly to DRO there are not really variations, however you can also expand the time intervals. If Jake from the above example sat at his desk for half of the math lesson, then he will receive a token. You can enforce this for a week or so and then the next week you can give Jake a token if he sat in his desk for the entire math lesson.
Who Implements (teachers, counselors etc.)
Anyone who is working with the child can implement the reinforcement. In a classroom setting this is usually done by a teacher, but it can also be implemented by a paraprofessional in the classroom, a parent volunteer, a substitute teacher, etc. If you are trying to have a DRI implemented for a student and you have an adult who is normally not in your classroom for the day, it would be a good idea to inform them on the situation because you don't want them to accidentally acknowledge the student if the perform the behavior you are trying to ignore. The same thing goes for a substitute teacher; you may want to make a note stating what has been happening in class with the child and his or her DRI behaviors.
Materials Needed
Candy
Tokens
Electronics
Free time
Toys
Examples of materials
These materials above are good to help reinforce positive behavior because they are most of the time favorites for the children.
Potential Pitfalls
If new people come into the classroom and don't know about the behavior trying to be eliminated, the person could potentially acknowledge the behavior that the teacher is trying to eliminate then causing the teacher to start over with the reinforcement process.
Other
DRA- Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior
How to do it
This is a reinforcement schedule that involves getting rid of an unwanted behavior while also reinforcing a more appropriate behavior. It is the goal of this type of reinforcement schedule that the more appropriate behavior will replace the unwanted behavior. A DRA is typically combined with extinction.
When you are working with a child with ADHD and trying to eliminate the behavior of verbal aggression, you would ignore this behavior while also reinforcing an alternative behavior, like putting together a puzzle, or coloring a worksheet. This is a DRA and not a DRI because it is still possible for the student to be verbally aggressive while doing both of these activities. In this example, you would ignore the child's verbal aggression in hopes of making it extinct, while reinforcing the behavior of putting a puzzle together or coloring a worksheet, in hopes that these behaviors would ultimately replace the behavior of verbal aggression.
Variations
DRI is a variation of DRA, in which you are ignoring the unwanted behavior and reinforcing a different behavior. The difference between a DRA and a DRI is that in a DRI, the behavior that you are reinforcing cannot occur at the same time as the unwanted behavior.
Differential reinforcement of communication (DRC) is another variation of DRA. This is a form of DRA in which the alternative behavior that is reinforced to replace the unwanted behavior is a communication response. In a DRC, the child that is exhibiting the problem behavior learns to make a communication response that is equivalent to the problem behavior, but is more appropriate.
For example, if you are working with a student with ADHD and are trying to eliminate their behavior of becoming verbally aggressive when they want attention, you would need to identify a communication response that would be appropriate. If you determined that giving the student a card with a picture of a sad face on it, and instructing the student to give the card to you when he or she is needing attention, that would be considered the communication response. You would then reinforce the child's communication response of giving you the card, because it is an alternative behavior to the child becoming verbally aggressive.
Who Implements (teachers, counselors etc.)
Everyone who works with the child should use a DRA reinforcement schedule. In the classroom setting, teachers and paraprofessionals should work together to make sure that the reinforcement schedule is being carried out. At home, parents could implement a DRA or a DRC to eliminate problem behaviors associated with aggression, impulse control, and other behaviors not necessarily associated with academics.
Materials Needed
The materials needed to implement a DRA would depend on the behaviors you are trying to reinforce, and the type of reinforcement that is effective for a particular student. For example, if you were using cards to increase appropriate communication responses, you would need paper make the cards and pictures to signal different responses.
Examples of materials
Flashcards
Puzzles
Worksheets
Tokens
Potential Pitfalls
The unwanted behavior may be reinforced in other environments.
It may be difficult to find alternative behaviors to replace the unwanted behavior.
Kelley, M., Lerman, D., Fisher, W., & Zangarillo, A. Reinforcement delay fading during differential reinforcement communication: The effects of signals on response maintenance. Journal of Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 96(1). Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3136890/
Spangenberg, K. (n.d.). An Investigation of the Effects of Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior On Students with Mild/Moderate Disabilities In a School Classroom. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
Differential Reinforcement
Overview of target population- ADHD
The target audience we chose is students with ADHD. ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It is one of the most common childhood disorders that can continue through adolescence and adulthood.symptoms of having ADHD include difficulty focusing, difficulty controlling behavior, and hyperactivity. There are three sub-types of ADHD and they are hyper impulsive, inattentive, and hyper-active and impulsive.
No one knows the causes of ADHD, although most studies done have shown that genes play a large role.
A few symptoms related to ADHD include being easily distracted, becoming bored with a task after only a few minutes, having difficulty focusing on one thing, difficulty learning a new task, and struggling to follow directions.
Anyone is at risk for ADHD. ADHD affects about 4.1% American adults age 18 years and older in a given year. The disorder affects 9.0% of American children age 13 to 18 years. Boys are four times more at risk than girls.
Overview of Intervention
-Sections include DRL, DRO, DRI, and DRA. These are different types of reinforcement schedules that are used to increase and maintain appropriate behavior.
DRL- Differential Reinforcement of Low Rates
How to do it
Variations
Who Implements (teachers, counselors etc.)
Materials Needed
Examples of materials
Potential Pitfalls
DRO- Differential Reinforcement of Zero Responding
How to do it
Variations
Who Implements (teachers, counselors etc.)
Materials Needed
Examples of materials
Potential Pitfalls
Other
DRI- Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behaviors
How to do it
Variations
Who Implements (teachers, counselors etc.)
Materials Needed
Examples of materials
Potential Pitfalls
Other
DRA- Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior
How to do it
Variations
Who Implements (teachers, counselors etc.)
Materials Needed
Examples of materials
Potential Pitfalls
References