Reading Activity Week #13 (due Monday)

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Please read sections 5.3

After reading section 5.3, please respond to the following questions.

What are three things you will remember from what you read in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you really liked that was in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the chapter? Why?

Please graph your baseline behavior that you collected last week and bring your graph to class. It can be done with a program such as Excel or by hand it is up to you.

You should also have a behavioral program in place (the steps you provided previously). Please implement that program (i.e., start reinforcing the behavior) and continue to collect data.

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5.3 Functional Assessment of Behavior
Three things I will remember are:
The idea of leaning out the reinforcement schedule is interesting, but hard to imagine a situation in which the reinforcement would not need to be continuous if it is a reinforcement that the individual gives himself or herself;
The idea that undesirable behavior serves a function as opposed to just being a bad habit – like not working out does not seem to me to serve a function in my life.
The idea that the context or contingency in which a behavior is indulged seems to be the most important aspect of behavior modification – important to know the triggering events or circumstances in order to understand the behavior.
I liked the discussion about the need for an indirect assessment in situations where the individual is not able to analyze the reasons or the function of his or her behavior. It seems like that could often be the situation with addicts or alcoholics.
I disliked the discussion about an individual being able to randomize the reinforcement since it is, after all, the individual who buys the doughnuts and could not be expected to surprise himself or herself with a reinforcement.
Terms: continuous reinforcement, leaning out reinforcement, random reinforcement, emitted behavior, contingency, antecedent, function of behavior, behavior modification, consequence, rule governed behavior

5.3

What are three things you will remember from what you read in the chapter? Three things I will elicit remembering are; 1) functions of behaviors can have the same topography. Often some behaviors have the same topography, meaning they look the same, but have different functions. I will emit remembering this because it is a reinforced vocabulary word from previous chapters. 2) Direct assessment, which is when you observe a behavior and record it. I will emit remembering because it refers to the data we are currently collecting for our own behavior modification. 3) Indirect assessment, which is when you obtain information about a behavior by for example an interview. I will emit remembering because it is one of the few new vocabulary words within this chapter.

What was one thing that you really liked that was in the chapter? One thing I found pleasant was referring back to topography. Originally this stumped me and with continuous reinforcement I have began to elicit remembering it.

What was one thing that you disliked that was in the chapter? One thing I found aversive was coming up with the multiple examples of functions and ways to intervene. Although it was pleasant to refer to real life situations, it was repetitive and hard to do.

5.3
The first thing I will remember after reading this section was learning that there is a final step in modifying behavior. We have covered describing the target behavior, described the consequences, and described the antecedents. This section taught us how to analyze the ABC's of behavior modification, and this is called functional assessment. When you do a functional assessment it helps one to identify the antecedents in which behaviors occur and what the consequences are. When you learn this it will help you to better modify a certain behavior. You can either use reinforcement, or punishment to deter, or elicit a certain behavior.

Another thing I will remember after reading this section is that there are two different assessments when going about modifying a behavior. There is direct assessment, and indirect assessment. Direct assessment means the actual observing and recording of certain behaviors. Indirect assessment means using an interview process or a questionare to modify a behavior. Both of these assessments seem to work, you just have to know when the appropriate time to use them both is.

Finally, I will remember that some things no longer need reinforcements. So, you no longer need to get positively reinforced with a donuts for a good grade. Some things become natural reinforcers'. They are simply rewarding to ones-self by accomplishing the certain goal.

Something I liked about this section was how you outlined the steps to modifying a behavior. It really helped me to see them simply put as you had them.

Something I found adversive about this section was when you asked us to write about doing an intervention in a lot of situations. I didn't know exactly what you meant by an intervention, so I don't think I did it right. Also there was a lot of examples that you had us write interventions on and it became extremely repetitive.

TERMS: target behavior, modifying, consequences, antecedents, behavior modification, functional assessment, reinforcement, punishment, elicit, direct assessment, indirect assessment, positively reinforced, natural reinforcement, adversive, intervention

5.3

Three things I will remember from the chapter…

1. I will remember that not only, is knowing the function of a behavior important, but we must also realize that, most of the time; we incorporate something else to service the function. I think it’s important that people realize that they can still end up with the same result, if not a better one, if they realize what the function of their behavior is. Once we realize the function, we can more easily, realize and change the behavior.

2. I will remember the term natural contingencies. I believe this is a very important term. I think that when people think of a reward, they often think of something such as food, and leave out feelings. People say that a parent being disappointed in you is far worse than any other punishment and I feel that it works in the sense of natural contingencies. The feelings that we get after we accomplish our target behavior is, in my opinion, what can really drive us towards our goal.

3. I will remember that our original plans are only experimental and things may have to be changed as we go along. We may have to go back at relook at the functions of our behavior or we may even have to change our contingencies. However, sometimes it’s as simple as “leaning out” the reinforcement schedule to make it fit better and help obtain that target behavior.

One thing I liked about the chapter…

1. I liked thinking of what the functions of behaviors could be. It really interests me in why people act the way they do, and thinking about functions of behaviors ties right into that and elicits me to think a little deeper about why someone may be emitting a certain behavior.

One thing I disliked about the chapter…

1. I disliked having to combine the functions with what we might try as an intervention. Maybe it was just the quantity of questions but I found it aversive and wasn’t fond of the near repetition of questions.

Terms: function, natural contingencies, contingencies, target behavior, leaning out, reinforcement schedule, experimental, aversive, elicit, emit.

5-3
Three things that i have learned from this chapter are: the listing of the process of behavior modification because it goes into detail the consequences and rewards that go along with the specific behavior we emit, that we sometimes need to change our original plans to coordinate with our behavior, and that we don't always need to be reinforced to emit a desired behavior because we eventually just do it naturally. One thing i really liked was the functions of the behavior that we do because it helps us understand the meaning behind the behavior and better explain why or how an organism does it. There wasn't anything in particular that i didn't like in this section because it mainly about the functionality of behavior and different understandings of it which i find intriguing.
Terms: Emit, Organism, Desired Behavior,

One thing that I will remember from this section is that function assessment of behavior is designed to help us develop a hypothesis on the relationship between the abcs. This is important to understand because we have to understand this relationship if we have any chance of changing behavior. Another thing that I will remember from this section is that functional assessment can help us understand what is reinforcing our behavior. This is incredibly useful because it helps us create an intervention to decrease a behavior that is undesirable. Another thing that I will remember is direct assessment. This is the observation and recording of the behaviors of the individual. This recording can be done by either the individual or by others. This is very important in establishing baselines and creating interventions. One thing that I found interesting was the idea of indirect assessment. This is assessment that takes the form of an interview or questionnaire. This method is often used when direct assessment is impossible, which can happen when the individual is unwilling to participate.

Three things this from this section that elicited me to demonstrate a remembering behavior are the new steps involved in behavior modification, behaviors can have different topographies and functions, and the different types of assessment. Prior to this section, we had learned about the antecedents, behaviors, and consequences, nut we had not learned of the last three objectives in the process of behavior modification. These are: examining the ABC’s, devising new antecedents and consequences, and evaluating the outcome. Behaviors can be organized by their topographies and functions, and each behavior can have different topographies and functions. Also, some behaviors can have similar topographies but have different functions. For example, two people can be eating at the same time, but one may be eating to satisfy their hunger while the other is eating for something to satiate eliminate boredom. There are two ways of observing analyzing behaviors; direct and indirect assessment. Direct assessment involves the observation and recording of behaviors under naturally occurring conditions. Indirect assessment can involve the use of an interview process or a questionnaire. During this process, the ABC’s are identified, as well as the possible function of the behavior that is being emitted.

One thing that I really liked and found important in this section is that it is important to continue to document the ABC’s once the assessment is conducted. Through this, you may be able make a target behavior more specific, graph a baseline for the behavior, find insight on the behavior, and to find ABC’s surrounding the behavior. You are able to continually tweak and chart your target behaviors.

One thing that I found aversive is when you asked what the function of lack of exercise was. I got a little confused, and it made me second guess myself on the other functions of behaviors that you asked about. I wasn’t sure if I should tell what happens when there is a lack of exercise in someone’s life, or if I was supposed to give an example of why someone may have a lack of exercise in their life.

The first thing I’ll remember is what direct assessment is. The definition of this term is pretty much in the name, direct assessment. Direct assessment is directly observing and recording the emitted behavior. Direct assessment can be done by the individual or an outside observer. It is important to note that the conditions and environment must be natural, and therefore be naturalistic observations. This way we can fully assess the behavior in its true form.

Secondly, there is also an assessment classified as indirect assessment. Indirect assessment is very different than direct assessment. Direct assessment, as we just discussed, is observing the behavior occur in its natural environment. Whereas indirect assessment is a means of getting information about the behavior via questionnaire or survey. The ABCs are identified in indirect assessment as well as the function of the behavior.

Finally, I’ll remember that things don’t always go according to plan when looking at self directed behavior and behavior manipulation, and changes may need to occur. We have already discussed this briefly in previous chapters. Right now I am looking to elicit a change in my aversive eating habits. However, this past weekend was Easter weekend. I had to alter my contingencies to allow leniency for this candy-filled holiday. This point was the one thing I really liked about this chapter. It shows how psychology is a science and how it must alter and adapt to different environments. It is okay to not get things right the first time. In order to be able to truly manipulate and modify a behavior, you need to look at your records and see if your original plan is working. If not, adapt and overcome.

The one thing I didn’t like and found aversive about this chapter was combining functions and interventions examples. This was not only difficult, but at sometimes confusing as well. I struggle with knowing how “deep” to go when talking about functions. For example, the function of emitting the behavior of opening a door can be confusing. Is the function opening the door, or is to get through the door, or perhaps to let someone in? This why I found the examples for this chapter aversive.

5.3
Three things that I will remember from this chapter:
1. When recording and reinforcing a target behavior you may have to "lean out" your reinforcements depending on your antecedents and your progress in reaching your goal of manipulating your behavior. "Leaning Out" simply means that you may not be continuously reinforced, instead you will be on a reinforcement schedule whether it be a fixed or interval or ratio or interval like we discussed in previous chapters.
2. When you get into your recording in order to change your behavior you need to make sure that your plan is working for you. For instance if you change your antecedent by moving to Florida you may not be able to reach your goal of snow skiing every other weekend. Tweaking plans is ok especially if it makes reaching your goal more plausible.
3. You have two different types of assessments you can do to figure out the function of a behavior (which is vital if you wish to change or modify that behavior). There is a direct assessment which involves actually observing the behavior in hopes of estimating the function based on when where and how the behavior is exhibited in the observation. Indirect assessment is usually done through an interview or a questionnaire process to determine the best possible intervention for changing an individual's behavior.
One thing I really liked from this chapter was the lots of example boxes we had to do and that there was a lot of examples in the text as well. The length was perfect to not be too long or too short.
One small thing I didn't like was that the bold points in the texts were kind of hidden within all the other text on the page. They were in a new paragraph and bolded but I would have liked to see a space between the paragraphs with the new concept so that you knew it was something new and it was easier to read.

1. First of all, when you are going to change a behavior, it is important to understand what the behavior is doing for you. You want to know its function. Often people do not feel in control of their lives because they do not understand why they behave the way they do. For instance, going to the bar serves many functions, although it has the same topography. People go to the bar to meet friends, to hook up with someone for a one night stand, to get away from a nagging spouse, or to try to sate loneliness. In order to change the behavior, you would have to figure out what going to the bar serves as in its function.

2. When analyzing behavior you can observe it directly. In my line of work I provide supports and supervision for individuals with mental illness. At the end of the day I provide my company with an objective retelling of the nights events. I directly observe the events of each individuals lives, and report on their behaviors. This allows for the individuals to continue to receive government disability money. Therefore, I am directly assessing their behaviors, but my own assessment has the function of allowing them to continue receiving money.

3. Other ways that I could gain information on individuals is through indirect observation. For instance, I could go to work and ask my coworkers what has been going on throughout the day. I have not directly observed the behaviors, but have utilized someone else's direct observations to collect data. This also takes the form of interviews with family members and relevant professionals. Often this is how non-profit agencies gather data to best serve individuals receiving services.

I really enjoyed that there was a lot of text to read. It helps me get through the example sections, which I find to be relatively aversive because they are repetitive and tedious.

After reading section 5.3, please respond to the following questions.

What are three things you will remember from what you read in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you really liked that was in the chapter? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the chapter? Why?

I began my reading by learning more in depth what the funtional assessment of a behavior is. This turns out to be particularly useful and helpful when you are attemptin to evaluate someones behavior or act of doing something for any reason. The example in the reading was why the toddler threw a tantrum.
I also like to touch base on the emotional response and how I believe this is a very important behavior all in itslef. Some people can emit a certain behavior or response to someones behavior but choose not to by emitting a emotional response. I find this very interesting because while it serves the same purpose it has a greater reward or punishment to it that only humans will elicit.
lastly the chapter spoke of behavior interventions. I found this interesting since it has to do with what a experiment is trying to change or elict from the study. Such as changing the eating habits of a dog.
I did not enjoy the fact that there were so many questions asked about intervention that it was as if you either knew it or you didn't. Not enought examples for the amount of qeustions asked.

Section 5.3

Three things that I will remember from this chapter are:

1. Behavior modification has certain steps one must follow. So far we have discussed the first three steps. First, you must begin with a behavior that you want to reinforce (increase) or punish (decrease). Once you have the behavior, then you can determine the target behavior that you can reinforce in order to achieve the behavior modification. When you have a well-defined target behavior, you can focus on the specific problem and learn what is eliciting the behavior (the antecedent) and what maintains the behavior (consequence). Second, you must pay attention and document the occasions when the behavior occurs and make note of what happens right after (consequences). This is important because then you are able to know what contingencies are in place that maintain the behavior. Third, you need to determine what the antecedents in relation to the target behavior are. This means the circumstances that elicit or trigger the behavior.

2. The fourth step in the behavior modification process is to examine the ABCs (functional assessment). Once you understand the ABCs and how they are interrelated, you can attempt to devise new antecedents and consequences during an intervention period while you are still recording the ABCs related to the target behavior. The functional assessment of behavior is a tool to help you develop a hypothesis regarding the relationship between the ABCs of behavior. It is used to identify the environment where the behavior is occurring and how the outcomes of the behavior are functioning to maintain it.

3. The functional analysis of behavior can either be direct or indirect. Direct assessment involves the observation and recording of behaviors. The observations with direct assessment are made under naturally occurring conditions. The observations therefore involve noticing when the target behavior occurs, what happens as a consequence, and determining what elicited the behavior. Indirect assessment might involve the use of an interview with others. During the interview the ABCs are identified as well as the possible function of the behavior. Indirect assessments are often necessary when the individual is unable or unwilling to communicate, or unable to understand what is going on.

One thing that I liked about this chapter was the beginning when it went over the first three steps of behavior modification in some detail again. I know it can be repetitive, but I thought it was a good way to understand the first three steps and refresh your memory before moving on to the next step.

One thing that I did not like about this chapter was all the examples where we determined the function of a behavior and what we might try for an intervention. It seemed to me like there was a negative stigma of all these behaviors, like they are taboo and “bad” behaviors, and obviously the first one that came up was smoking. I’m a smoker, yes I get it’s bad.

Sec. 5.3

After emitting the behavior of reading this section there were three things that elicited a remembering response and they are; the concept of functional assessments of behaviors, the two types of functional assessments, and what interventions are and how they work.

A functional assessment is used to identify the antecedents in which the behaviors occur and the consequences that lead to the behavior occurring again in the future. Through functional assessment, we can begin to investigate the behavior and what is reinforcing it so we can design an intervention to decrease the behavior if it is undesirable. Functional assessments examine the function of the behavior to help develop a working hypothesis of why the behavior occurs in the first place. If we can determine what is reinforcing the behavior, then we can change the contingencies and hopefully extinguish the behavior. This concept elicited a remembering response because we covered it in class prior to reading this section so I already had a bit of information on the topic. After reading this section I was able to add on to what I had learned in class. Covering this concept twice really helped me to better understand it and remember the idea. I also found this concept interesting which helped me to remember it as well.

Another concept that I will remember from this section are the two types of functional assessments, direct and indirect. Direct assessment involves the observation and recording of behaviors while they occur. The recording can be done by the individual, by others, or electronically. Observations involve keeping track of when the target behavior occurs, the consequence of that behavior, and then looking back to determine what may have elicited that behavior. Indirect assessment, on the other hand, involves the use of an interview process or a questionnaire. The interviews can be done with parents, teachers, care givers, or the individual undergoing the assessment. During the interview the ABCs are identified as well as the possible function of the behavior. By thinking about what direct and indirect mean to me I am able to remember what each of these concepts involves. In direct assessment, an observer is directly observing the behaviors occur and there is nothing in the way of the observer viewing the behaviors. However, in indirect assessments the observer must gain knowledge through talking to individuals and is not able to directly view the behaviors. They gain knowledge of the behavior indirectly. By thinking of what direct and indirect mean to me and then connecting this to the processes of each I am able to remember what each assessment type is.

The last thing that elicited a remembering response was the concept of interventions. Once we have an idea of the function of the target behavior, we can begin experimenting with behavioral interventions. Interventions are ideas put in place to either increase of decrease the frequency of the target behavior. If the intervention does not do what it is supposed to and the frequency of the target behavior does not change, then the intervention needs to be altered. The concept of interventions was easy for me to remember because I was able to think of real life examples, like drug interventions. The goal of these interventions is to decrease the frequency of drug use. Having this real life example to think of really helped me understand and remember what behavioral interventions are.

One thing that I really liked about this section was the part about direct and indirect functional assessments. I thought that this part was very interesting and I learned a lot from reading it. The examples given in this part were very helpful and added a lot to my understanding of the concept as well.

One thing that I found aversive about this section was the examples I had to fill out. I just felt like it was very repetitive and I did not need to do that many to understand the point. I understand why Dr. Maclin wants us to do example problems but sometimes they seem pointless.

Section 5.3

Through emitting the behavior of reading this chapter I learned about the functional assessment of behavior, and learned that through intervention we decrease the undesirable behavior by punishing and increase the desirable behaviors by reinforcing them. I will remember this because it was the main focus of the chapter and something we had worked on previously. I also learned about experimenting with behavioral intervention. I learned that people experiment to find out the cause of their behavior and why they do it. I will remember this because it's important to figure out where or why you do something in order to change it. It will increase the effectiveness of the goal if you can figure out why the behavior happens. The final thing I learned was Direct and Indirect assessment. Direct assessment is the observation and recording of the behavior. It can be done by the individual, others, or electronically, through a computer, video recording, or things of that nature. The direct measure is made at the same time the behavior is happening or watching the video later to record the behavior. Indirect assessment would be using things such as an interview or questionnaire to assess the behavior. This could be interviewing other people who are aware of the behavior the person is emitting.

I liked that this chapter went over function and topography again. It was good to keep those terms fresh in my mind and work with them again.

I didn't like that there wasn't as much interaction with this worksheet. The last three pages were all text and I felt like having something to fill out would have helped to break up the reading a bit. It also maybe was too focused on doing the function and intervention ideas. I didn't think it was necessary to make 5 examples of that.

5.3
After emitting the section I will remember a few things from it. The first thing I will remember are the different steps to behavior modification. The first step is to determine a behavior you would like to elicit. Then you have to decide how you want to break it down, like increasing or decreasing the behavior. After that you have to determine how you want to measure it and what the antecedents are. The next thing that I will remember from this section is the term direct assessment. Which is when you observe a behavior and record it. The last thing I will remember from this section is indirect behavior. You don't look at behaviors first hand but you can listen or see them in other circumstances.

One thing I liked about this chapter is the different terms we learned and the new terms we went over. Such as, different functions and the different steps in behavior. There wasn't anything that I really didn't like about the chapter. There was a lot of good information I got from the chapter.

Terms: behavior, emit, target behavior, consequence, antecedent, contingency, functions.

Three things i will remember are:
1) Function assessment. Function assessment of behavior is designed to help us develop a hypothesis on the relationship between the abcs. This is important to understand because we have to understand this relationship if we have any chance of changing a target behavior.
2) Emotional response. People may emit a certain behavior/response to another behavior but choose not to by emitting a emotional response. I find this interesting because it serves the same purpose that only we can elicit.
3) Behavior interventions. i found this interesting because it elicits a change of behavior in a subject.
I liked that this section was a little bit of a a review when discussing topographical.
I did not like trying to combine the functions and intervention examples. this section emitting an irritating emotion because it confused me. I had a hard time coming up with examples for this.

Terms: function assessment, target behavior, emotional response emit, elicit, behavior interventions, topographical.

5.3
After emitting the behavior of reading the chapter I consequently remembered a few things. First, I learned about the functional assessment of a behavior. I will remember this because it relates to function of a behavior and learning the function of a behavior helps you figure out whats is motivating the behavior. This makes modifying it easier, because the issue of function can be addresses and an alternative behavior can be implemented to serve the function, that is not problematic.

I will also remember that behavior modification uses a hypothesis to first explain the function of the behavior. This is used to test the modification and see if it is effective. It relates Be mod to scientific experiments, that can fail. THis then allows for simple modification of the be-mod so it is more effective.

I will also remember the part about natural contingencies, because that is something I had forgotten when thinking of the artificial reinforment. It feel that it is good to keep the natural contingencies in mind when planning behavior modification, so one can best see which reinfocemets will go along with them. It is also easy to forget what is naturally reinforcing about an activiy, when you've set up a reward like reinforcer. It might be helpful to explain about leaning out the reinforcement.

I found the part about being able to re-evalute your hypothesis and reinforcement schedule pleasurable because it allowed for a work in progress. That is, If my original be mod plan was ineffective at eliciting my target behavior, I wouldn't feel too discouraged. I could just go back to my base-line and adjust the plan. This is encouraging to me. I also found the steps being re-listed pleasurable because it refreshed them in my mind.

I didn't really find anything in this chapter aversive. Maybe the part about indirect assesment, just because it might be aversive in of itself. But that depends on how personal the target behavior was. I could see how if this was mandatory it could decrease the likelihood that some one would do it, or choose a target behavior that was meaningful to them , but that they might find embarrassing.

Section 5.3

Three things I remember from this section are:

1.Revisiting topography and function: I remember that we discussed the two terms in a previous section, but I think that revisiting the terms was very nice to reinforce what we have learned before. I also liked how we were able to incorporate the two terms into this functional assessment of behavior because it ties what we learned into what we are learning.

2.Interventions: I liked working on the examples of real problem behaviors that need to be adjusted and looking for proper interventions. It was interesting looking for ways we could intervene in the various behaviors and it almost felt like being a psychologist who specializes in behavior modification.

3.Direct Assessment: I really liked how this section incorporated the ABCs and showed how the antecedent plays a role in the consequences from doing a behavior. It, in a way, brought the whole section together in a sense while showing a behavior can be direct or indirectly assessed.

One thing I really liked about this chapter was being able to review many of the terms we have previously learned, but also to incorporate them more so into what we are learning about now. I think that having a review of function and topography was very necessary because I had somewhat forgot where the line is between the two terms.

If I had to find something I didn't like about the chapter, I suppose it would be how the section never really went back to what it introduced in the beginning; and that being the steps involved in the process of behavior modification. I think it would have been nice to bring back the topic to what we were discussing.

Section 5.3 was all about the functional analysis of behavior which can be conducted after defining a target behavior and determining consequences and antecedents. This chapter enforces the idea that understanding the function of a behavior is very important. Just because a behavior may be topographically identical to another, it does not mean that behavior serves the same function. When a girl screams it might be out of despair or out of pure excitement. It is very important to find out the function of the scream. Knowing the context in which it occurs is equally important. If a girl screams out of despair only around dogs or only on a roller coaster we can change the antecedent to effect the behavior.
The chapter stressed that it is not easy to change behavior even if the function and context are known. If we know that Billy is punching his classmates to hurt them (Function) and we know that it only happens at recess (Context) we can try to implement a behavioral intervention to diminish or extinguish the punching. In this example, lets say we implement a reinforcer of peanut butter cookies everytime Billy plays nice. So after a day of this, Billy returns to punching his classmates and our strategy as failed. The next way we implement a punisher of 15 minutes on the wall for punching. Another day goes by and the punching continues. This process of finding the right strategy is referred to as "experimenting." It is called this because we are only hypothesizing as to what we need to do to change the behavior; we don't actually know what will work yet.
In order to determine the context, function, and which strategy to use, we have to assess the behavior first. The book highlights two methods of assessment, direct and indirect. Direct assessment is live observation of the behavior occurring naturally. So lets say Jonny who is four years old is hitting his classmates in preschool. We hypothesize he is hitting his classmates because they have a toy he wants (function) and this hitting only occurs in the preschool classroom (context). Direct assessment might include having the teacher watch from afar as Jonny plays. We might have a counselor watch from afar as Jonny plays. Or we could put a camera in the classroom to record Jonny as he plays. Indirect assessment involves relaying of information from parties involved instead of directly observing the behavior. We might give a survey or interview the teachers and parents or even the kids.
I liked all the examples in the chapter they continue to be helpful but this chapter was a bit lengthy. I don't have much of an attention span.

For Section 5.3
The first thing I will remember is the concept of natural contingencies. This is the idea that as a behavior is intentionally reinforced, other unintentional reinforcers may arise which decrease the need for the intentional reinforcers. I will remember this because it makes a lot of sense. I can see how something like the situation described in the text could occur. I think it would be important to remember that we should make sure the natural contingencies are actually reinforcing what we want them to.
The second thing is functional assessment. A functional assessment is the examining of the antecedents and consequences of target behaviors in order to determine why a behavior occurs. This is important because without it we couldn't devise efficient and effective ways of modifying our behavior.
The third thing is that the baseline we are taking with our journals is comparable to a control group in an experiment. It makes complete sense now that I have read it. I hadn't thought about it in those terms before reading this chapter, but i think this will be easier to remember.
The thing I liked about this chapter is that it is so specific about how we can modify our behavior modification to better serve our needs. I think this chapter did a good job showing how easy it is to modify our behaviors.
The thing I didn't like about this chapter is indirect assessments. I think that people have a difficult time being subjective about many things. Asking them about their behaviors, especially ones they want to decrease, can be tricky because they will overestimate their performance and skew your perception of the behavior.

Reading Assignment Section 5.3

What are three things that I will remember from this chapter?
1. One thing that I will remember from this section of reading is what a direct assessment is. Direct Assessment's involve the observations and recordings of behaviors. The recording can be done by the individual, by others, or electronically (for instance; a video camera). This observation method would include writing the ABC's of behavior down in a behavioral diary.
2. The second thing that I will remember from this section of reading is what indirect assessment's are. Indirect Assessment's involve the use of an interview process or a questionnaire. The assessment can include interviews with parents, teachers, caregivers, etc, this has the goal of determining the intervention that will have the greatest likelihood of changing the individual's behavior.
3. Finally, the third thing that I will remember from this section of reading is the steps involved in the behavior modification process. These steps include; one, describe the target behavior. Two, describe the consequences. Three, describe the antecedent's. Four, Examine the ABC's of behavior (functional assessment). Five, Devise new antecedent's and consequences. Finally, the sixth step of the behavioral modification process is evaluating the outcome.

One thing that I liked about this section of reading...
One thing that I really enjoyed about this section of reading was the fact that I was supposed to emit a lot of my own examples. As I have stated many times before, I really like repetition in my reading because it enables me to learn and memorize things much easier. It was interesting to read and should help me finish my base line information for my own goal of loosing pounds of fat!

One thing that I didn't like about this section of reading...
There really wasn't anything that I didn't like about this section of reading. This chapter was very informative and also a good review of our behavioral modification process. I feel like I understand what we are doing in class a lot better and this will help me finish my baseline information in forming a graph and journal of consequences, behaviors, antecedent's, etc.

Terminology that I used in my blog: Behavior Modification Process, Consequences, Behaviors, Antecedent's, ABC's of Behavior, Base Line, Direct Assessment, Indirect Assessment, Functional Assessment, Emit, Enable, Etc.

Three things I will remember about chapter 5.3 include

1) A functional assessment is to develop a hypothesis about what reinforcers are maintaining a behavior

2) A functional assessment also identifies the antecedents of the behavior. A functional assessment helps us design an intervention to change the behavior

3) Behavior can have a similar topography but a different function.


What I really liked about this chapter is how a functional assessment brings together all of the things we have learned about the ABCs of behavior. It directs us what to do. It tells the kind of things to look for and it will lead to what we can do to change a target behavior. A functional assessment can involve direct observation and recording of behavior, or it might involve indirect assessment through the use of interviews or questionnaires and inventories. A functional assessment also tells how to find out if we are right in our analysis of the antecedents and consequences. We can record the behavior, change the consequences, and see if the behavior changes.


I didn’t find anything I disliked, except maybe there are too many exercises to identify the function of behaviors. And many of them seemed to be similar, for example, in many of them “reducing anxiety” seemed a common function. But maybe that is true of many behaviors we emit.


Terms: functional assessment, antecedent, hypothesis, behavior, reinforcers, maintain behavior, emit, consequences, observation, recording, target behavior, design, intervention, topography, function, ABCs, analysis

5.3
The first thing I will remember from this section is the steps involved in the behavior modification process. They are: 1.describe the target behavior 2. describe the consequences 3. describe the antecedents 4. examine the abc's 5. devise new antecedents and consequences 6. evaluate the outcome. This is helpful when eliciting new behavior because you can use these steps to break the process down, it is easier when you have smaller things to do than one big task.

The second thing I will remember is that functional assessment of behavior is designed to help you develop a hypothesis regarding the relationship between the ACB's of behavior. You identify the environments that the behavior occurs and what consequences come out of it. It is used to decrease the undesirable behavior and increase desirable behaviors.

The third thing I will remember is experimenting. It is used when you make a hypothesis and want to see if you are correct or not. If the intervention works, you know your hypothesis was correct. If your intervention is not successful, you need to make another hypothesis and test that one until you elicit desirable results.

I liked how this section had a lot of examples to show you how the steps worked, and the different scenarios reinforced me because you can use these steps with basically everything. I did not like how some of the material was repeated from previous sections because I already learned that, but it doesn't hurt to freshen up either.

Three things that I will remember from this chapter:
1. Functional assessment of behavior helps to understand how the ABCs are in a relationship with each other so you can form a hypothesis as to what the antecedents are in which the behaviors occur and the consequences that they lead to. We can begin to investigate what is reinforcing the behavior to ultimately decrease the undesirable behavior. The functional assessment can basically tell you why the behavior occurred in the first place.

2. Once we have a hypothesis experimenting with behavioral interventions is the next step. A baseline is needed prior to intervention. The baseline will distinguish the changes after the experimenting takes place. If the intervention doesn’t increase a desirable behavior or decrease an undesirable behavior then the hypothesis needs to be reevaluated. This will be easy to remember because it is similar to the scientific method which I am somewhat familiar with.

3. An indirect way of observing and analyzing behaviors is by gathering info through a 2nd party. It could be an interview or questionnaire. These indirect assessments are often used when the person in need of behavior modification cannot speak, will not speak, or can’t grasp their issue. I will remember that indirect assessments are useful because sometimes we can't see what kind of consequences our behaviors are eliciting so we need someone else to fully asses the situation.

I liked how this chapter asked me what I would do for an intervention. It really got me thinking about ways to help people with an undesirable behavior they need to get rid of.

Terms: eliciting, consequences, indirect assessment, undesirable behavior, experimenting, baseline, functional assessment, reinforcing, antecedents

The three things that I will remember from the chapter are: functional assessment, experimentation with interventions, and direct/indirect assessment. Functional assessment is something that I will remember because it is basically looking at your goal that you want to change and making it more manageable. It includes looking at the situations when the behavior occurs, in what context the behavior occurs, and what form of intervention should be used. I will use functional assessment to look at my behavior that I want to change and tweak it to be more effective. I will remember experimentation with interventions because it is something that I had to do before when quitting chewing tobacco. At first I was going to quit cold turkey but when it didn’t work I changed things a little bit. I found a good combination of chewing gum, pen caps, herbal snuff, and other things to quiet my urge. I basically altered my form of intervention to find something that worked. Direct and indirect assessment is also something from the chapter that I will remember because it is critical to modifying a certain behavior. Without assessment, you don’t know if you are actually accomplishing what you want to and whether or not you need to change your form of intervention.
The one thing that I really liked in the chapter was thinking of different forms of intervention for certain behaviors. It really made me think that changing a behavior is not as simple as I originally thought and that there were many components to the ABCs of a behavior.
The one thing that I disliked in the chapter was the repetitiveness of certain topics. After reading certain sections of the chapter, I felt like I have read about it several times. The information from the book is starting to become aversive because it is getting annoying to keep reading.

Section 5.3

One thing I remember from this section is the steps involved in modifying behavior. The first step is describing the target behavior adequately. Step two is describing the consequences. Step three is to describe the antecedents. Step four is to examine the ABCs. Step five is devising new antecedents and consequences, and the last step is to evaluate the outcome. This helps to break down a big task into smaller ones that are easier to evaluate.

The second thing I remember from this section is indirect assessments. Using an interview process or questionnaire to help determine why a behavior is occurring, like what we did in class last week.

The final thing in this chapter was direct assessments. Observing and recording the behavior as they occur naturally.

One thing I liked about this chapter was going in depth with the first three steps of behavior modification. I found it helpful to refresh my memory before moving on to new ideas.

One thing I disliked about this section was the length. Mainly because I did it later at night and my brain was out of juice and my attention was on the Cubs' game!

5.3

After emitting the behavior of reading this weeks section I will remember three things. The first thing I will remember will be what a functional assessment is. A functional assessment of a behavior is designed to to help you develop a hypothesis regarding the relationship between the ABCs of behavior. Through this we can begin to investigate the behavior and what is reinforcing is so we can ultimately design an intervention to decrease the behavior if the behavior is aversive.
The second thing I will remember will be the difference between a direct and an indirect assessment. A direct assessment involves observing and recording the behaviors while they occur. Indirect assessment involves gathering information about the behaviors usually through 2nd party sources. This may involve the use of an interview process or questionnaire.
The third thing I will remember from this section will be that documentation can do several things for me. It can allow me sufficient information to gather the ABCs related to my target behavior. It can allow me to graph a baseline of my behavior. It can allow me insight into my behavior and it can allow me to redefine my target behavior to reflect my goals.

One thing that I liked about this section was that it was full of good information. I like reading these sections and having it worthwhile for me in the knowledge I gain.
One thing I didn't like was that there was no summary again. I like being able to review the main points of what I read so that I can remember it better.

Section 5.3

After emitting the behavior of reading the section I will remember that to help with the functional assessment of a behavior the antecedents and consequences need to be recorded. Looking at what happened before the behavior occurred can help pin point what the function of the behavior may be. Also looking at the consequence of the emitted behavior can help identify what could be reinforcing the behavior and helping to implement an intervention. I will also remember that to do a functional assessment it is best to make a list of hypothesis for the function of the behavior. The first one that is experimented with to do an intervention may not be the right one but it is a trial and error thing. Also there needs to be a baseline for the behavior before the intervention can start. I will remember that there are two types of functional analysis. The first one is direct assessment and this means the person is being observed or observing themselves and their behaviors are being recorded. These assessments are done in naturally occurring setting and the target behavior needs to be defined. Also the antecedents and consequences of the behavior should be recorded so an intervention can be implemented. The second type of functional analysis is an indirect assessment and it can be done using interviews or questionnaires. People that may contribute to this would include the person’s parents, friends, co-workers, teachers, and the person themselves. All the ABC’s need to be documented and the advantage to this type of assessment is that the people being interviewed may not be as subjective as the individual themselves. One thing I found pleasurable about the chapter was learning how to use the ABC’s to implement an intervention and change a person’s behaviors. I have been involved in some indirect assessments and I found it pleasurable to find out more about this. One thing I found aversive about the section was trying to come up with all the functions of the behaviors. It was not hard but I don’t often think of why I am doing a behavior so it made it difficult to think about.

Terms used: emit, behavior, functional assessment, antecedents, consequences function, reinforcing, intervention, hypothesis, experimented, baseline, direct assessment, indirect assessment, target behaviors, pleasurable, aversive

Section 5.3
One thing I will remember from this section is what Direct Assessment is. Direct assessment, according to the reading, involves the observation and recording of behvaiors. The recording can be done by the person themself, by an outside observer, or something electronic. These behaviors are observed in a natural setting, and the target behavior is looked for, along with the consequence and antecedent.
Anoter thing I will remember is indirect assessment. This involves the use of an interview or questionnaire. Anyone who has something to do with the individual, could be the individual themself, can be interviewed. The ABCs are also identified throughout this assessment.
Thirdly, I will remember that it is okay and common that you will have to tweak the certain target behaviors and contingencies throughout the behavior modification process. It doesn't always work out, and if you start changing the target behaviors you wanted to, the reinforcements might get satiated.

One thing I liked about this section is how some of it was a review, so it wasn't a bunch of new information thrown at me. It integrated the old with the new. I also liked how specific everything is at explaining and bringing together the ABCs and all that we have learned.

I didn't find anything I found aversive about this section, once again. I really like when a summary is included, however, to bring everything together, but it really isn't anything to worry about. It makes me look over the sections and better understand it myself, I guess!

Forgot terms!

Direct assessment, indirect assessment, target behaviors, behavior modification, antecedent, contingencies, consequences, reinforcement, aversive, satiated


5.3
Three things I remember from reading the chapter are reinforcing/ increasing behavior, punishing and extinguishing/decrease behavior and function. These are all terms that we have learned multiple times through out the semester but they are probably the most important few for the subject areas of this class.
One thing I really liked in this chapter was coming up with an intervention for different unwanted beahviors. It was cool because some of the behaviors I used to elict, like nail biting, and other behaviors, like smoking, my family members and friends have exinguished.
One thing I disliked about this chapter was trying to think of the functions of eating that weren't just calorie intake. Everyone eats becaue we need calories to live and continue life but what are other functions? Our society today is so wrapped around dieting and watching our weight, eating instead used for much besides to satisfy the feeling of hunger. So that part was a little aversive, but it still wasn't too bad.
terms: reinforcing, behavior, punishing, extinguish, function, elict and aversive

5.3

After reading this section there were no distinct topics that I liked. I liked the whole section and was very interesting to me. Thinking about why people emit the behaviors they do and what they could do instead of their desired behavior.

I will mostly remember to think of the interventions that can be had when a friend is dealing with problems or addictions, or even just some every once and a while problems. I will remember the importance of forming hypothesis before making assumptions and looking further into topics or problems.

Something that I did not like in this section was there was not very much interactive actives as in other sections to help retain the information.

5.3
I will remember that when trying to figure out the function of a behavior, it is much like laboratory research experiment. You need to have a multitude of hypotheses because it is not very likely you will get the correct answer on the first try.
I will remember the example of the girl and caffeine consumption in the indirect portion of the text. It is important to revise what you originally set out to accomplish to make changes where they are needed. When you start out with a goal, it can very oftentimes be very vague even though you don't see it initially. Once you realize this you can make your goal more specific and likely manage to accomplish the goal more successfully than if you were to just stick to your guns.
I will also remember that there really are a lot of behaviors with different/similar topographies as well as different/similar functions. When put on the spot it is difficult to think of new examples of these, but I think this section helped me be able to come up with more.
What I liked about this chapter is how there was a total overall review of the class's concepts before jumping into this detailed section.
I disliked the repetitive examples to fill in at the end area of the section.

5.3: Functional Assessment of Behavior

Three things I will remember from this chapter include the following:

1)The importance of knowing what is reinforcing the behavior that you want to change. I have learned that in order to change the target behavior, you must first find out what exactly is reinforcing the particular behavior in order to find out what needs to be changed in order for the behavior modification to be successful. As long as the behavior is being reinforced, the likelihood of the behavior changing is very slim.

2)The importance of being specific. This chapter re-examined the fact that one behavior may serve multiple functions which is key to note when trying to modify behaviors. This is the point where goals need to be specific and describe what the functions are that the target behavior is serving and what can be used as intervention to change the aversive function.

3)In this chapter I have also learned that the first intervention that is decided upon may not be the intervention that works. It is perfectly normal to have to experiment with interventions to find the one that ultimately changes the aversive behavior.

One thing I liked about this chapter was seeing how things we had previously learned throughout this course be tied together and applied to one big topic. For example, it was neat to read how the different functions of one behavior play a major role when it comes to trying to find a specific intervention to change the behavior as a whole.

There wasn’t really anything that I disliked about this chapter. This chapter was interesting to read.

Section 5.3

After being elicited to read this chapter, one of the three things I will remember would be the concept of a functional assessment. A functional assessment is a tool you use to determine exactly what is needed to decrease or increase the target behavior. It is basically examining the ABC's. Once you know what the antecedent, behavior, and consequence of a specific target behavior are you can then use that knowledge to determine what plan would work best to increase or decrease the behavior.

The second thing I will remember from the chapter would be the concept of direct assessment. Direct assessment is used in the form of writing down a behavior. It could be the individual or another person writing it down or recording in some form. You would also have to include the ABC's of the behavior for it to work.

The third thing I will remember is the concept of indirect assessment. Indirect assessment is in the form of a interview or in the form of a questionnaire. Usually it is conducted by someone else because it is good to have someone that would be less subjective than yourself. These are typically used when the person is unable to communicate, unwilling to communicate, or when we are unable to have access to the bigger picture or when we can't figure out the source of the problem.

One thing I liked about the chapter was that the information was well put together and easy to follow. It was also very informative and added to my knowledge of behavior modification.

The one thing that I did not like about the chapter was that it did not have a summary. The summary shows what should be noted and I like looking over those!

5.3

1. The first thing that elicited a memory response with me was going over the functional assessment of behavior. This time the function of behavior is to help develop a hypothesis. Once we find the functional assessment we can begin to investigate the behavior and design a intervention

2. The second concept that I learned was direct assessment. this involves the observation and recording of behaviors. the observation are made under natural occurring conditions. this involves noticing when the target behavior occurs, and what happens as a consequence of the antecedent.

3. the last thing from this section when I emitted a reading behavior was indirect assessment. this involves the use of an interview process or questionare. these are often necessary when the individual is unable to communicate.

One thing that I really enjoyed about this section was the review of the functions and how the section went into good detail with the steps of the behavior process.

One thing that I really didnt like about the section was it was a lot of information at once. It made some of the information kind of confusing.


elicted, response, functional assessment, hypothesis, intervention, direct assessment, observation, target behavior, consequence, antecedent, indirect assessment

Section 5.3

Three things I emitted to remember about this section were:

1) Direct Assessment: This involves the observation and recording of behaviors. The observations are made under naturally occurring conditions. I will remember this because it kind of made me think like a person creepily watching you to observe your particular behaviors.

2) Making an hypothesis: When you want to determine what the function of a behavior is, you need to make an hypothesis and determine what may be a good intervention for that particular behavior. I found this interesting because for some reason I never really thought of behavior modification as a type of experiment you conduct on yourself or on others.

3) Indirect Assessment: This assessment might involve the use of questionnaires or interviews. I will remember this because I found this to be a less creepy way of determining the behaviors of someone. I will also remember it because it reminded me of the activity we did in class last Tuesday.

I found this section to be reinforcing. It was interesting to learn and really think about functions of behaviors and it really made me think of the functions of some behaviors I emit. Overall it was a desirable read.

There was nothing about this section that I found to be undesirable.

Terms Used: emitted, direct assessment, hypothesis, function of a behavior, intervention, behavior modification, experiment, indirect assessment, reinforcing, emit, functions, desirable, undesirable.

5.3
Out of the things I will remember in this section are:
Functional assessments of our behaviors, by understanding out ABC’s we can conduct functional assessments of our behaviors we are trying to change. It is designed to help develop an understanding of the ABC’s in our behavior and what we need to do to modify our behaviors that we are emitting to be the behaviors we are trying to emit.
Direct Assessment that involves direct assessments and recording of our behaviors, which relates to what we are going to be doing in class with assessing the progress of our behaviors we are trying to modify.
Indirect which is an interview or a questionnaire, to determine the goals of which behaviors to modify and the progress of the behavior modification.

One thing I will remember from this section is the flow in understanding this section, I felt like the section as a whole showed different ways to assess our behaviors that we are trying to modify by using the ABC’s along with a personal assessment. Also liked how it was an overview of the terminology we have used.

There wasn’t anything in this section that I didn’t like, I found it all useful in the sense of the review of terms and the examples that helped me understand it and recall information and use it in the exercise we are doing for class.

After reading 5.3 there were several things I enjoyed from this chapter. The three things I specifically liked were 1.) 6 specific steps in involved in the behavior modification process, 2.) direct assessment and 3.) indirect assessment. The 6 steps are involved are describing the target behavior, consequences, antecedents, examine the ABC’s, devise new antecedents and consequences, and finally evaluate the outcomes. Direct assessment is when a behavior is being observed and then recorded. Indirect assessment is when a behavior is learned by an interview.

Something I enjoyed about this chapter was knowing how to describe a function of a behavior. For example when the question was what is the function of eating, it was very easy for me to think of 3 different functions. Something I did not enjoy while reading this chapter was the fact that there was not a summary at the end. Though it was a short and very straight forward chapter, the summaries help me look back on past chapters and quickly remember what I read.

Section 5.3

Three things I remembered:
1. The first thing I know I'll remember is making a functional assessment of the behavior that you are trying to modify. If you want to modify a behavior, you need to find out why you emit the behavior, otherwise it'll be harder to change it. You need to find something that will basically replace the thing that you're trying to modify.
2. A second thing I'll remember is the concept that you need to experiment with multiple different things in order to successfully modify a behavior. Sometimes the things that you think will work to change a behavior don't work right away, so you need to have a "back-up plan" to use if the first thing doesn't work.
3. The third thing I'll remember is the difference between direct and indirect assessment. Direct is when you just record a behavior that occurs; either with the form of writing it down or by having some type of recording device with you. Indirect is when you have something like a questionnaire in between you and the person and their behavior.

One thing I liked about this chapter was how it talked about where we were with the other chapters and how this one ties into the other chapters that we have read and the ones we will read.

There wasn't really anything in this chapter that I didn't like.

The first thing I will remember from this chapter is the importance of what function a behavior serves is. Behaviors have many different functions and to be able to change a behavior, you need to know the specific function. Once you have determined exactly why u do something (the function), the easier it will be to intervene and change that undesired behavior. The second thing I will remember is what direct assessment is. It involves the observation and recording of behaviors while they occur. It could be done by the individual themselves, someone else, or by recording the situation. Observations are made under normal circumstances. Observers have to recognize the target behaviors and the consequences these lead to. Then think back and determine the antecedent. The last thing I will remember is what indirect assessment is. It is the use of interviews or questionnaires to gather the information. You can talk to parents, teachers, the individual themselves, etc. During the interview all of the ABCs are identified and the possible functions. Indirect assessments are usually done when you cant actually talk to the individual that needs the behavior modification.

One thing I liked about this chapter was how short it was. I liked that we only had once section to read; that was nice. The information was also interesting.

One thing I didn’t like was all of the exercises we had to do. They weren’t hard, but there were still quite a few of them. Other than that, there really wasn’t anything I didn’t like.

Terms: function, behavior, direct assessment, target behavior, consequence, antecedent, indirect assessment, behavior modification

Section 5.3

Three things I will remember from this section are as follows:
1. Once you have identified the target behavior you or someone else wants to chance, you can move forward with an intervention to change that target behavior. Interventions are like experiments, or hypotheses, in that you can never be sure that your initial intervention will work. Sometimes, it takes several times for behavioral interventions to actually make a change in the target behavior.
2. All behaviors have a function. Examples of this, like the ones in the text, are eating, nail biting, driving, speeding, exercising. Many times people emit the same behaviors but for different reasons. In order to initiate a successful intervention, as in changing the target behavior, you must know the function that behavior holds for that person. This is called identifying the functional assessment of the behavior.
3. Behavior modification is a DYNAMIC process that involved recording behaviors and identifying the antecedents and consequences of your behaviors. This is important to remember so when one is trying o modify their own behavior, or someone else’s, they do this successfully but correctly identifying all of that parts surrounding the target behavior.

One thing I liked about this section was the small review of the other steps involved in the behavior modification process. It is helpful and makes things easy to remember when there is a brief recap of the previous material at the beginning of a new chapter or section.

I did not like this section because I felt it was overly extensive in terms of explaining the functional assessment of a behavior.

Terms: Target behavior, Emit, Elicit, Functional Assessment, Decrease/Increase, Recording Data, Intervention, Experiment

5.3-

Three things I will remember about this chapter . . .

First, I will remember what a behavior is and the many things in my life that I could apply it to such as eating, nail biting, and exercising.

Second, direct assessment and how it is the observation and recording of certain behaviors, such as we have been doing with the target behavior.

Lastly, I will remember how to apply the assessment to the target behavior we have been asked to record.

One thing I really liked that the behavior modification process was laid out and there was a quick review of what we had learned already and where we were currently.

One thing I disliked is that there was no summary.

5.3


3 things I’ll remember about this section:

1) Topography of the behavior is generally the same though the functions can be different.

2) Trying to find what the function to a target behavior is can cause you figure out a way to increase or decrease a that behavior. If you don’t know why you do a specific behavior you want to decrease, you will have a harder time trying to plan out how to decrease the target behavior.

3) To analyze functions of a behavior you can either do them directly or indirectly. Observation and recording (direct) vs. an assessment such as a questionnaire (indirect).

One thing I liked about this section was that after emitting a behavior, you can find an intervention to increase or decrease the function it serves. I think back to relating it to positive/negative reinforcement/or punishment and how you can go about changing the function.

One thing I disliked about this section was coming up with interventions for the functions. It’s kind of like trial and error because you don’t necessarily know if the intervention you come up with will work for all people who emit a behavior and have different functions for said behavior. Also it was hard to come up with functions that I don’t typically emit such as smoking or nail biting so I had to try to figure out reasons why people do emit those behaviors and how they find them desirable.

Terminology: target behavior, direct/indirect, intervention, reinforcement, punishment, emit, desirable

After reading section 5.3, please respond to the following questions.

You should also have a behavioral program in place (the steps you provided previously). Please implement that program (i.e., start reinforcing the behavior) and continue to collect data.
1.) Three things I will remember from the chapter are:
a. That functions of behaviors can have the same topography, many behaviors usually have the same topography but different functions. I will emit the behavior of remembering this because it’s a reinforcement from previously learning it .
b. I will emit the behavior of remember that there are two different assessments when modifying behavior; direct and indirect assessment. Direct is when you observe and record a given emitted behavior and indirect is when you use a questionnaire or interview technique.
c. I will also emit the behavior of remembering the term natural contingenciesWhen thinking of a reward, it is common to think of a thing such as food, and leave out feelings. Having a parent be disappointed in you is far worse than any other punishment and I feel that it works in the sense of natural contingencies. The feelings, pride and sensation that we get after we accomplish our target behavior iswhat can really drive us towards our goal.
2.) 1. Something interesting to me was the functions of behaviors could be. I have always thought about why people act the way they do, and thinking about functions of goes along with that mind frame and elicits me to think a little deeper and be more conscientious about why someone may be emitting a certain behavior.
3.) Something I found aversive about this chapter was combining functions and interventions as examples. L Found this consuming and difficult to get the hand of.

I will remember the concept of the functional assessment. In order to modify a behavior it is important that we are using proper reinforcers. I also will remember the importance of properly defining a behavior, rather than looking at the topography of the behavior. I will also remember the types of assessment, direct and indirect. Direct is real time observations while indirect involves looking back to the past or self reporting.

I don't know that there was anything within this chapter that I specifically liked or disliked. Honestly, it felt like a review of chapters we've had previously. I would say if I had to pick something, it would be the different functions of behavior was interesting to me.

5.3

One thing that I will remember from this section is the importance of not only knowing what a behavior is specifically but also to know it's exact function. This answers the question of why the behavior is occurring in the first place. Once these factors are determined, it is much easier to alter or reinforce the behavior accordingly. A second thing that I will remember from this section is the concept of direct assessment. Direct assessment is the recording of emitted behaviors as they occur. I will remember it because while effective, it seems somewhat invasive. The third thing that i will remember from this section is indirect assessment. Indirect assessment is less invasive as it uses questionnaire and interview processes to determine elements of behaviors, however it is presumably less accurate than direct assessment. One thing that I liked from the section is that it was condensed and focused information; this makes the learning process much easier for me. One thing that I did not like about this section is that it does not have a summary at the end like many of the earlier chapters; they have proved helpful for difficult concepts in the past.

terms: behavior, reinforce, direct assessment, emitted, indirect assessment,

I do remeber that the function of the behavior is needed to fully understand the behavior. Being able to establish a functional assesment is needed too so we can investigate the reinforcing it, so an intervention may be structured and implemented. I liked the introduction of the hypothesis being presented as nothing more than an educated guess. Eliciting my couriosity to keep a baseline and emit the thought of ABC's in an applied way.


Nothing I didn't like, it's all prudnent.

Three things that I will remember from 5.3-
Functional Assessment behavior is supposed to help develop a hypothesis regarding the relationship between the ABC’s of behavior. This would comparing the antecedent to the consequence. If you go smoke in a daycare, it is likely you will be kicked out. But if you smoke at your house, it is likely to be accepted by those in the house. The place that the behavior is happening can change the consequence. Just changing the antecedent, made the consequence much more pleasurable than at the daycare, where is was found to be aversive. The first example would probably decrease or make the behavior go extinct from the aversive consequence. The second example would probably increase the target behavior and by pleasurable to that person.
A hypothesis is developed in order to create a plan or intervention to decrease the behavior, like smoking in the daycare. When the hypothesis is developed, it then needs to be set into place in order to see if it will decrease the behavior. If not, then the hypothesis needs to be changed in order to emit a more pleasurable behavior.
Last thing is that the behavior modification process and functional assessment behavior really kind of go hand in hand. They help one another out by showing each step of the behavior modification process and helping establish an hypothesis for the antecedent/consequence.

One thing that I did not like was that the chapter seemed to have a lot in it. There seemed to be a lot going on with the functional assessment.
One thing that I liked was that it mentioned the behavior modification process again and kept it fresh in our minds.

Terms: hypothesis, consequence, antecedent, target behavior, behavior, behavior modification process, functional assessment, pleasurable, aversive, extinct, emit

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