Escape-Driven Behaviors - Why?

All to often we find ourselves caught up in trying to get rid of behaviors without thinking about the whys.  Why does my child want my attention?  Why does my child want to escape this activity? 

Let's take homework, for example:
Antecedent:  "Time to do homework"
Behavior: "No, I don't want to"
STOP
Before applying a consequence, assess why the child doesn't want to do the homework.  Does the child simply want to continue playing with toys?  Then the consequence must be to put away the toys and do the homework.  BUT, maybe the homework is too much or too hard.  Of course, the consequence must still be to complete the homework, but maybe you provide help.  In this case, what you may need to do is teach your child to ask for help when something is too hard instead of refusing to do the activity and engaging in problem behaviors to avoid it. 

There are lots of things our kids want to escape:  homework, chores, the grocery cart, crowded areas, and the list goes on.  When we ask ourselves "why?" then we are able to take some antecedent steps (before the behavior happens) to help avoid those problem behaviors in the first place.  For example, we can make activities more pleasant.  Instead of 20 items on the homework list, maybe they do 10 items then they have a chance to play.  Instead of doing the dishes alone, maybe you can do them together.  And for that cold, metal, boring shopping cart maybe you could bring some toys along to the grocery store (and a cushion to sit on).

The next time your child engages in a problem behavior the first step is to ask why is the child engaging in the behavior (to escape, to gain attention, to get access to a toy/food, etc.)  and then why does the child want to escape, gain attention, etc? 

Let's develop a simple behavior plan...

So we last discussed that the first step before creating a behavior plan was to assess your child's behavior and take some data.  Behavior typically has 1 of 4 functions: attention, tangibles, escape, and sensory.  This week I'm going to create 3 sample behavior plans for a tantrum - one with the function of attention, one with the function of access to tangibles, and one with the function of escape from non-prefered activities.  These are very simplistic plans using only reinforcement and extinction. 

ATTENTION
Antecedent:  Mommy is cooking dinner in the kitchen.
Behavior:  Child comes into the kitchen and begins tugging on mommy's leg.  When mommy doesn't attend the child begins crying then falls to the floor kicking.   
Consequence:  Mommy stops cooking dinner and picks the child up saying "stop crying".   
Result:  The child stops crying. 
Function:  The child's tantrum successfully gained mommy's attention - both in the form of acknowledging the behavior "stop crying" and in the form of mommy stopping her current activity to pick up the child.
Plan of action:  First, decide on a replacement behavior.  For instance, the child wanted to be picked up so you may teach the word "up".  Try to do this during play time when the child is happy and not engaging in tantrum behaviors.  Tell the child to say "up" and immediately pick the child up to reinforce that behavior.  Practice this several times.  For young toddlers, their closest approximation may be "uh".  Next, when the child engages in tantrum behavior to gain your attention you should apply extinction - meaning that if the child wants attention then you do not provide any attention and do not pick the child up.  When the child becomes calm, prompt the child to say "up" and immediately reinforce this behavior. 

TANGIBLE
Antecedent:  Sister is playing with a toy that brother wants to play with.
Behavior:  Brother tries to take the toy away, unsuccessfully.  Then the brother begins to cry and hit his sister.
Consequence:  The sister gives the toy to her brother.
Result:  Brother's tantrum stops and he begins to play with the toy.
Function:  The child's tantrum successfully gained access to the toy (tangible).
Plan of action:  First, decide on a replacement behavior.  For instance, the child wanted the toy from his sister so you may teach the child to ask his sister to "share" or to say "please".  Again, try to do this when the child is engaging in appropriate behaviors and having fun, not when the child is in the middle of a tantrum.  Prompt the child to say the key word then immediately reinforce that behavior.  It helps if the other child is willing to do this but if not then mommy or daddy can share the toy.  Next, when the child engages in the snatching away and tantrum behavior to get access to a toy apply extinction - meaning DO NOT allow the child to have the toy.  When the child becomes calm, prompt the child to say the key words - "share" or "please" - and immediately reinforce the behavior.  Thank the child for asking nicely and have the other child share the toy.

ESCAPE
Antecedent:  Daddy says "time to do homework".
Behavior:  The child immediately says "No" and begins throwing toys, crying, and kicking.
Consequence:  Daddy says that we can do homework later. 
Result:  The child's tantrum stops and he continues to play with his toys. 
Function:  The child's tantrum behavior successfully earned escape from the homework activity plus the child continued to engage in the preferred play activity. 
Plan of action:  First, teach the child a replacement behavior.  For instance, the child did not want to do homework and wanted to continue playing so you may teach the child to ask for "5 more minutes, please".  This may not be acceptable in all situations but it is important that the child learns that sometimes you can delay non-preferred tasks.  It also leads us to preparing the child before transition.  It often helps to tell a child "In 5 more minutes, we're going to do homework", then "One more minute", and finally a 10 second countdown before putting away the toys and doing homework.  When the child engages in the tantrum behavior when told "time to do homework" you should apply extinction - meaning do not let the child escape doing his homework.  Hold the demand and put away the toys.  Inevitably the child will continue to tantrum and it will be impossible to do the homework under this circumstance.  This is why it is important to clean up the toys so that while the child is temporarily escaping homework, he does not have access to fun activities.  When the child becomes calm, prompt the child through the homework activity reminding them that when it is done he may go play.  "First homework, then play." 

Keep voting for the next topic: tantrums, diets, or eat your veggies!

Functional Behavioral Assessment and The ABCs of Behavior

The ABCs of behavior, often refered to as the "three term contingency" are the Antecedents, Behaviors, and Consequences.  Antecedents are what occurs before the behavior.  Behaviors can be described by topography (what it looks like) and function (the maintaining consequence).  Consequences are what occur after the behavior.  Maintaining consequences are those that reinforce the behavior (i.e. increase the future probability of that behavior’s occurrence).  We have to look at each of these things in order to determine our plan of action for getting rid of unwanted behavior. 

If your child is engaging in a behavior that you would like to decrease, the first step is to define the behavior so that everytime you, your husband, your child's teacher, and anyone else involved sees that behavior you can all agree that it happened.  For sake of consistency, I will continue with the example of my daughter.  She "hangs on my leg and whines" when she wants me to pick her up.  What I really mean is that she wraps her arms around my leg and makes an unintelligible crying sound without producing tears.  I have just defined the behavior according to topography (what it looks like).  I have determined the function of that behavior to be attention - specifically for me to pick her up. 

Behavior typically has 1 of 4 functions: access to tangibles (toys, food, etc.), escape (from homework, chores, people, etc.), attention (including when you sigh out of frustration - yes some kids like to get under your skin), and sensory (the behavior appeals to one of their senses - sight, sound, touch, taste, smell).  To determine the function we should implement a functional behavioral assessment (FBA).  Start with collecting anecdotal data on the behavior.  When an unwanted behavior occurs, write down exactly what happened before it, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem.  You should also write down exactly what the behavior looked like and anything that happened after the behavior.  This will include naturally occuring consequences and anything that you or others did.     

Keep in mind - sometimes a behavior may have the same topography but a different function depending on the environment.  Think in terms of a baby (i.e. my 15 month old).  She has limited communication and sometimes when she hangs on my leg and whines it means "pick me up and hold me" but other times it means "Mommy, I'm really tired and want to escape all this interaction".  She has not yet learned to say "night night" so she resorts to the only communication she knows.  It's important to always assess the environment to determine the function of a behavior.  YOU should be a walking, talking, breathing functional behavior assessor.