Jeremy is a 17-year-old individual with a diagnosis of autism. He is not able to use words to communicate. His parents report that he has historically been able to complete tasks around the home such as cleaning his room and sorting his laundry. Typically, his parents have been able to simply verbally ask him to complete these tasks, however in the last several weeks, Jeremy has started to bite his wrists when he is prompted to complete a task. Jeremy’s parents have indicated that they will typically tell Jeremy that he doesn’t have to complete the task after he begins to bite his wrists. The function of the Jeremy’s “self-injurious behaviour” (SIB) is determined to be: escape/avoidance of aversive stimuli (socially mediated negative reinforcement).
Using the template provided:
Define the target behaviours you would like to decrease or increase. You can utilize any definition (label) or form that you can think of, but make sure that it corresponds to the scenario that you have selected and that your definition is as clear as possible (see lecture slides that described operational definitions). Make sure your definition corresponds to the dimension of “behavioral” as outlined by Baer, Wolf, & Risley (1968).
Identify how you would have assessed the function of problem behaviour (if applicable) and support your approach/strategy using examples from the behaviour-analytic literature as well as the factors associated with the scenario you have selected. If you are selecting target behaviour(s) to increase, describe how you will assess the person’s current level of skill/fluency.
Identify a behaviour-analytic approach you may recommend for this scenario to attempt to help the people described in it. For example, you may recommend a form of differential reinforcement, extinction, antecedent strategies, or even punishment procedures if you believe they are necessary. Describe how you would apply these approaches (e.g. prompting and reinforcement procedures). Explain your rationale. Explain your rationale.
Describe how you would collect data to determine whether your intervention is effective. Provide a rationale for selecting this method.
Describe strategies to generalize and promote any newly acquired skills by either the mediators/caregivers, or the person who is the subject of behavioural intervention. Provide a rationale.
