Educational Research
Single-Subject Critique
Establishing Discriminative Control of Responding Using Functional and Alternative Reinforcers During Functional Communication Training
Wayne W. Fisher, David E. Kuhn, and Rachel H. Thompson
Appropriateness of research question or purpose:
The purpose of this research was interesting and of value as it focused on problems that often occur when Functional Communication Training (FCT) is in use. This study sought to find effective solutions as desired “. . .response[s] may be weakened and destructive behavior[s] may reemerge . . .'; when reinforcements of communication are delayed or denied due to impossibility or inconvenience of the caregiver or instructors ability to provide said reinforcement in a timely manner. “. . .procedures are needed to increase the effectiveness of FCT in situations in which it is impractical or impossible to deliver a given reinforcer.';
Research design and design rationale:
This study was broken up into 4 phases (the fourth phase “. . .was completed with only 1 participant in only one condition because of time limitations on the participants’ hospital admission.';) Phase 1: Functional Analyses and Descriptive Assessments. Alternating treatment with no baseline design. “During this analysis, a test condition . . .and a control condition were compared using a multi-element design.'; Phase 2: Communication and Discrimination Training. Phase 3: Treatment Evaluation of FCT with Discriminative Stimuli. Between series, alternating treatment (ABAB) design was used to compare FCT + EXT vs. ACT + EXT in two conditions for one participant (Amy) and in one condition for one participant (Ned). Phase 4: Independent Effects of FCT and EXT. Between series, alternating treatment and a final treatment design was used to compare FCT/ACT (w/o EXT) vs. EXT alone with the final series being strictly FCT/ACT (w/o EXT).
The order of presentation for Amy’s discrimination training were “. . .stimulus-present and stimulus-absent periods [that] were alternated every 30 s for the duration of the 10-min session. For Ned, “. . .one SD at a time was presented for 1 min. The order of the first three SD presentations in a given session was randomized, without replacement; thereafter, the order remained constant.';
Phase 1 was “conducted to test the hypotheses generated by the results of. . .descriptive assessments. . .to determine whether . . .destructive behavior was multiply maintained by both attention and access to tangible items, but under specific stimulus conditions [for Amy]. . .[and whether] destructive behavior was maintained by .
Use non-verbal communication such as gesture, facial expression and written communication wherever possible; use pictures, symbols or music to support communication and understanding; not finishing an individual’s sentence unless asked to :avoid negative statements; take care with tone of voice and body language ; be aware of any hearing , visual or second language difficulties; use listening skills to interpret intended meaning
The observations were done in Alisha’s home in her living room, on the floor. For task one there were five tests in total. Test number one was to find a toy that caught the attention of the child and then hide it behind a large object. I used her blue teddy bear as the toy, and a large piece of cardboard to hide it behind. For test two, while the toy was in Alisha’s view, I dropped it behind a lazy boy so it would no longer be visible. During test three, I hid most of the teddy bear under a blanket but
There are many key terms which are used by one or multiple schools of Strategic family therapy. One of the most important terms is that of the communication paradigm. The communication paradigm states that people are always communicating. All behaviors are a form of communication and can occur on many different levels at the same time. A behavior can be verbal, nonverbal, or Meta communication. For example a couple comes in to therapy because a husband does not communicate with his wife. The husband states that he loves his wife and does not like the idea of therapy. This is verbal communication. The husband also taps his foot constantly and has his arms crossed in front of him. This cou...
The process varied from experiment to experiment, however, a few things were kept constant; there was an average of ten to twenty patients and all participants were abov...
Three types of communication skills are researched when dealing with behavioral children. These include verbal, nonverbal, and listening. Verbal communication is used with a child who is one to talk. A child must feel comfortable talking about their problems in order for verbal communication to work. This communication skill is used the least do to the fact that many children have been hurt and unwilling to relive the pain by communicating. Verbal communication can sometimes take years for a child.
Communication plays a major role in preventing and resolving behavior problems and enhancing your patient’s quality of life by allowing them to feel, even when they no longer know or recognize those around them that they are in the midst of people who care about them and are concerned about their physical and emotional well being.
It discusses how children are born with that needs to connect with individuals around them. Teachers and providers create positive relationship with children from birth through the early years. The foundation for that healthy social and emotional development because it affects her children see the world, express themselves, manages their emotions, in establishing a positive relationship with others. There were several areas of development that included social interactions that focus on the relationship that we share and include relationship with adults and peers. Emotional awareness recognized and understands your feelings and actions of other people, and self-regulation where you have that ability to express your thoughts, feelings, and behavior in a socially appropriate way. There were many tips that were listed when working with infants from talking and reading, having that warm, responsive, and consistent care, maintaining predictable routines, and getting to know each child while following their lead. The importance of supporting children and developing social skills is critical for learning, happiness, and long-term. This development begins during infancy and can be supported through simple social games, emotional role model, and imitating an infant's facial expression and sounds. The importance of social-emotional development and toddlers makes an impact in a child life when these skills are developed starting in infancy. Encouraging positive behaviors and using positive discipline practices that helped to develop the ability to make good choices as well as recognizing the confidence that is built when these behaviors are repeated. This is a process for young children to learn these behaviors always remembering that a patient response will help especially when the behaviors are
In one condition the participant had three cards placed in front of them and they had to switch between three card sorting rules just like in the original paper version of the WCST. In another condition they started to increase the amount of information that had to be processed by adding another card to the set which is called a fourth viable task. The first study was conducted with twenty-five undergrad students that didn’t have any history of neurological and psychiatric disabilities they were grouped by the age range of 18 to 33 every participant had normal or corrected to normal vision. They sat about a foot and a half away from the monitor, then the professors placed about 24 stimulus cards on that varied in color, shape, number, and shading (filled, empty, dotted, hatched). The use of so many different cards is necessary for a sensitive scoring of error scores, it allows determining which rule has been chosen by the examinee. “The number of viable task rules was varied as the central manipulation of this study. In the three-rule condition, one of the four rules was inactive for the participant (i.e., the participant was told that there were only three viable task rules and responses to the fourth rule never resulted in positive feedback).” (Lange
Poe starts out with a man, by the name of Montresor, wanting revenge on another man, named Fortunato. Most of the story takes place deep in the Montresor family catacombs. As Montresor lures Fortunato into the catacombs, he chains Fortunato up to a small hole in a wall, bricks it over, and leaves Fortunato to die. Even through the traits of anger, hatred, and revenge, as the story progresses on, Montresor, the main character in “The Cask of Amontillado”, starts to show signs of feeling guilty for wanting to murder Fortunato.
More specifically, if an individual uses the five C’s they would improve negative interactions. Also, the use of proper verbal communication, nonverbal communication, and listening skills will help overcome the negative interactions that sometimes come along when people communicate with each other. The five C’s of communication are complete, clear, concise, cohesive, and courteous (Tamparo & Lindh, 2008, pp. 13-14). The message that you convey must be complete, clear, concise, and cohesive. This helps the other person understand what was said. The other individual will open up and understand what was said if a therapeutic courteous approach was used. Appropriate words and tone of voice help an individual clear any confusion about the message. As for nonverbal communication, it is important to match facial expressions with verbal communication. Lastly, the ability to listen to the other person can be a therapeutic technique that shows you care and want to help them solve their
Riccio, C. A., Reynolds, C. R., Lowe, P., & Moore, J. J. (2002). The continuous performance test: a window on the neural substrates for attention?. Archives of clinical neuropsychology, 17(3), 235-272.
Communication is key to human development. Newborn learn to use crying to communicate a need or want to their caregivers. Though caregivers are perplexed by the first cries from a newborn, eventually both parties learn to comprehend, or decode, the verbal and nonverbal messages from the sender. This initial conversation with the world is the foundation for the communication process for the rest of life. As one matures, communication becomes more complex, thus this complexity leads to routines with some people developing into effective or ineffective communicators. Effective communicators are more likely to be understood than someone with
Winncott, M., and Laleh, B. 1989 The Phases of Development in TA therapy, New York, Guildford.
Mass media “references to people with mental health problems found more than four in ten articles in the press used derogatory terms about mental health and nearly half of press coverage related mental illness to violence and crime” (Esseler, 244). This is causing for people to look down upon the mention of mental illnesses and many times ignore the importance of confronting this issue. Therefore the importance of removing this stigmatization is crucial. Education allows to make more informed decisions and then changing the perception of mental illness can lead towards policy changes toward the improvement of mental health (Sakellari,
Poor communication skills cause students to use violence to vent their frustration. Many young children demonstrate aggression when they are not understood by adults or peers. This aggression will continue as children get older if parents and educators do not teach children how to communicate effectively by using language instead of violence. Children with immature forms of language are more likely to display physical aggression than children with more extensive language skills (Piel 100). Child therapists may argue that verbal communication training cannot always be effective in reducing aggression, and this result can be true in some children; however, in a study by Durand and Carr, establishing functional communication skills was found to be the only solution to reducing problem behaviors (qtd. in Piel 106). Traini...