this document is from the therapeutic intervention.

1. Course: Therapeutic
Intervention (Child)
Course Instructor:
Ayesha Aziz
Consultant Clinical
Psychologist
PhD Scholar

3. Prevalence

4. Famous people with learning disabilities

5. Contents
Introduction to behavior and its characteristics
Behavioral terms
Behavior therapy and its characteristics
Behavior modification and its characteristics
Historical figures in behavior modification
Areas of application
Why do we behave the way we do
ABC model
Behavioral assessment: observing and recording behavior

6. Behavior
Behavior is what people do and say.
Characteristics
Behavior involves a person’s actions (what people do or say); it is described with action
verbs. For Example: Anger
Behaviors have dimensions (A dimension is a measurable aspect of the behavior) that can
be measured
Frequency of a behavior; that is, you can count the number of times a behavior
occurs (e.g., Shane bit his fingernails 12 times in the class period). Duration of a
behavior, or the time from when an instance of the behavior starts
until it
stops
(e.g., Rita jogged for 25 minutes). Intensity of a behavior or the physical force involved in
the behavior (e.g., Garth bench pressed 220 pounds). The speed of behavior, or the
latency from some event to the start of a behavior.

7. Characteristics
Behaviors can be observed, described, and recorded by others or by the person engaging in the behavior.
Behaviors have an impact on the environment, including the physical or the social environment.
Behavior is lawful; that is, its occurrence is systematically influenced by environmental events.
Behaviors may be overt or covert.
An overt behavior is an action that can be observed and recorded by a person other than the one
engaging in the behavior.
Covert behaviors, also called private events are not observable by others.
There are three categories of covert behaviors: cognitions including thinking, expecting,
attributing, and imagining; emotions (feelings); and physiological responses such as muscle
tension, heart rate, blood pressure,
and respiratory rate.

8. Behavioral Terms
Behavior Therapy: More respondent model, dysfunctional behavior in clinical
settings, generic term ranging procedures from lobotomies to wilderness survival
courses.
Applied Behavior Analysis: More operant model in non clinical setting with the
functional assessment
Behavior Modification: Broader, applies to all, refers to the procedures that
change the consequences of the behaviors such as (reinforcement)

9. Behavior Therapy
Defining themes
Scientific: Precision and empirical evaluation
Active: Homework assignments
Present focused
Learning focuses

10. characteristics
Individualized
Stepwise progression
Treatment packages
Brevity
Overt behaviors, cognitions, emotions, and physiological responses constitute the
four modes of behavior that are assessed and treated in behavior therapy.

11. Therapist-client
relationship:
Collaboration

12. Behavior Modification
Behavior modification is the applied science and professional practice concerned
with analyzing and modifying human behavior.
Analyzing means identifying the functional relationship between environmental
events and a particular behavior to understand the reasons for the behavior or to
determine why a
person behaved as he or she did.
Modifying means developing and implementing procedures to help people change
It involves altering
environmental events so as to influence behavior.
help people change their behavior.

13. Characteristics of Behavior Modification
Focus on behavior:
Target behavior: behavioral excesses and deficits
Guided by the theory and philosophy of behaviorism
Based on behavioral principles
Emphasis on current environmental events
Precise description of procedures
Implemented by people in everyday life
Measurement of behavior change
De-emphasis on past events as causes of behavior
Rejection of hypothetical underlying causes of behavior

14. Historical figures in Behavior
modification
Ivan P. Pavlov
Edward L. Thorndike
B. F. Skinner
John B. Watson

15. Areas of application
Developmental disabilities
Mental illness
Education and special education
Rehabilitation
Community psychology
Clinical Psychology
Self-management
Prevention
Children behavior management
Sports performance
Health related behaviors
Gerontology

16. Why do we behave the way we do
According to the behavioral model, a person’s behaviors
are caused by present events that occur before and after the behaviors have
been performed.

17. ABC model: Behavioral Model
Antecedents
Consequences
Maintaining conditions
Maintaining antecedents
prerequisites
stimulus control: prompts and settings events
maintaining consequences

18. Identifying maintaining antecedents and
consequences
Maintaining conditions

19. Activity time

21. Behavioral assessment: observing and
recording behavior

22. Rationale
Measuring the behavior before treatment provides information that can help
you determine whether treatment is necessary.
Behavioral assessment can provide information that helps you choose the
best treatment.
Measuring the target behavior before and after treatment allows you to
determine whether the behavior changed after the treatment was
implemented

23. Types of behavioral assessment
Indirect assessment
Direct assessment

24. Indirect Assessment
Indirect assessment involves using interviews, questionnaires, and rating scales
to obtain information on the target behavior from the person exhibiting the
behavior or from others (e.g., parents, teachers, or staff).
Indirect assessment does not occur when the target behavior occurs but relies on
an individual’s recall of the target behavior.
For example: When the psychologist interviews the student’s teacher and asks
the teacher how many times the child usually interacts with other children on
the playground, the psychologist is using indirect
assessment.

25. Direct assessment
With direct assessment, a person observes and records the
target behavior as it occurs.
To observe the target behavior, the observer (or a video camera, in some cases)
must be in close proximity to the person exhibiting the behavior so that the
target behavior can be seen (or heard).
In addition, the observer must have a precise definition of the target behavior so
that its occurrence can be distinguished from occurrences of other behaviors. To
record the target behavior, the observer must register the occurrence of the
behavior when it is observed.
For example: When a school psychologist observes a socially withdrawn child on
the playground and records each social interaction with another child, the
psychologist is using direct assessment.

26. Direct assessment is preferred

27. Steps of direct assessment
Defining the target behavior
Determining the logistics of recording
Choosing a recording method
Choosing a recording instrument

28. Defining the Target behavior

A target behavior is a narrow, discrete aspect of the problem that
can be clearly defined and easily measured.

For example:

As an example of defining a target behavior, unsportsmanlike behavior for a
particular baseball player may be defined as yelling obscenities, throwing the
bat or batting helmet, and kicking the dirt as the player walks back to the
bench after striking out
Characteristics

29. Characteristics of a good target behavior
Narrow in scope: The target behavior usually addresses one part of the
problem rather than the entire problem. For example, “going out with
close friends” might be a target behavior for a client whose problem is
pervasive social anxiety. Further, the definition of the target behavior
may include a specific time when and place where engaging in it is appropriate
(for example, “making one’s bed before leaving the house”).
Unambiguously defined: A target behavior that is defined precisely can be
assessed reliably. In the case of an overt behavior, knowing the definition
of the target behavior should allow anyone observing the client to determine
whether the client is engaging in the target behavior.

30. Behaviors and labels are common
problem
Labels
Behavioral definition
Tantrums
When Bobby cries and sobs, lies on the floor and kicks the floor or
walls, or pounds
toys or other objects on the floor, it is defined as a tantrum.
stuttering
Repeating a word or a word sound, prolonging the sound when saying
a word, or hesitating more than 2 seconds between words in a
sentence or
between syllables in a word
Nail biting
Any time Mark’s finger is in his mouth and his teeth are closed
together on the fingernail, cuticle, or skin around the nail, it is
defined as nail-biting

31. Characteristics of a good target behavior
Measurable. Whenever possible, the target behavior should be quantified.
Discrete numbers are more precise than qualitative categories (such as
“improved” versus “unimproved”).
The measurements can be of (1) frequency (how often), (2) duration (length of time),
(3) intensity (strength), or (4) amount of by-product of the target behavior (for
example, the amount of liquid soap remaining in a soap dispenser as an indication of
hand washing5).
Table 4.1

32. Types of Measures Used to Assess Target
Behaviors
Example
Description
Type
Number of days child attends school
Number of cigarettes smoked
Number of times the
behavior occurs
Frequency
Hours child spends in school
Minutes spent smoking
Minutes to enter school after
being dropped off by parents
Minutes to light up after sitting
down at desk
Number of days preceding an
absence
Minutes between cigarettes
smoked
Length of time spent engaging in target
behavior
Latency (length of time to
begin a target behavior)
Interval between responses (length of time
between the occurrence
of instances of the target
behavior)
Duration

33. Cont…
Example
Description
Type
How anxious (on scale of
1–10)
child feels while in school
Strength of inhalation
Strength of the target
behavior
Intensity
1. Number of punches in
lunch
meal ticket
2. Number of cigarette
butts left in
ashtray
Number of by-products of
engaging in the target
behavior
AMOUNT OF
BY-PRODUCT

34. Characteristics of a good target behavior
Appropriate and adaptive. The target behavior must fit the client’s unique
problem and be adaptive for the client.
This requirement includes not causing other problems (for instance, in the
treatment of obesity, smoking as a substitute for snacking results in health
hazards).
The target behavior also must suit the particular client’s circumstances and
abilities.
For example, running 5 miles a day would not be an appropriate target behavior
for a person who is 100 pounds overweight.

35. Types of target behaviors
Acceleration target behaviors:
Behaviors which are increased
Acceleration target behaviors are used for behavioral deficits, which are adaptive
behaviors that clients are not performing often enough, long enough, or strongly
enough (for instance, paying attention in class and standing up for one’s rights).
Deceleration target behaviors are decreased. Deceleration target behaviors are
used for behavioral excesses,

36. Deceleration target behaviors:
Behaviors which are decreased.
Deceleration target behaviors are used for behavioral excesses, which are
maladaptive behaviors that clients are performing too often, for
too long a time, or too strongly (for example, fighting and smoking)

37. Special Considerations for Deceleration
Target Behaviors
Strategies
Decrease the deceleration target behavior directly
Replace a deceleration target behavior with an acceleration target behavior.
Requirements
First, it must serve the same general function (compliments and criticisms, for example, are
both ways of communicating feedback).
Second, it should be adaptive; nothing is gained by substituting one maladaptive behavior for
another.
Third, the acceleration target behavior should be a competing response, meaning that it
should be difficult to perform both at the same time (as is true of complimenting and
criticizing).

38. Examples
Competing Acceleration Target
Behavior
Deceleration Target Behavior
Studying in the library
Studying in front of the television
Keeping hands in pockets or at sides
Biting fingernails
Praising others
Criticizing others

39. The logistics of recording
The observer
To identify who will observe and record the behavior.
In a behavior modification program, the target behavior typically is observed and recorded by a person other
than the one exhibiting the target behavior (i.e., an independent observer).
The observer may be a professional, such as a behavior analyst or a psychologist, or a person routinely
associated with the client in the client’s natural environment, such as a teacher, parent, staff member or
supervisor.
The observer must have proximity to the client to observe the target
behavior when it occurs. The exception would be when the target behavior is
observed via video.
The observer must be trained to identify the occurrence of
the target behavior and to record the behavior immediately.
He or she also must have the time to observe and record the behavior and must be willing to function as an
observer
Self-monitoring:

40. When and where to record
Natural setting:
A natural setting consists of the places in which the target behavior
typically occurs.
Observation in a natural setting is likely to provide a
more representative sample of the target behavior.
For example: Observing and recording a target behavior in the classroom is an
example of a natural setting for a student.
The target behavior may be
influenced by the analogue setting, and observation in this setting may provide a
sample that is not representative of the behavior under normal circumstances
Analogue setting: Observing a target behavior in a clinic
playroom is an analogue setting because being in the clinic is not part of the
child’s normal daily routine.
Structured
unstructured