Techy Tots

1. TECHY TOTS
FINAL FIESTA PROJECT
BY. GALA COATS

2. MEET AVA…
Ava is my 6-year-old sister! She is a energetic
sweetheart.
Ava loves:
• Playing games on her iPad
• Watching “the YouTube movies” (A.k.a. Roblox,
HobbyKidsTV)
• Going on walks to the park
• Playing in “Gollum’s room” (Das me)
Ava loathes:
• Homework

3. “GALA IS
DOING HER
HOMEWORK-
”
“CAN SHE DO
MINE TOO?”
ESCAPE CONTINGENCY
Ah homework, the necessary evil. When it’s time to do homework,
Mama Coats struggles to get Ava to put away her technology.
• Reinforcer: iPad
• Aversive stimulus: The homework
Before:
Ava must do
homework
Behavior:
Ava whines and
tantrums
After:
Ava doesn’t
have to do
homework.
Reinforcer: a stimulus that increases the frequency of the response that it follows
Negative reinforcer: a stimulus that increases the future frequency of a response that its
removal follows.

4. SICK SOCIAL
CYCLE (VICTIMS
ESCAPE MODEL)
When Ava tantrums, she escapes the
homework… for now… On the other side,
the tantrum is aversive to my mother,
who escapes the tantrum by telling Ava
“she can technology longer.”
Ava must
do
homework
Ava doesn’t
have to do
homework
Ava whines
and
tantrums
No
aversive
whining
and
tantrum
Mom
doesn’t
tell Ava
she can
play on
the iPad
longer
Aversive
whining
and
tantrum Mom tells
Ava she
can play on
iPad
longer
Mom tells
Ava she can
play her iPad
longer
Aversive
whining and
tantrum
No aversive
whining
and tantrum
Sick social cycle: By escaping the perpetrator’s aversive behavior, the
victim unintentionally reinforces that aversive behavior

5. GOALS
1. DECREASE BAD
BEHAVIORS
(TANTRUMS,
WHINING,
COMPLAINING, ETC.)
2. INCREASE GOOD
BEHAVIORS (DOING
HOMEWORK)

6. STRATEGY #1
EXTINCTION
• My first strategy stop
the reinforcement
• Of bad behavior
• Using extinction
At first I instructed Mom to “ignore” Ava when she
begins to tantrum, however, “ignoring” fails the dead
man test.
Attention is an important stimulus for Ava.
No attention for a tantrum!
Before:
No
attention
from Mom
Behavior:
Ava
tantrums
After:
No
attention
from Mom
Before:
Ava must
do
homework
Behavior:
Ava
tantrums
After:
Ava must
do
homework
Extinction: Stopping the reinforcement or escape contingency for a
previously reinforced response causes the response frequency to
decrease

7. STRATEGY #2
DIFFERENTIAL
REINFORCEMENT
CONTINGENCY OF
ALTERNATIVE
BEHAVIOR
Strategy #1 was somewhat effective. Ava’s tantrums reduced
significantly and she was able to begin her homework, however,
the process of completing the homework was slow.
Without replacement behavior, Ava would resort to interrupting
the homework session with the same pesky behaviors…
By using DRA, we allowed appropriate escape through “iPad
breaks.” At appropriate times, Ava could ask for a break
politely. inappropriate responses were extinguished.
Before:
No break
Behavior:
Whimpers
Behavior:
Asks politely
After:
Break
After:
No break
Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior: This is stopping
reinforcement for an inappropriate response, while shifting that
reinforcement to an appropriate response.
Can I
have a
break
please?

8. STRATEGY #3
PUNISHMENT-BY-
PREVENTION-OF-A-
REINFORCER
CONTINGENCY
Problem: When Ava began to ask for a break at an inappropriate
time, she would lose the opportunity to have the iPad break
through punishment by prevention of a reinforcer (iPad break)
• Punishment for too many
“iPad breaks please?”
• Asking inappropriately
iPad
break
Ava
SΔ:
Appropriat
e time
SD:
Inappropria
te time
Behavior:
Ava asks
for a
“break”
After:
Ava will
receive
opportunity
for “iPad
break”
soon
After:
Ava won’t
receive
opportunity
for “iPad
break”
soon
Before:
Ava will
receive
opportunity
for “iPad
break”
soon
YA’LL GOT ANYMORE OF
THEM BREAKS?
Punishment-by-prevention-of-a reinforcer: which is the response-
contingent prevention of a reinforcer, resulting in a decreased frequency
of that response.

9. FIN
Ava’s
disruptive
behaviors
decreased
from a baseline
of 10 to 1-2
behaviors
during
homework
time.
It originally
took Mom and
Ava 30
minutes to
complete one
homework
assignment.
That time
decreased to
17-20 minutes.

10. REFERENCES
Principles of Behavior (7th ed.). (2016). New York, NY: Routledge.