Download Principles in behavioral management: implications for effective

Principles in behavioral management:
implications for effective discipline
David J Schonfeld, MD, FAAP
Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work
and Pediatrics
University of Southern California and
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
[email protected]
Director, National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement
www.schoolcrisiscenter.org
1-877-536-NCSCB (1-877-536-2722)
www.grievingstudents.org
National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement
• I have no relevant financial relationships with
the manufacturer(s) of any commercial
product(s) and/or provider of commercial
products or services discussed in this CME
activity
• I do not intend to discuss
unapproved/investigative use of commercial
product(s)/device(s) in my presentation
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Learning Objectives
• Educate parents that different schedules of
reinforcement are used for learning a new
behavior versus encouraging persistence of a
behavior
• Assess the likelihood of post-extinction burst
and the implications for ignoring misbehavior
• Differentiate six types of punishment
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Temperament
• All children may be created equal, but they are not
all alike
• Most temperamental traits are not good or bad
• Problems arise when there is a mismatch between
child and caregiver
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Temperament (Thomas and Chess)
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Activity level
Rhythmicity (biological regularity)
Approach/withdrawal
Adaptability
Intensity of reaction
Threshold of responsiveness
Mood
Distractibility
Attention span
Persistence
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Dealing with temperament
• Understand and appreciate your child’s
temperamental characteristics and your personal
preferences
• Try to find strengths in your child’s personality
• Work with tolerance and patience to modify those
features most maladaptive
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Preoperational period (Piaget)
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2-7 years of age
Representational language
Rudimentary reasoning
Problem-solving is intuitive, rather than logical
Child often can’t explain reasoning
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Cognitive limitations
• Limited understanding of causality
• Difficulty generalizing rules
• Egocentrism – perception of world only from child’s
own point of view or belief by child that he or she is
the origin of all actions in the world
• Magical thinking – the equation of thought and
fantasy with action
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ABC’s of Behavioral Modification
A
ANTECEDENT
B
BEHAVIOR
C
CONSEQUENCE
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Theories of conditioning
• Classical Conditioning (Pavlov)
– Involves respondent behavior
– Focuses on antecedent of behavior
• Operant Conditioning (Skinner)
– Involves consequential behavior
– Behavior is strengthened or weakened by events
that follow
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To encourage adoption of behavior
• Ask child – Be explicit or may  superstitions
• To encourage adoption of complex behavior
– Modeling
– Shaping
• Reinforcement should be contingent on behavior and
occur immediately
• The quickest way to establish a new behavior is to
reinforce every time the behavior occurs
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Reinforcement to maintain behavior
• Different schedules of reinforcement to maintain
behavior
• Fixed ratio or interval schedule may  variable
performance
• Best way to achieve consistent and high-level
performance is infrequent and random
reinforcement
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To decrease frequency of behavior
• Planned ignoring (Extinction) – consistent
withholding of positive reinforcement (such as adult
attention)
– Post-extinction burst
– Warning: Do NOT give reinforcement during postextinction burst (otherwise  infrequent and
random reinforcement that will make behavior far
more persistent)
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Post-extinction burst
• Extent and duration will be greater if child has certain
temperamental traits
– High intensity
– High task persistence
• Parents’ ability to refrain from giving in depends on
– Situational context
– Emotional state
– Degree of supports
– Knowledge
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Recommend ignoring misbehavior?
• You should not recommend ignoring misbehavior
unless the parent understands what is likely to occur
and is able to tolerate ignoring behavior
• One other option is to reinforce incompatible
behavior
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Types of punishment
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Time out
Disapproval (not psychological cruelty)
Natural consequences
Logical consequences
Behavioral penalty
Physical punishment
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Time Out principles
• Withdrawing positive reinforcement for
predetermined amount of time following occurrence
of problem behavior – time out only works if there is
quality “time in”
• Best for serious, low-frequency problem behavior
• If behavior functions to avoid or escape unwanted
situation, then time out unlikely to be effective
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Time Out guidelines
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Exclusionary time out best for 2-6 years of age
Brief (1 minute per year of age)
Give no more than one warning
One phrase to give reason at beginning
Brief explanation at end (no lecturing)
Return to “time in” afterwards (no grudges)
Only 1 or 2 target behaviors
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Physical punishment
• Use very sparingly if at all – when other effective
option not available AND seriousness of situation
justifies use (e.g., very young children in lifethreatening situation)
• Physical punishment meant to humiliate, not hurt
• Show parents something that works better – most
people resort to physical punishment out of
frustration and because overwhelmed – they would
prefer not to use it