Behavior Analysis for School Psychologists

Michael I. Axelrod

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781317308461
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Perfect for students preparing for a career in school psychology and for current practitioners, teachers, and consultants, this book translates behavior analysis theory into practice. In concise chapters illustrated with school-based examples, Behavior Analysis for School Psychologists guides readers through the basics of behavior analysis, including observation and measurement, experimental analysis, and intervention design and implementation, while providing academic, behavioral, and mental health interventions from research-based principles of learning and behavior.

1
Behavior Analysis and School Psychology

Experimental Analysis of Behavior (EAB) was founded as a science of behavior. Its approach, including a rigorous experimental methodology, was designed to determine functional, or causal, relationships between an organism’s behavior and specific environmental variables (e.g., reinforcement, punishment, extinction). Early research efforts, mostly with animal models, established important empirically-derived principles of behavior that have since been applied to work with children and adults. Research in the early 1960s by early pioneers like Azrin, Baer, and Bijou utilized both EAB’s methods and principles to apply a science of behavior to socially important problems that informed child development, psychology, and education. When the first issue of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis ( JABA) was published in 1968, the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) was already well established.

ABA has close ties to education. The first article of the first issue of JABA investigated the effects of contingent teacher attention on the behavior of two elementary school students (Hall, Lund, & Jackson, 1968). The study was conducted in a general education public school classroom in Kansas City. Using a reversal design, a methodology common in EAB, Hall and colleagues found that both students’ on-task behavior increased over baseline when the teacher provided positive attention contingent on on-task behavior. Since then, applications of empirically-derived principles of behavior analysis have informed educational practices (Bordieri, Kellum, & Wilson, 2012) and, as Polsgrove (2003) noted, years and years of accumulated science in the field of ABA has offered educators answers to difficult questions. And although early research efforts focused on improving behavior of individuals with low incidence disabilities (e.g., autism, intellectual disability), ABA has more recently informed educational practice across a variety of populations and problems. In doing so, ABA has contributed significantly to curricular planning, instructional design, assessment and measurement, and prevention and intervention programming (Cooper, 1982; Heward, 2005).

Despite ABA’s track record, it has not been as widely adopted in education. In 1991, Saul Axelrod suggested ABA research demonstrating effective educational methods was regularly overlooked by those in education, noting that ABA was hardly mentioned in several timely and influential publications within the field of education. More recently, Doabler and colleagues (2014) and Burns and Ysseldyke (2009) reported empirical data indicating teachers rarely use evidence-based instructional strategies derived from principles of behavior analysis. Heward (2005) offered an exhaustive list of reasons why educators might view ABA as irrelevant. Included were the incompatibility of ABA’s basic assumptions about education with current educators’ perspectives, educators’ perceptions that ABA lacks creativity and is overly simplistic, and ABA’s insistence on the use of data to inform practice. Yet, reports published by educational policy groups, (e.g., the National Reading Panel and the President’s Commission on Excellence in Special Education) have recommended greater educator accountability, direct and explicit instruction, research-supported practices, regular assessment of progress, and problem-solving approaches that use data to inform decisions (Reschly, 2008). Recently, these recommendations have made their way into federal legislation. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act each emphasize using data-based decision-making models and evidence-based practices for improving student learning outcomes. Accordingly, current reform efforts are calling on educators to be more scientifically minded in their practices.

The School Psychologist and ABA

Reform efforts and legislative changes have led to major shifts in the delivery of educational and related programming. For example, school districts have reported implementing multilevel systems of supports for students (e.g., Response to Intervention or RtI) that provide ongoing measurement of student progress and match instructional need with intensity of support (Spectrum K-12, 2011). Moving from traditional education models to RtI, for example, has created controversy and posed challenges (Castillo & Curtis, 2014). However, the shift has opened opportunities for school psychologists and other educational professionals (e.g., special education teachers, speech-language pathologists) to expand their roles. For example, school psychologists are no longer just special education gatekeepers. Rather, they are being asked to play a more pivotal role in supporting the entire educational system. Fagan (2014) noted that school psychologists have taken on responsibilities other than the assessment of individual students. Specifically, he indicated that school psychologists regularly design and implement interventions, consult with stakeholders (e.g., teachers, parents), and engage in systems-level activities including designing and evaluating school-or district-wide programming (e.g., curriculum, prevention efforts).

School psychology’s expanding role requires a different framework for practice and an expanded skill set. School psychologists can no longer just play the part of psychometrician. An expanded role that is consistent with educational reform efforts necessitates a broader awareness of the process of education (e.g., curriculum, resource allocation) but also a deeper understanding of learning and behavior. As Reschly (2008) noted, the paradigm shift in education and school psychology is calling for a problem-solving model that uses data to drive programming, emphasizes research-supported practices, regularly measures student performance, and adjusts instruction and intervention based on ongoing progress monitoring.

Not surprisingly, a longstanding relationship exists between school psychology and ABA. Over the years, ABA has made several significant contributions to the field of school psychology, both directly and indirectly. ABA has introduced more objective and less inferential ways of assessing school-based phenomena (e.g., academic functioning, behavior), provided a behavioral context for school-based consultation, addressed gaps in the school-based intervention and prevention literatures, and offered a more experimentally-oriented methodology to evaluate outcomes and use data to inform decision making (Kratochwill & Martens, 1994; Wilczynski, Thompson, Beatty, & Sterling-Turner, 2002). From a practice standpoint, ABA is highly regarded within the field of school psychology as evidenced by the increasing emphasis graduate training programs give ABA within their training scope and sequence. Regarding research, publications that cater to school psychologists, such as the Journal of Applied School Psychology and the School Psychology Review, feature methods (e.g., single case experimental design) and techniques (e.g., positive reinforcement, extinction) consistent with ABA.

To summarize, a more scientifically-oriented approach to education is being called for at the federal level and schools are increasingly in need of effective problem-solvers who can directly measure student outcomes, offer evidence-based practices directly or via consultation, and make decisions about students based on valid data. Moreover, accountability remains a buzzword in education. Teachers and other educational professionals need strategies now, more than ever, that work. Taken together, school psychologists adopting an ABA framework are well positioned to support students and shepherd education toward a more prosperous future.

Assumptions

Before introducing concepts, procedures, or principles associated with ABA, it is important to first recognize several fundamental assumptions. The remainder of this chapter reviews assumptions of ABA beginning with Skinner’s statement about the science of behavior to more practical matters such as ABA’s position that all students can learn. While this list does not pretend to be exhaustive, it does represent features of ABA that are relevant to education and school psychology practice.

ABA is a Science

Skinner (1953) proposed a science of behavior, noting specifically that science was a way of thinking more than a set of procedures to carry out an experiment. This way of thinking is characterized by a balance between skepticism and open-mindedness. The scientist is cautious about unsupported assertions, open to new information, and adamant about needing evidence when making or supporting claims. The enterprise of education has been plagued by fads and pseudoscientific conceptualizations and practices, and school psychologists have not been immune to this problem. Surveys of school psychologists have found that to be the case as they endorse engaging in activities not supported by research (e.g., administration of projective assessments; Lilienfeld, Ammirati, & David, 2012). Orienting to a model that emphasizes a scientific way of thinking might prevent questionable practices and improve outcomes for students. In addition, thinking scientifically means having high standards for evidence. School psychologists and other educational professionals cannot rely on unreliable sources to inform practice. Evidence from personal testimony, anecdotes, case studies, and even supposed authority figures is not likely to meet the high standards required for effective practice. Thinking scientifically implies considering data derived from experimental methods (e.g., peer-reviewed scientific literature, experimental analysis of practice-related procedures).

Other features of science worth noting include description, prediction, and control (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007). For the school psychologist, this means describing behavior using clear and precise language, predicting future behavior based on repeated observations of previous behavior, and establishing control over behavior by identifying causal relationships. Regarding this last point, scientists look to establish laws that explain the natural world using repeated experimentation. Behavior analysts attempt to do the same. As a result, laws or principles have been established in behavior analysis that help explain the relationship between behavior and environmental variables (e.g., reinforcement, punishment).

Behavior is the Unit of Analysis

Skinner (1953) wrote that in a science of behavior the behavior, itself, is the unit of analysis. That is, behavior is the variable under investigation. However, Skinner cautioned against thinking of the study of behavior as easy or simple. Instead, he noted that behavior is complex, constantly changing, and never “held still for observation” (p. 15). Yet, he and others that followed conceptualized behavior as observable events that could be reliably measured. This view of behavior has several implications in educational settings. First, educators must emphasize observable events not unobservable constructs (e.g., cognition) or internal states (e.g., anger). In doing so, an objective definition of the target emerges that, in many ways, simplifies the task. Rather than attempting to address some difficult to understand construct, like cognitive processing, the school psychologist targets an observable, measurable behavior like oral reading fluency. Second, school psychologists and other educators can count or measure the phenomenon under investigation when using an objective definition. Objective definitions also eliminate inferences and establish reliability among observers, thus reducing error and improving the validity of conclusions drawn from data. Finally, repeated measurements are conducted to reliably detect changes in the phenomenon over time. This should all sound appealing to school psychologists and other educational professionals who are interested in assessing students’ academic, behavioral, and social progress, and intervening when problems develop or persist.

The Analysis of Behavior

Both as a scientific enterprise and an applied discipline, ABA is analytic. It features a systematic method for observing, measuring, and analyzing behavior. Observation and measurement are discussed above. The analysis utilizes experimental methods to show a change in the environment resulted in a change in some behavior (Cooper, 1982). Establishing a causal relationship between behavior and the environment using experimental methods is the primary aim of behavior analysis. To paraphrase Baer, Wolf, and Risley (1968), behavior analysts want to demonstrate that a behavior can be ‘turned on or off’ by manipulating something specific in the environment. Of course, experimental methods (e.g., reversal technique, multiple-baseline design) are required to determine causal relationships and replication to establish some level of predictability is necessary. Yet fundamentally, behavior change lies in the manipulation of the environment.

Identifying environmental causes of behavior that can be manipulated should hold great appeal to school psychologists. Getting one’s hands on the knobs and dials of behavior is what allows practitioners to change behavior or teach skills. Consider other commonly cited causes of behavior, such as genetic or psychological factors, that are impossible or near impossible to manipulate directly. Not being able to manipulate a variable directly reduces the possibility of successfully influencing that variable. How do we intervene when the cause of aggressive behavior is genetics or the cause of poor peer relations is a disordered personality? Changing behavior or teaching skills by changing the environment is empowering and suggests to a change agent (e.g., teacher, parent) that he or she can have control over student behavior and learning.

The Environment Can Be Arranged to Promote Positive Outcomes

ABA attributes causes of behavior to the environment (Fisher, Groff, & Roane, 2011). For example, praising a student for saying ‘thank you’ can influence the probability of that student saying ‘thank you’ in the future. Similarly, educators can systematically arrange the environment to elicit specific behavior. For example, modeling an academic behavior, such as multiplying six and eight, can serve as a cue for students’ accurate responding. We can also match the learning material to a student’s current skill level, provide visual prompts to increase the likelihood a student transitions appropriately from one activity to another, or increase the amount of reinforcement available to a student who is socially withdrawn. ABA provides educators with a science that enables them to effectively arrange environments to promote successful outcomes.

All Students Can Be Taught

Principles of behavior have been successfully used to teach students who were previously thought to be unteachable (Heward, 2005). Research has demonstrated ABA’s effects across students (e.g., with and without disabilities), settings (e.g., general and special education, residential treatment), and instructors (e.g., teachers, paraprofessionals, parents). Furthermore, the published literature has reduced the scope of problems that have not been successfully managed by ABA to a small number. Problems that were once considered unresponsive to intervention, such as self-injury, have responded positively to treatments employing behavior analytic principles (Betz & Fisher, 2011). ABA’s success addressing challenging, as well as everyday, problems offers an optimistic outlook but it also suggests that school psychologists and other educational professionals might be best served conceptualizing student learning and behavior change as an attainable goal rather than an impossible task. Equipped with the technology of ABA, school psychologists and other educational professionals can have a profound impact on student learning and behavior.

Conclusion

ABA offers school psychologists more than just a set of procedures to implement when students’ fail. It provides them with a way of thinking, an objective unit for change, a method for establishing causation, and a location to intervene. Specifically, ABA presents to school psychologists a scientific orientation to problem-solving that focuses on behavior (including acade...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Behavior Analysis and School Psychology
• 2 Behavior Analysis: A Primer for School Psychologists
• 3 The Measurement of Behavior in School Settings
• 4 Evaluating Outcomes in Education
• 5 Linking Assessment to Intervention
• 6 Intervention Design and Implementation
• 7 Changing Behavior Using Antecedent Strategies
• 8 Changing Behavior Using Consequent Strategies
• 9 Changing Behavior Using Contingency Management Strategies
• 10 Interventions for Teaching Behavioral and Social Skills
• 11 Promoting and Enhancing Academic Skills
• 12 Behavior Analysis and Mental Health Issues
• Index