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5109 Reinforcement: Beyond M&M's & Token Economies [BCBA Session] [ASHA Session] [Social Work Session]


Saturday, July 10, 2010: 10:45 AM-12:00 PM
Landmark C (Hyatt Regency Dallas)
MP3 PDF Slides Recorded Presentation Handout

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Reinforcement is a powerful technique to treat problem behavior and teach appropriate skills. Participants will learn ways to assess potential reinforcers, when and how to deliver reinforcement, how to fade, and different ways of keeping it fun and interesting.
This workshop will provide participants with in-depth knowledge about reinforcement.

To start, shaping and reinforcement will be defined according to the work of Cooper, Heron & Heward (2007) and Alberto & Troutman (2008). At this point, participants will be instructed to think about a student or class that would like make changes to or start a system of reinforcement. Throughout the workshop, participants will be given time to apply what they are learning to that particular situation. At the end of the workshop, participants should have filled out a sheet that details their system or plan for reinforcement.

Participants will receive instruction in identifying potential reinforcers through inventories, preference assessments (paired choice, MSWO) and direct observation. The presenter will demonstate how to conduct preference assessments and share protocols [based upon the work of DeLeon & Iwata (1996); Carr, Nicholson, & Highbee (2000); Lavie & Sturmey (2002); and Fisher et al., (1992)]. Considerations that can increase the effectiveness and social validity of reinforcers, including motivating operations and pairing or conditioning new reinforcers, will be discussed. Participants will learn how to establish fixed or variable ratio/interval schedules and how to fade, watching out for ratio strain. Lastly, the presenter will discuss ways to keep things fun and interesting. In particular, the use of Mystery Motivators will be discussed and modeled.

In addition to the Powerpoint slides, each participant will receive handouts that contain samples of various ways to assess, create and schedule reinforcement.

Outline:

    1. Introduction 

                  i.     Who are you?

                  ii.     What do you know?

                  iii.     What do you hope to get out of today’s session?

    1. Reinforcement Basics

                  i.     Discuss shaping

                  ii.     Define reinforcement

                  iii.     Play reinforcer game

    1. Considerations

                  i.     First steps

                  ii.     Motivating operations

                  iii.     General considerations

    1. Identify Potential Reinforcers

                  i.     Inventory

                  ii.     Direct observation

                  iii.     Forced choice

                  iv.     MSWO

    1. Creating New Reinforcers 

                   i.      Pairing/conditioning

    1. Schedules of Reinforcement

                   i.     Continuous vs. intermittent

                   ii.     Fixed & varied ratios/intervals

                   iii.     Where to start

                   iv.    Thinning schedules

                   v.     Differential reinforcement

    1. Ideas to Keep it Fun and Interesting

                   i.     Mystery Motivator

                   ii.     Additional ideas

                   iii.     Self-monitoring

                   iv.     Punch-out

                   v.     Time-in

    1. Noncontingent Reinforcement
    2. References

Learning Objectives:

  • Participants will be able to describe and use different procedures for identifying preferences and/or reinforcers
  • Participants will be able to describe various schedules of reinforcement (fixed or variable, etc) and how to select an appropriate ratio/interval for each student
  • Participants will be able to describe several systems of delivering or measuring reinforcement (e.g Mystery Motivator)

Content Area: Behavior

Presenter:

Karen Umstead, M.Ed., BCBA
Executive Director of Beautiful Minds of Princeton
Beautiful Minds of Princeton

Executive Director of Beautiful Minds of Princeton, Karen has presented workshops here and abroad on autism, behavior, and social skills. A former general & special education teacher and adjunct faculty member, she is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Additionally, she helped raise her younger sister with autism.

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