Group Home Chaos Case – Applied Behavior Analysis Design
In Unit 4 and Unit 6, you developed interventions to increase behavior deficits and decrease behavior excesses. In this assignment, you will come up with a plan to evaluate the effectiveness of two of the intervention plans. You can choose any two of the intervention plans to evaluate: Annie’s plan to reduce skin picking, Annie’s verbal behavior plan, Jimmy’s contingency contract, or the group home token economy.
Brief Summary of the Functional Behavior Assessment for Annie Rodriguez
Based on interviews with Annie’s parents and direct observation in Annie’s home and school, the first behavior to target is skin picking. When Annie picks her skin, she uses the forefinger of one hand to scratch and dig at the skin of her arms and legs. She has only been observed to pick at the skin on her arms and legs. The behavior occurs mostly during down times: while waiting, while watching television, while in her bedroom alone. A brief functional analysis was conducted and revealed that skin picking never occurred during attention, escape, or tangible conditions. The behavior only occurred during alone conditions.
The second issue of concern identified by the parents and confirmed via observation is Annie’s lack of functional speech. After consulting with Annie’s speech pathologist, it was determined that Annie is capable of vocal speech. She echoes simple words spoken by others and has a strong echoic repertoire of one-syllable words. She does not currently use vocal speech to get her needs and wants met or to identify things in her environment. During the observation, there were multiple occurrences of Annie pulling her mother and father into the kitchen and pointing at the refrigerator. If her parents did not guess what she wanted in the first or second try, Annie would jump up and down and start screaming, getting louder and louder until her parents guessed correctly. This episode went on for as long as 10-15 minutes. The episodes ended only when her parents correctly guessed the item she wanted.
Her parents report that Annie’s favorite foods are pretzels, raisins, cheese crackers, apples, and grapes. They said that they can get her to “do almost anything” for some grapes. She also likes to drink chocolate milk and apple juice. For fun, she plays with toys and watches television. Her favorite toys are little animals and little dolls (she collects them), tiny furniture. Her parents report that Annie loves “tiny” things. When she watches television, she usually watches Teen Titans Go or Littlest Pet Shop. She has an iPad her parents control her access to. She sometimes watches YouTube videos on her iPad. She also enjoys swimming and swinging outside.
Case Scenario #1: Jimmy Hates Homework
A family has contacted you, a Behavior Analyst, to help their son Jimmy be more consistent in completing his homework. His parents are specifically concerned about reading and math. Jimmy’s parents want him to read for 20 minutes per weeknight and practice multiplication for 10 minutes per weeknight. Jimmy is currently reading once a week for 20 minutes and practicing multiplication once a week for 10 minutes. He is a typically developing child with normal intelligence and has the capability to read and complete math at grade level. He is choosing not to read and practice math and is instead choosing to watch television, play video games, and chat with friends online. You have decided that a contingency contract is the best plan to change Jimmy’s behavior. Before you write the contingency contract, though, you need to determine what Jimmy’s preferences are and what would likely be an effective reinforcer.
Case Scenario #2: Group Home Chaos
You, a Behavior Analyst, have been contacted by the program director of a group home for 11-15-year-old boys. He describes the current environment in the group home as “chaos.” The boys are refusing to do household chores, complete homework, or clean their rooms. Staff members are having problems with “non-compliance” and “rowdy behavior” exhibited by the boys. You have been asked to develop a plan to bring order to this chaotic home. You have decided that a token economy is the best choice.
Prior to coming up with an evaluation plan, go back to your graded Unit 4 and Unit 6 assignments and read your instructor’s feedback. Make any recommended changes to your intervention plans before developing an evaluation plan.
Evaluating Your Intervention Plans:
Begin your evaluative essay by describing how single-subject experimental designs are used in behavior analysis to evaluate interventions. Include one reason why single-subject designs are considered superior to group designs in evaluating behavior change. Then, describe your evaluation plan for the two intervention plans you selected. Each evaluation plan should include a different research design so that two different research designs are covered within your assignment.
Each evaluation plan must include:
The measurement system you are using to collect data on what specific behavior(s). Include the operational definitions.
How often you are collecting data
Who is going to collect that data
The research design you are using to evaluate your treatment
An explanation of why that research design was the best choice
How the research design would demonstrate functional control of the intervention over the behavior(s).
Describe how you will know if your treatment was effective – what would a visual analysis of the graphed data show? You do not need to create a graph, but you should describe what your graph would show if your treatment were effective.
Your answers to the prompt above should consist of information from the text and supplemental readings. Your primary sources should be the readings assigned for the course, but you also may use sources from the Library or other credible Internet sources.
Your written assignment should be written in essay format with complete sentences. A clear viewpoint and purpose should be established and maintained throughout your evaluative essay. Your writing should be in Standard English with correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
Summarize a concept, theory or research
Use direct quotes from the text or articles
Writing Requirements and Assignment Guidelines
Your Assignment should be a 6-page evaluative essay, not including the Title and Reference pages, and should include the following elements:
Title page: Provide your name, title of Assignment, course and unit number, and date
Body: Answer the questions in complete sentences and paragraphs
The assignment must be written in Standard English and demonstrate superior organization, including a highly developed viewpoint and purpose. The communication of your thoughts must be highly ordered, logical, and unified, displaying exceptional content, organization, style, and mechanics (including the use of correct grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure).
Reference Page: Sources in APA format
Use Arial or Times New Roman 12-point font, double-spaced
Use current edition APA Formatting and Citation style
If you need assistance with APA style
Group Home Case – Applied Behavior Analysis Design
Your Name
Subject and Section
Professor’s Name
February 9, 2023
Understanding the various interventions available for treating group behaviors and conflicts is essential for any behavior analyst. It allows him to understand better how to measure, change, and reinforce changes using a systematic method that could be repeatable and assessable in the future. In this article, the author focuses on the Group Home Chaos Case, which presents a group of 11 to 15-year-old boys exhibiting rowdy, chaotic, and other intolerable behaviors. Initially, this paper will summarize the case, followed by discussing matters for measurement, assessment, and even the visualization of how a token economy could be used to change specific behavioral patterns. Using a token economy and proper assessment and intervention could help create lasting change within the group home.
Summary of the Case
As stated earlier, this case presents a dilemma for a Behavior Analyst who has been contacted by the program director of a group home for 11-15-year-old boys due to issues with "non-compliance" and "rowdy behavior." To target specific behavioral changes in the group, the analyst has decided to use a token economy intervention to bring order to the chaotic environment.
Accordingly, data on the target behaviors (e.g., completing household chores, homework, cleaning rooms) and non-compliant behaviors will be collected daily by the staff members using an event recording system. The effectiveness of the intervention will be evaluated through an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) design, which will demonstrate the operational control of the intervention over the behavior. If the intervention is effective, the visual analysis of the data will show an increase in the target behaviors and a decrease in the non-compliant behaviors.
Measurement of Specific Behaviors
The first step of this process is to measure the specific behaviors of the boys in the group home. We will use an event recording system. According to Cunningham et al. (2019), an event-recording system helps measure behavior by providing an objective and systematic method of tracking and documenting instances of specific behaviors. Event recording involves observing and counting the number of times a behavior occurs within a defined period. And thus, by consistently recording the presence or absence of specific behaviors, event recording systems allow for accurate and reliable measurement of behavior changes over time.
Going back to the case, this information can then be used to determine the effectiveness of an intervention or treatment and make any necessary adjustments. For example, the boys' daily routine and adherence to house rules could be measured relative to their interactions. In other words, the event recording system also provides clear and concrete data that can be used to support decisions and evaluations.
Accordingly, some of the operational definitions of the behaviors we want to increase include: (1) completing household chores, (2) completing homework, and (3) cleaning their rooms. It must be noted that these are some of the most neglected goals set upon them before the ABA intervention.
Data Collection
After setting up the protocols and policies for the event measurement system, data will be collected daily at the same time each day or as frequently as needed to monitor progress accurately. According to Edgemon et al. (2020), Ddata should be collected daily in a token economy to ensure that the program works effectively and to make adjustments as needed. Additionally, this daily process allows for the immediate identification of any changes in behavior, which is essential in a token economy as it helps to establish a clear pattern of behavior over time and provides a complete understanding of the effectiveness of the intervention. Ultimately, the continuous monitoring of their behavior allows the stakeholders to quickly identify areas where improvement is needed and make necessary adjustments to the program to ensure that it remains effective.
On the part of the staff and the data analyst, collecting data every day helps to avoid the loss of important information and to keep the program running smoothly by allowing for continuous evaluation and feedback. This helps to keep staff members and the participants engaged and motivated to achieve the desired outcomes.
Staff Members and Stakeholders
As an essential part of the ABA intervention, the staff members will be responsible for collecting data on the boys' behavior. Although the number of staff required and their roles in the implementation of the token economy intervention would depend on the size of the group home and the number of participants, some of the essential stakeholders in this process are; (1) the behavior analyst, (2) the supervisors and teachers, and (3) the support staff members.
Generally, there should be enough staff members to provide adequate supervision and support for the participants. Each staff member should be trained in implementing the token economy and the event recording system and the importance of consistent reinforcement and data collection.
Research Design
The research design we will use is a singl...