Skill Acquisition Procedures of Shaping and Chaining
Freddie is a 7-year old second grader. He was diagnosed with autism when he was 2 years old. Freddie has a loving family that consists of his mother, father, and two older brothers. Recently, Freddie woke up in the middle of the night in terrible pain — it was a severe toothache. His parents took him to a pediatric dentist, Dr. Jim, who told them that Freddie had an abscess of his second molar of the right upper jaw. Thankfully, this was a baby tooth and would have been lost by, at the latest, 12 years of age.
The parents explained that Freddie is very resistant to brushing his teeth, or even having his parents brush his teeth. They expressed great concern about his health and the impact his oral hygiene would have. Dr. Jim told Freddie's parents that he had seen many cases just like Freddie's and that he always refers his patients who have this "resistance" to a BCBA who designs individualized skill acquisition programs to increase independence in brushing teeth, as well as reduce the resistance.
Freddie's parents were thrilled to learn that there is this type of help available to them — for Freddie's oral hygiene and other activities of daily life with which Freddie struggles. This could help Freddie in so many ways!
Discussion:
Explain the skill acquisition procedures of shaping and chaining. Discuss the role of differential reinforcement (DR) in the shaping procedure. Discuss the role of the task analysis in the chaining procedure. What is the rationale for using each of these procedures?
Describe a teeth-brushing chaining procedure for Freddie. Include a complete task analysis. Discuss a chaining procedure (forward chaining, backward chaining, or total task chaining) for this procedure and explain the steps in the procedure with regard to Freddie's teeth-brushing chain.
Shaping and Chaining
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Shaping and Chaining
Shaping is a highly effective method for acquiring new skills, which involves gradually reinforcing behaviors closer to the desired behavior until the target behavior is reached. Through operant conditioning, the behavior is gradually shaped or molded by reinforcing closer approximations of the target behavior (Shrestha, 2017). A critical component of shaping is differential reinforcement (DR), which involves reinforcing only the desired behavior or approximation of the behavior and withholding reinforcement for other behaviors (IRIS | Page 8: Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior, n.d.). By selectively reinforcing the desired behavior, the likelihood of that behavior occurring is increased.
Chaining is a sophisticated procedure used in skill acquisition that entails breaking down a complex behavior into smaller, more manageable steps and providing instruction on each step individually. This process utilizes a task analysis to identify the individual steps that comprise the target behavior (What Is “Chaining” in Applied Behavior Analysis? n.d.). Each behavior step is taught and reinforced in chaining procedures until the individual can successfully complete the entire behavior. There are three forms of chaining procedures: forward chaining, backward chaining, and total task chaining. Forward chaining involves teaching the first step of the behavior and then gradually adding additional steps. Backward chaining, on the other hand, starts with teaching the final step of the behavior and then gradually adding additional steps in reverse order. Total task chaining involves teaching all the behavior steps at once. Total task chaining involves providing instruction on all the behavior steps at once.
For Freddie, a teeth-brushing chaining procedure could involve the following task analysis:
1. Wet toothbrush