Research-Based Interventions for Procrastination

Literature Review
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Literature Review
Introduction
Malik Evans’ behavioral challenge is procrastination, which involves delaying the commencement or completion of an activity even though he understands the implications of his behavior. The function of this behavior is escape. According to Zhang et al. (2019), individuals procrastinate to avoid tasks, and this escape provides them with temporary relief. Malik’s procrastination has social significance in terms of poor academic and work performance, increased stress, self-doubt, reduced motivation, and poor friends and family connections due to unfulfilled promises and expectations (Zhang et al., 2019). However, he can achieve goal-directed behavior and self-efficacy with the right behavioral interventions, ensuring he accomplishes his tasks on time. These interventions will be supported by evidence-based strategies identified through research on existing interventions.
Research-Based Interventions
Antecedent-Based Strategies
The three studies that offer evidence in support of antecedent-based strategies are Taylor and Lein (2019), Coy and Kostewicz (2018), and Wood et al. (2018). Taylor and Lein (2019) explore the effect of choice-making as an antecedent strategy for addressing challenging behavior among children with emotional disturbance. This strategy allows students to choose a task from a list of acceptable tasks. Findings from this study reveal that choice-making improves behavior by increasing task engagement. Coy and Kostewicz (2018) investigate using noncontingent reinforcement to reduce problem behavior in a classroom setting. Noncontingent reinforcement involves providing scheduled reinforcers regardless of student behavior to reduce challenging behavior. The findings from the study indicate that noncontingent reinforcement reduces problem behavior. The reinforcer provided just before the behavior occurs makes the problem behavior unnecessary. Wood et al. (2018) explore the effect of presession attention, high-probability request sequences (HPRS), and functional communicating training (FCT) in stopping a problem behavior before it begins. They found that these strategies are effective in preventing and managing challenging behaviors.
These studies have common ABA concepts and principles that can be used to change Malik’s behavior. One of the key concepts is preference assessment. The three studies acknowledge the importance of considering the student's preference before implementing an antecedent-based strategy. A preference assessment ensures that teachers are aware of the student’s preferred tasks (Taylor & Lein, 2019), items (Coy & Kostewicz, 2018), or reinforcers of the desired behavior (Wood et al., 2018). Another concept used across the three studies is behavior reinforcement. The antecedent-based strategies discussed in the studies highly depend on how well the desired behavior is reinforced, hence the importance of a preference assessment. This concept can be applied in Malik's case to modify his behavior. Specifically, a preference assessment will ensure the instructors understand the type of tasks that Malik likes, such as engaging and non-repetitive tasks. The instructors can use this information to reinforce the behavior of timely task completion.
The strategies shared in the studies can be considered compassionate and least intrusive. As stated earlier, the interventions shared in the three articles emphasize the importance of a preference assessment to establish the student's likes and preferences. These likes are put into consideration while implementing the intervention. However, these studies did not reveal any social significance of the intervention on the behavior. The studies also involved students as participants or case studies, making their findings generalizable to the student population.
All the strategies described in the three studies are proactive in the sense that they address the problem behavior before it occurs. They also create an enriching classroom environment because the student has some level of prediction about what happens to them. However, noncontingent reinforcement is independent of the behavior because it provides students with ongoing reinforcement to enhance the desired behavior (Coy & Kostewicz, 2018). HPRS creates momentum for the desired behavior by offering easy tasks first, followed by non-preferred tasks. It is more suitable for increasing compliance (Wood et al., 2018). Choice-making gives students more autonomy than the other strategies. As a result, it is applicable when the goal is to increase the student's self-drive, motivation, and goal achievement (Taylor & Lein, 2019). FCT improves students' communication, making it more suitable for students with limited communication skills (Wood et al., 2018). The success of these interventions depends on identifying the reinforcer.
Consequence-Based Strategies
Hardy and McLeod (2020), Pokorski and Barton (2020), and Cengher et al. (2020) investigate different consequence-based strategies that can apply to Malik’s case. Hardy and McLeod (2020) explore positive reinforcement and its effect on children's behavior. The article highlights important guidelines for implementing positive reinforcement. These guidelines include establishing the child's preferences, utilizing a variety of reinforcers, accounting for the child's needs and strengths, integrating reinforcement in regular activities, collaborating with families, strategically using reinforcement, and assessing the effectiveness of the reinforcers. The article concludes that these guidelines can enhance the effectiveness of positive reinforcement in shaping appropriate behavior in children. Pokorski and Barton (2020) investigate the use of punishment to address challenging behavior by encouraging or discouraging desired and undesired behaviors. The findings indicate that punishment generally reduces challenging behavior, although there are ethical implications for using punishment for behavior modification. Cengher et al. (2020) examine extinction as a consequence-based strategy for behavior modification. Extinction involves eliminating the reinforcement of the challenging behavior. The results indicate that extinction effectively reduces socially unacceptable behaviors while increasing desired behaviors within the same response class.
One of the key principles used in the three articles is reinforcement. The term is used to describe actions that increase behavior. In Hardy and McLeod (2020), reinforcement describes a stimulus that increases appropriate behavior. In Pokorski and Barton (2020), reinforcement is explored compared to punishment. In Cengher et al. (2020), reinforcement is studied as a stimulus that maintains problem behavior. Another concept explored in the articles is challenging behavior, especially concerning how it affects children's adoption of appropriate behavior. The concept of reinforcement can be used to modify Malik’s behavior in the sense that instructors can understand the reinforcement that increases either the undesired/ challenging behavior (procrastination) or the desired behavior (timely task completion). They can eliminate the actions that reinforce the challenging behavior or increase the actions that increase the desired behavior.
Positive reinforcement can be considered a compassionate and least intrusive strategy. Specifically, positive reinforcement considers the individual's preferences, strengths, and needs and collaboration with the family in establishing the behaviors that need to be reinforced (Hardy & McLeod, ...