Positive+Punishment

Name SPED 843  Dr. Aronin  Spring 2011

 Positive Punishment __Description of Intervention Method __ media type="youtube" key="QLlXjMImyxI?rel=0" height="390" width="480"

__Types of Students Who Benefit from the Method__  There is not specific types of student that benefit from the us of Positive Punishement.

__Qualifications for Using the Method__  Individuals should be trained in the basics of Behaviorism.

__Costs of Using the Method__  The cost may vary depending on the punisher used. Generally in a school setting costs are minimal.

__Potential Risks with Using the Method__ Punishment often causes avoidance behaviors. Punishment often results in a mere suppression of the undesirable behavior. Punishment often results in a sort of behavioral constriction. Punishment often results in undesirable modeling. Punishment often leads to retaliatory behavior. Punishment often leads to negative self evaluations. [|Source]

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Benefits of Using the Metho d__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Punishment has been effective in decreasing challenging behaviors over the last four decades and may be a viable and necessary element for treatment when other methods are ineffective. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Source: See Research Study

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__Settings for Method Use__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Positive Punishment can be used in the classroom and school-wide.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__Field’s Attitude Towards the Method__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Positive Punishment is widely used in the education system.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;">Summary of Research Study

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"> S haw, R., & Simms, T. (2009). Reducing attention-maintained behavior through the use of positive punishment, differential reinforcement of low rates, and response marking. //Behavioral Interventions//, 24(4), 249-263.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__Description of Subjects__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">The participants were three adolescent males all diagnosed with moderate to severe retardation. Andrew, 13 years 6 months, was diagnosed with static encephalopathy, severe mental retardation, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Andrew had a verbal vocabulary of only four words. He could point, gesture, and employ some sign language. His receptive skills were good, and he was able to follow simple to medium directions. He engaged in challenging and disruptive behaviors at low intensities such as tantrumming, screaming, throwing objects, hitting, biting, flopping, kicking, and noncompliance.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Rocky, 13 years 10 months, was diagnosed with Down syndrome and severe mental retardation. Rocky had a limited verbal repertoire, knew some sign language, and had good receptive skills. Rocky engaged in a few challenging behaviors, but mostly would blurt out a loud vocalizations or screams throughout the day.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Ronald, 14 years 4 months, was diagnosed with Down syndrome and moderate mental retardation. Ronald had a low verbal vocabulary of words and phrases. He had decent receptive skills, but had difficulty focusing at times as a result of hyperactivity. Ronald engaged in challenging behaviors such as yelling, swearing, hitting, pushing, and tantrumming.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__Description of Research Design__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">A differential reinforcement of low (DRL) rates procedure was implemented as a changing criterion design with positive punishment and response marking to reduce attention-maintained behavior of screaming, profanity, and disruptive behaviors of three adolescent males. Through response marking, a verbal warning was delivered immediately following the initial occurrence of a target behavior. A special token (positive punishment) was immediately delivered with a verbal cue and placed on a behavior board following the next occurrence of that behavior. Appropriate requests (hand-raising) for attention was acknowledged and reinforced with verbal praise.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__Dependent Variable__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The dependent variable was attention-maintained behaviors.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__Independent Variable__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The independent variable was the a token and verbal cue.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__Summary of Results__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">The DRL/changing criterion design combined with positive punishment (PP) and response marking was successful in decreasing challenging behaviors across all students.