I’m studying for my Psychology class and need an explanation.

• Watch the Unit 7 Lecture. (click here for transcripts)
• Read the following scenario.

You have just secured a job as a behavior analyst in an inner-city elementary school. You will be working with 4- and 5-year olds. It is an inclusive kindergarten classroom. Many of the teachers have complained that they cannot take the children on fieldtrips to local parks and museums because the children just dart across streets without looking. The teachers are afraid of the children getting hurt. As the “new kid on the block,” they hold a “meet and greet” for you to get acquainted and, if the truth be known, to solicit your help with this situation. At least three teachers approached you to ask for your help in teaching the children how to cross streets safely. This is your first task as the new behavior analyst!

• Design a behavior intervention plan (BIP) to teach these kindergartners how to cross streets safely.
• Include the following elements in your plan: discrimination training procedures to establish stimulus control, incidental teaching, and prompts.

Respond to a minimum of two peers based upon the following:

• Critique two classmates’ primary posts to identify the following elements in each classmates’ behavior intervention plan (BIP). What process did the classmate use to condition stimulus control? What is the discriminative stimulus? How was incidental teaching used in the BIP?
• Provide a scenario in which a behavior has been diminished in the presence of a specific stimulus (Stimulus Delta).

Reading and Resources

Read the following:

Chapter 17 in Applied Behavior Analysis (3rd ed.): “Stimulus Control”

Chapter 17 presents information on stimulus control and how an antecedent gains power to trigger a specific response. The process of discrimination training is explained for reinforcement-based and punishment-based discriminative stimuli. The concepts of stimulus generalization and stimulus equivalence are explained, and key factors that may inhibit the development of stimulus control are presented. Naturalistic, or “incidental,” teaching is also introduced.

Chapter 1 in How to Think Like a Behavior Analyst: Understanding the Science that Can Change Your Life: “Basic Concepts”

Chapter 1 introduces the “behavior analyst’s philosophy.” Basically, the authors tell us that behavior analysts approach behavior differently that most human service professionals. The assumption is that observed behaviors are learned and maintained in the individual’s environment and even complex issues are approached through data collection and systematic analysis.

TEXTBOOKS

Cooper, J., & Heron, T., & Heward, W. (2019) Applied Behavior Analysis (3rd ed.) Person Education, Inc. New Jersey, NJ: Hoboken