ABA's Contributions to ASD: Improving Public Image & Addressing Challenges - Essay Sample

Introduction

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) over the past decades has made notable contributions to literature involving populations of developmental disabilities. Impressive advances have been made by practitioners and researchers in addressing the challenges faced by autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in particular. The public image of ASD has been improved drastically over the years due to the focus on autism by creating increased awareness around ASD (Heward, 2003). Children with ASD are characterized by extreme deficits in social relatedness with same-age peers. Naturally occurring antecedents' variables, such as setting events in classroom environments of children with ASD, can be applied to promote the children's engagement in peer-related social behaviors. Setting events can occur inside the classroom. Something as simple as a large group activity or an ineffective seating arrangement (Wannarka & Ruhl, 2008) can be a setting event that increases a student's problem behavior. This literature review, therefore, seeks to review the literature on the efficacy of setting an event as a variable of applied behavior analysis that can be used to promote children's engagement in the classroom.

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Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)

ABA is defined as a set of concepts and principles dedicated to the understanding and improvement of human behavior (Bailey & Burch, 2006; Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007; Maurice, Green & Foxx, 2001). The goal of ABA as a teaching methodology is to use interventions based on the principles of learning theory to improve socially significant behaviors to a meaningful degree (Bailey & Burch, 2006). Examples of such socially significant skills include playing skills, social, communication, and relationship-building skills, and everyday living skills like brushing teeth and tying shoelaces (Maurice, Green & Foxx, 2001. ABA is also used to help decrease or eliminate aberrant behaviors, such as self-stimulation, self-injurious behaviors, and other disruptive behaviors that are common among individuals with ASD (Bailey & Burch, 2006; Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007).

According to Cooper, Heron, and Heward (2007), ABA, as a treatment methodology, was pioneered by Dr. Ivar Lovaas, based on B. F. Skinner's theories of operant conditioning. In a seminal study published in 1987, Dr. Lovaas, found that 47% of children with ASD who had received early intensive ABA services, achieved normal functioning and were able to function in general education classes when they were reevaluated at six to seven years of age (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007). Another 40% made substantial improvements but continued to need specialized intervention, and 10% made minimal gains and continued to need intensive ABA intervention (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007; Maurice, Green, & Foxx, 2001). These findings have since been replicated in several other studies, including Fenske, Zalenski, Krantz, and McClannahan (1985); Smith, Eikeseth, Klevstrand, and Lovaas (1997); Howard, Sparkman, Cohen, Green, & Stanislaw (2005). Wahler and Fox (1981) state that the contributions of applied behavior analysis to the study of human behavior have greatly influenced the understanding of behavior. The development of setting events as a behavior influence concept can be considered as a historical development as a result of the presumed impact on applied behavior analysis.

Setting Event

The concept of setting events and their effects on behavior has an extensive research base in applied behavior. According to Dunlap, Sailor, Horner, & Sugai, (2009), a setting event is a circumstance or occasion that makes an antecedent more likely to trigger problem behavior. In addition, the setting event changes the value or effectiveness of the consequences of problem behavior (Laraway, Snycerski, Michael, & Poling, 2003). An example of a setting event is whereby a student's work and other demands in the classroom become more aversive due to pain, such as a headache (Robertson & Coy, 2019). The student will tend to avoid these demands. If a student engages in problem behavior in order to escape or avoid demands, the presence of a headache may increase the frequency or severity of those escape behaviors (Robertson & Coy, 2019). Having a headache, in this case, can be considered as a setting event that influences the behavior of the student in the classroom. According to McGinnis, Houchins-Juarez, McDaniel, & Kennedy, (2010), a student who is receiving low attention may engage in problem behavior to obtain peer or teacher attention, resulting in increased intensity of the problem behavior in cases whereby the student doesn't receive the attention.

According to a study conducted by Boyd et al. (2008), naturally occurring antecedent variables such as setting events in classroom environments can be used to influence the behavior of children with ASD. The researchers carried out a descriptive analysis whereby seven preschool-aged children were observed for a period of over 12 weeks. Different classroom settings were tested i.e., the context in which the adult or child-directed the activities, context with varying peer group sizes and contexts with varying levels of teacher engagement (Boyd et al., 2008). Results from this study indicated that small groups, including 1:1 peer to target child ratios, child-directed activities, and limited adult engagement increased the likelihood of the occurrence of social initiations and social interactions between children with ASD and their same-age peers for participants in the current study (Boyd et al., 2008).

Nosik & Carr (2015) state that concepts of setting events in the classroom should be retained over time instead of alternatives when they lead to kore effective ways to address scientific and practical problems. On the other hand, Chan (2006) states that setting events can increase the prevalence of challenging behavior that disrupts the classroom. According to Chan (2006), events happening outside the classroom walls influence the behavior and mood of students in the classroom. Therefore, it is important for teachers first to understand the relationship between setting events, antecedents, behaviors, and consequences so as to effectively address students' issues, especially behaviors expressed by students in the classroom (Chan, 2006).

Martin, Brady, and Williams (1991) conducted a study to investigate the influence of social and isolate toys on the social behavior of integrated and nonintegrated groups of preschool children. Results from this study indicated that setting events in classrooms increased children's engagement in social behavior. On the other hand, Brown, Bryson-Brockman, and Fox (1986) conducted a study to determine the usefulness of setting event concepts in children's social behavior. The researchers, in particular, sought to distinguish between the concepts of discriminative stimuli and setting events. The researchers suggest that the setting event concept has heuristic value in promoting and conducting research in behavior analysis (Brown et al., 1986). Structural analyses can be implemented by a practitioner and can lead to the development of successful interventions within educational settings (Stichter, Hudson, and Sasso, 2005)

Research Gap

From the reviewed literature, setting events appear to influence behavior through their functional impact on the temporally immediate stimulus contingencies for that behavior. It is evident that different researchers have found a direct relationship between setting events and behavior of individuals. However, a very small portion of ABA research efforts has been comprised in most of the reviewed literature. Therefore, a research gap exists, and future research should try and include setting event concepts within the subject matter of ABA.

References

Bailey, J., & Burch, M. (2006). Ethics for behavior analysts: A practical guide to the Behavior Analyst Certification Board guidelines for responsible conduct. Routledge.

Boyd, B. A., Conroy, M. A., Asmus, J. M., McKenney, E. L., & Mancil, G. R. (2008). Descriptive analysis of classroom setting events on the social behaviors of children with an autism spectrum disorder. Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 186-197. Retrieved from daddcec.org ' Publications ' etadd_2016 ' ETADD_September_51_3

Brown, W. H., Bryson-Brockman, W., & Fox, J. J. (1986). The usefulness of JR Kantor's setting event concept for research on children's social behavior. Child & Family Behavior Therapy, 8(2), 15-26. Retrieved from https://psycnet.apa.org ' record

Chan, P. E. (2016). Controlling setting events in the classroom. Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 60(2), 87-93. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net ' publication ' 276172428

Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2007). Applied behavior analysis.

Dunlap, G., Sailor, W., Horner, R. H., & Sugai, G. (2009). Overview and history of positive behavior support. In Handbook of positive behavior support (pp. 3-16). Springer, Boston, MA.

Fenske, E. C., Zalenski, S., Krantz, P. J., & McClannahan, L. E. (1985). Age at intervention and treatment outcome for autistic children in a comprehensive intervention program. Analysis and intervention in Developmental Disabilities, 5(1-2), 49-58. Retrieved from https://psycnet.apa.org ' record

Heward, W. L. (2003). Ten faulty notions about teaching and learning that hinder the effectiveness of special education. The journal of special education, 36(4), 186-205. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net ' publication ' 238329994

Howard, J. S., Sparkman, C. R., Cohen, H. G., Green, G., & Stanislaw, H. (2005). A comparison of intensive behavior analytic and eclectic treatments for young children with autism. Research in developmental disabilities, 26(4), 359-383. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ' PubMed

Laraway, S., Snycerski, S., Michael, J., & Poling, A. (2003). Motivating operations and terms to describe them: Some further refinements. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 36(3), 407-414. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ' pmc ' articles ' PMC1284457

Martin, S. S., Brady, M. P., & Williams, R. E. (1991). Effects of toys on the social behavior of preschool children in integrated and nonintegrated groups: Investigation of a setting event. Journal of Early Intervention, 15(2), 153-161. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net ' publication ' 240731560

Maurice, C. E., Green, G. E., & Foxx, R. M. (2001). Making a difference: Behavioral intervention for autism. Pro-Ed.

McGinnis, M. A., HouchinsJuarez, N., McDaniel, J. L., & Kennedy, C. H. (2010). Abolishing and establishing operation analyses of social attention as positive reinforcement for problem behavior. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 43(1), 119-123. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ' pmc ' articles ' PMC2831440

Nosik, M. R., & Carr, J. E. (2015). On the Distinction Between the Motivating Operation and Setting Event Concepts. The Behavior Analyst, 38(2), 219-223. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ' pmc ' articles ' PMC4883488

Robertson, R. E., & Coy, J. N. (2019). Your Student Is Hungry, Tired, Angry-Now What? Addressing Distal Setting Events in the Classroom. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 51(5), 361-371. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com ' doi ' abs

Schloss, P. J., & Smith, M. A. (1998). Applied behavior analysis in the classroom. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Smith, T., Eikeseth, S., Klevstrand, M., & Lovaas, O. I. (1997). Intensive behavioral treatment for preschoolers with severe mental retardation and pervasive developmental disorder. American Journal on Men...