Behavior Analyst

Behavior Analyst

Introduction

Johnny is a six-year-old child with autism. His communication skills are significantly deficient and he demonstrates a wide variety of problem behaviors. Most concerning is the tendency for him to demonstrate self injurious behavior that has recently increased in frequency and intensity. An ER visit was necessitated by a recent incident of this behavior. Some of Johnny's more intense characteristics related to autism spectrum disorders include repetitive and ritualistic behavior patterns and an apparent need to collect and acquire a variety of specific tangible items such as Hot Wheels cars and Lego. Johnny is generally only “well behaved” when access to these items is free and frequent. The primary objective of this paper is to assess how

Discussion

Defining the Target Behavior in the Selected Scenario

Looking at the case of Johnny who is suffering from an autistic disorder, numerous target behaviors can be anticipated from him. For example, Johnny may exhibit disruptive behavior which involves throwing tantrums. A significant deficiency in communication skills means that Johnny will have difficulty in following instructions of others. This may also result in Johnny ending up in a rebellious manner and breaking things just to make himself heard.

In addition to this, another disturbing fact highlighted in this case is that Johnny has exhibited self-injurious tendency. This means that he has the potential to seriously injure himself by using objects around him. Moreover, Johnny's self-injurious behavior also puts at risk the lives of those around him and this is a matter of serious concern. Therefore, it can be expected that Johnny has a strong tendency to consistently exhibit the following target behavior:

Exhibiting disruptive behavior

Throwing tantrums

Acting rebelliously

Causing physical injury to himself

Causing physical injury to others

In order to properly assess the target behavior of Johnny, it is imperative that the antecedent stimuli and conditions that have influenced Johnny are assessed first. The term 'Antecedent Stimuli' refers to the events and factors that prompt an individual to behave in a specific manner (Lee & Odom, 1996, pp. 88-95). Antecedent stimuli may include a wide range of factors such as the person's own interactions with the people around him.

Importance of Antecedent Stimuli and Conditions in Assessment of Target Behavior

Moreover, environmental factors also play a significant role in the way certain target behaviors are exhibited by people. All these are antecedent stimuli as they influence the behavioral patterns of an individual and encourage him to behave in a certain way (Rosales-Ruiz & Baer, 1997, pp. 533-544). In the case of Johnny, it is clear that his deficient communications skills are a hindrance to how efficiently he understands things around him. For example, an important antecedent of Johnny's disruptive behavior is that he faces a lot of difficulty in understanding the behavior of others or the instructions that he is given (Vollmer & Vorndran, 1998, pp. 647-650).

The failure to grasp things clearly results in frustration and anger which Johnny then channels through in the shape of disruptive behavior. In addition to this, it has been highlighted in the case study that children ...