You have been contacted by a 3rd grade teacher from Dry Creek Elementary. He asks your help in getting
control of the behavior of one of his students. He has tried the negative punishment procedure “timeout,” but it
is not controlling the unwanted behavior. You ask him if he can describe what the behavior looks like –
basically, the operational definition. Mr. Cochran says that every time he hands out a spelling or math
worksheet, Danny tears the worksheets in two pieces, stands beside his desk, and looks directly at the teacher
and smiles. Mr. Cochran says he feels like he has no control of this situation at all.
For this week’s discussion post, you will design a Differential Reinforcement procedure to address Danny’s
behavior. You may select from Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior (DRA); Differential
Reinforcement of Other Behavior (DRO); Differential Reinforcement of Low Rates of Responding (DRL); or
Differential Reinforcement of High Rates of Responding (DRH). In addition to describing your Differential
Reinforcement (DR) procedure for Danny’s case, include the following:
1. Identify the probable function of the target behavior.
2. Identify the reinforcer you will use in this case and provide your rationale for its selection.
3. Discuss the reasons you have for using a DR approach instead of a simple reinforcement approach
Page 2 (250 words)
A parent has reached out to you for help regarding her 4-year-old. Mom is going back to work after being home
with her only child for 4-years. She is trying to find a nice daycare center for him – one that is very much like
the home environment that he is used to. She is anxious about the separation. Each of the daycare centers
that she has called has a policy regarding toilet training. Children 2-years old and over must be toilet trained.
Mom has tried to toilet train little Noah, but without any success. She has invested in “pull ups,” thinking that
Noah will be proud to wear “big boy” underwear instead of diapers, but success has been very limited.
1, Design a toilet training program for Noah.
2. Specify the process and the schedule of reinforcement to be used.
3. Program for generalization and maintenance.
Book link:
https://purdueuniversityglobal.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780134798769/cfi/274!/4/2@100:0.00