The A-B-C paradigm is a direct observation strategy that is used to record data on a specific event that is occurring. The A refers to the antecedent, which is the situation or event that is happening. The B is the behavior that is being observed. The C is the consequence or the action that is directly after the response. This kind of recording is a good way to keep track of what actions worked and the actions that didn’t work to get the result that you are looking for. This way if we used this in a classroom we would be able to see and have data showing what ways are effective and what ways that are not so effective.
Antecedent: The antecedent is what the therapist did to evoke behavior from the student. In this video, the antecedent is getting the student to hand her the correct colored card. She kept asking for the colored card and never said why she wanted it or gave any purpose for doing it at all. The child’s behavior during the time of her asking for a card started out reluctant and then moved on to throwing a minor fit. After a while of asking for a card the child chose the correct card and received a piece of candy. This changed the situation to where when he was asked for a color card he would pick it up.
He would get rewarded, but after a few times doing it correctly, the situation went back to the way it was before to where the student continued the reluctant behavior. Therefore I do not think the therapist was effective in how she evoked the wanted behavior. Just repeating the same question multiple times will not get the student to achieve the results that are wanted in this event. I think the child finally picked a card and when rewarded, the child was surprised, and continued for a minimal amount of time. Behavior: The behavior is the behavior that is displayed by the student in the video.
The student had both correct and incorrect behavior that was evoked in this video. The correct behavior was the student picking the correct colored card and repeating this behavior. He would repeat the behavior because he was getting a reward for what he was doing so he continued to do it. Toward the end of the good behavior the student started picking up random cards because all he cared about was getting the reward and did not care what colored she was asking for. After he got out of his seat, she asked, “Do you want more? Come sit down then.
He would start the targeted behavior again where he would pick the correct card. The incorrect behavior was at the beginning and toward the end of the video. The student was slumping in his seat, crying, whining, and pulling his blanket up over his face. He kept doing these actions in the beginning until he picked the correct card and was rewarded. Toward the end when he decided he did not care which card he picked, he started the behavior again of crying and slumping in his seat and not participating anymore. He eventually got up out of his seat and started kicking his blanket, and stated “No”.
He would test her limits to see if she would stay consistent with the reward, which she did. Consequence: Consequence is the response to the resulted behavior. The student had responded with both correct and incorrect behavior. The correct behavior was when the student would choose the correct card. When he would do this he would receive a piece of candy, rewarding the good behavior. This worked well at some points through the video. When she would ask him if he wants more and he would nod yes, then she would ask for a certain card, he would give her the correct card. Every time he did this he realized he would be rewarded for it.
His incorrect behavior was crying, getting out of his seat, throwing the blanket, or whining. I think the consequence was semi- effective because it worked when the child only wanted more, so it was not consistent throughout. When the student decided he did not want to do it anymore he would whine, cry, and get up. When he did want to sit there and do it then the consequence did work to keep him to continue picking the correct card. I do not think the mastery of picking the correct color was achieved because the student was not completely focused on the task but focused on getting more of the candy.
Also the mother showed him which card to choose after she asked for it, which is not learning but mimicking. There were consistent behavioral problems that the student had. The student tried to test her limits as well during the activity until he wanted more, or wanted to stop all together. Even when giving her the correct colored card, he still would misbehave. An example of this would be when he mixed up all the cards and then just looked at her wanting her to do something about it. He was asked for a card and the mother even showed him where it is when he was doing this misbehavior and then gave him the reward.
I do not think that he should have been rewarded for this. Recommendations: I think there can be an activity on choosing the correct color but the way this mom did it is very ineffective. She would show the student where the card was almost every single time. If we want the student to master the skill of colors on his own, then we cannot provide him with an answer each time. Also, when the student misbehaved, it was almost like she bribed him to do more by prompting the question “do you want more? ” and showed him the candy.
This is not going to get the student to learn his colors, or behave in the proper way. All of these would be the “don’ts”. I think a better way to handle this is using an economy system, which also helps with the learning of coin handling and counting. We would have the same cards; I would start of with a purpose as to why we want to learn the colors and also with a goal. For example, the goal could be if you earn 10 pennies then you can color your favorite page in your coloring book. I would not use food because to me it feels like a bribe.
So now the student has a goal to work toward instead of aimlessly going through these colored cards. For every card that is correctly handed to me, the student would earn a penny. So many pennies will earn you the prize. For the student to know why they are doing this and what they get from doing the activity is important for the student to achieve the intended goal, which is learning the colors. I believe this would have been a more effective way to handle this activity and show student progress.
