Role of positive reinforcement in increasing appropriate behaviour among kids with autism.

By: Ipshita Raja

The joy of becoming a parent is incomparable and despite knowing the challenges most of us are ready to ride the roller coaster that is part of the journey called parenting. But for a parent who discovers his child has autism, the world might turn upside down for once and taking a bite of the reality sandwich might be the most difficult task. Bringing up a child with autism can be challenging and overwhelming. Parents feel confused, angry, depress and frustrated.

Fortunately, with right intervention most of the parents and caregivers find taking care of a child with autism more possible and less challenging.

For most of the parents who seek advice and help for their kids with autism, the foremost concern is to decrease socially undesirable behaviour. They feel anxious about taking their kids out to grocery store, malls, parks, in a bus or even sending them to school.  And like any other parent in order to train their kids they use Punishment which has been the most popular go to method for most of us. In moments when your child is not displaying the desirable and socially appropriate behaviour thinking of a scientific and evidence-based strategy seems like a lot of work, but studies show that positive reinforcement has stood strong as the most effective ABA strategy to increase desirable behaviour among kids with autism. 

Think of a situation where your boss insults you for your bad performance and a situation where your boss praises you for your good work. You are more likely to do better work in future and also sustain it when you were praised than when you are rebuked.

One of the most effective and scientific behavioral interventions in the field of Autism is applied behavior analysis (ABA) . ABA techniques are oriented towards increasing desirable behaviors while reducing undesirable behaviors and one of the driving principles behind ABA is the use of positive reinforcement based on B.F. skinner’s Principles of operant conditioning.

Positive reinforcement is actually the most important factor in deciding human behaviour. We all behave in a certain was so that we can obtain our preferred and desirable outcomes and kids with autism are no different. Think of yourself, you set up an alarm so that you can get up on time, you call a friend because you feel the need to speak to them. The aim of positive reinforcement is to increase the chances of responding using appropriate behaviour by replacing undesirable behaviour. This is what makes it different from punishment. If the

consequence makes it more likely that the individual will engage in the

behaviour again, it is reinforcement.

What is reinforcement?

Reinforcement being the core principle of behaviour analysis is a process in which a behaviour is strengthened as a result of the consequences that immediately follows it. The equation for the same goes like:

S(stimulus)—> R(response)—> C(consequence).

For Example:  If I give a candy to a child after he has appropriately asked for one, and in the future, he appropriately asks for candies from me, then I have provided reinforcement (i.e. “candies”) contingent on his “appropriate asking” behaviour.

Let’s understand positive reinforcement as teacher, parent and therapist: 

Positive reinforcement is:

The delivery of something that is highly preferred by the recipient following a behaviour which results in the subsequent increase of that behaviour in the future.

The definition of Positive Reinforcement includes 4 components:

1. contingent

2. presentation

3. immediately

4. increases

1. Contingent: means that the things that is preferred by the recipient is presented when the behaviour occurs, and not when the behaviour does not occur.

Example: If you tidy your room, then you get the ipad.

2. Presentation of the stimulus means that something that was not already present was presented after the behaviour.

3. Immediate: Reinforcement should be delivered right after the desired behaviour or it might lose its essence.

4. Increases the future rate or likelihood of the

behaviour.

In order to identify if positive reinforcement has been delivered accurately ask yourself two questions:

1)Was something delivered following the behaviour?

2)Did the behaviour increase on future occurrences?

Let’s take few examples and understand this better:

Example 1:

         Student completes his worksheet —> teacher gives him stickers—> student completes all worksheets in future. 

 Example 2:

Child cries in a supermarket—> mom buys him candy—> child cries every time he visits the supermarket.

Example 3:

A salesperson meets his target ——> Boss gives him a raise——> salesperson meets all his future targets.

Some important factors to keep in mind when using positive reinforcement as a way of strengthening desired behaviour:

1. Reinforcement must be individualized, because what motivates one student may not motivate another.
2. The individual must be motivated for receiving reinforcement. If what is delivered as reinforcement is not preferred by the student, it is likely that it will not be effective.
3. The time gap between display of desired behaviour by the individual and delivery of reinforcement must be as less as possible or reinforcement will lose its effectiveness.
4. Be specific and label the positive behaviour. E.g. “You get iPad for cleaning your room”
5. Reward the desired behaviour every time, be consistent.
6. Be frequent in the beginning and as positive behaviour increases, the frequency of reinforcement can be faded.

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How as therapist, teacher and parent you can implement the above knowledge to increase positive behaviour:

To simplify the concept, it can be said that when a child performs a socially desired behavior, he is rewarded in some manner. The reward teaches the child to perform these desired behaviors again, thereby reducing undesired behaviors.

The best results implementing positive reinforcement can be achieved through a mutual effort by therapists, teachers and parents, with everyone being consistent on what behaviors should be eligible for reinforcement. Everyone’s mutual consent is also important on using the size and intensity of reinforcement. Typically, a small reinforcer for a simpler and learnt response and a bigger reinforcer for a more difficult response.

Not only is positive reinforcement effective in teaching appropriate behaviour, it is also based on scientific evidence which makes it essential enough to be included as the most important method of not just therapy session but everyday activities to increase desired behaviour among kids with autism.