Reinforcement-Based Practice

A 5-minute clinical-authority read on reinforcement done right: define the specific positive behavior first (stated as a do, not a don't), deliver the reinforcer immediately and make it meaningful, and use token/point systems matched to age. Apply reinforcement under the supervising teacher's / BCBA's plan, and reinforce the replacement behavior more often than the behavior you're trying to reduce.

In Round 1 (Function-Replacement Card, ~12 min), participants receive three student behavior vignettes with a hypothesized function for each (attention, escape/avoid, access to a tangible, sensory) and complete a card with three columns for each: what function the behavior is serving, what replacement behavior would serve the same function in an acceptable way, and what reinforcer would need to be delivered (must match the function, not just be something preferred) — grounded in the IES Practice Guide Reducing Behavior Problems in the Elementary School Classroom (Recommendation 3: teach and reinforce new skills to increase appropriate behavior), which establishes that reinforcing a replacement behavior means the reinforcer must deliver the same outcome the problem behavior was getting; this round counters the failure mode of suppressing the unwanted behavior without identifying a replacement, which leaves the student without a way to meet the need. In Round 2 (Reinforcement Script, ~12 min), participants draft a reinforcement delivery script for one replacement behavior from Round 1: the exact language (specific — naming the behavior — and immediate — delivered within seconds), the delivery timing, and what distinguishes effective reinforcement from vague praise that is too delayed or non-contingent to function; the script must include the sentence they would say and the moment they would say it, making delivery a planned action rather than a remembered intention. In Round 3 (Schedule Thinning Plan, ~11 min), given a scenario where a replacement behavior is newly established (student is reliably requesting a break instead of bolting), participants draft the thinning steps: the current reinforcement schedule, the next thinner schedule they would move to, and the data indicator they would watch to know the student is ready; pairs annotate each other's plans for whether thinning is gradual and whether the data indicator is observable, reinforcing that stopping reinforcement abruptly after a replacement behavior appears is itself a failure mode — schedule thinning is the third phase of reinforcement-based practice, not optional cleanup.

NCII behavior-strategies module; the reinforcement section covers positive and negative reinforcement, aligning reinforcers to the hypothesized function of the behavior, differential reinforcement, and reinforcing the replacement behavior more often than the problem behavior occurs. Each strategy includes purpose, implementation procedures, sample scripts, and intensification options — a second, walk-through modality alongside the IES practice guide.