Basic ABC's of Behavior
After analyzing the antecedents, behavior and consequences in terms of what the child gets or rejects through a behavior, the determination of the behavior’s “function” is established; e.g., he runs out of the room to escape difficult classwork; e.g., she hits her sibling to get parents to sit down talk to her and give her one-on-one attention. This is the first step in deciding what is supporting the problem behavior and what changes will be made to address the problem.
A= Antecedent
Precedes/causes the behavior.
•External Environment Examples: No interaction/attention form people, noises, specific person, child being asked to do something
•Internal Examples: emotions, being sick, hunger, pain, or deprivation
B= Behavior
The behavior (observable action).
Behavior is measured by:
•Frequency—how many, how often
•Duration—Length of the occurrence?
•Intensity—mild, moderate, severe
C= Consequence
What occurs as a direct result of the behavior (every consequence either increases or decreases the future occurence of behavior).
•An action (ex: walking away, escaping having to complete a task, raising voice, giving the child any form of attention)
•Reward/punishment (ex: taking away recess, giving child a hug)
•A gesture or facial expression (ex: attention through eye-contact, a thumbs up)
A= Antecedent
Precedes/causes the behavior.
•External Environment Examples: No interaction/attention form people, noises, specific person, child being asked to do something
•Internal Examples: emotions, being sick, hunger, pain, or deprivation
B= Behavior
The behavior (observable action).
Behavior is measured by:
•Frequency—how many, how often
•Duration—Length of the occurrence?
•Intensity—mild, moderate, severe
C= Consequence
What occurs as a direct result of the behavior (every consequence either increases or decreases the future occurence of behavior).
•An action (ex: walking away, escaping having to complete a task, raising voice, giving the child any form of attention)
•Reward/punishment (ex: taking away recess, giving child a hug)
•A gesture or facial expression (ex: attention through eye-contact, a thumbs up)