discussion post 3

Alex is a preschool student with an autism spectrum disorder. He attends a preschool program 4 mornings per week and works with a Registered Behavior Technician 3 afternoons per week. Alex has a strong visual performance repertoire and can match almost any identical and non-identical picture. When various pictures are put on the table in front of him, Alex can identify almost any picture when asked. Alex can ask vocally for most preferred items. Alex struggles to vocally label pictures and complete intraverbal fill-ins (conversational language). 

Walden Preschool has both typically developing children and autistic children, ranging from three years to six years old. In this program, seven of the children are autistic and eight are typically developing. The children generally get along, but the most frequent incidents of problem behavior occur during free play. During free play, students could choose from a variety of toys including books, blocks, art materials, and costumes.When Alex is at Walden Preschool, he demonstrates problem behavior in the form of whining and property destruction. He dumps containers, throws materials and tries to knock over furniture. Per baseline data collected on a scatterplot, itseems that most problem behavior occurs during free play.

Given the case study above, identify two operational definitions, and which form of differential reinforcement may be most appropriate given the circumstances. Remember, operational definitions should be relatively short (1-2 sentences max), but be specific, measurable and observable. 

Behavior Definition for Reduction: 

Behavior Definition for Replacement/Increase:

Differential Reinforcement of ___________ Behavior: 

Why did you choose that form of Differential Reinforcement?