Behavior Series #2- the Importance of Recognizing Partial Success

In the behavior field that consistis of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and its offshoot, Positive Behavior Support (PBS) a critical ideas of all behaviors having a legitimate purpose, and that learning new behaviors consists of mastering a number of steps that make up the skill.

Recognizing partial success is an important part of recognizing and rewarding success in that part of the skill set being taught.

Summary

The episode introduces the concept of "approximating success" (successive approximation) in behavior intervention for students with emotional and behavioral issues. It explains how replacement behaviors are learned gradually through systematic reinforcement rather than punishment, using the example of a second-grader named John who calls out instead of raising his hand. The importance of reinforcing partially correct intermediate steps is emphasized as essential for internalizing new behaviors.

Key takeaway

Approximating Success through Reinforcement

Replacement behaviors are learned through successive approximation, not immediate perfection.

The process requires reinforcing intermediate steps—such as a child raising a hand while still calling out—because neurodivergent children often need gradual internalization, similar to building a model airplane step by step.

Punishment fails because it does not address the underlying need (like attention).

Punitive feedback still provides attention, which reinforces the problem behavior, whereas planned reinforcement interrupts the behavior with a positive consequence.

Systematic reinforcement shapes behavior over time by accentuating correct parts.

The reinforcer (a preferred activity or item) interrupts the problem behavior early, then gradually the child learns to think, decide, and raise a hand until the replacement behavior becomes automatic and habitual.

Here is a research article:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10050503/

A scholarly article:

https://online.regiscollege.edu/blog/task-analysis

And a popular article:

https://behavioristbookclub.com/aba-research/topic/shaping/

Thanks to Soundimage.org for the free access to the AI generated used in this podcast (https://soundimage.org/) 

Transcript

Behaviors -  the Importance of Recognizing Partial Success

In the behavior field there is a component that I call approximating success.  In the literature, it's called successive approximation. 

Students with emotional/behavioral issues who have a Positive Behavior Support Plan (PBSB) learn how to use replacement behaviors over time. A replacement behavior is one that is a socially acceptable alternative for socially problematic behavior. 

Possibly the most important component of a PBSB is how and when the child is reinforced for using the replacement behavior.

Let me give you a description of a typical problem behavior. John is that 2nd grader that doesn't raise his hand. He calls out instead. 

John has a behavior plan that calls for him to earn reinforcement if he raises his hand when the teacher asks a class wide question.  The class rule is that students need to raise their hands without calling out or otherwise vocalizing.

If John is reinforced for raising his hand and not calling out, that's fine. he's done the behavior; he's done what he's supposed to do. But what about those times when John raises his hand and calls out at the same time, or those times that he calls out and then raises his hand a second later?

Those are the times I'm talking about, those intermediate steps towards success. 

What parents often tell me and based on my experience observing classrooms when I was a special education administrator, is that there's a general lack of recognition of the importance of reinforcing a child for behavior that is partially correct. 

The science behind this is that most children, particularly neurodivergent children, don’t learn things immediately.  There are usually intermediate steps they need to know to internalize a replacement behavior.  It’s like putting a model airplane together, you can wish it to completion, but in reality, you need to go through the steps.

The act of raising his hand is a skill that John will learn over time and with emphasis on each step of the process.

What about punishment? For John, It didn’t seem to deter him that he did not know the answer on many occasions, or that he was punished in the classroom, or sent to the office.

That’s because punitive feedback does nothing to address the underlying, legitimate need that leads to the behavior.  The reason for John’s behavior is likely attention, which he will need no matter what.  If punishment is the attention it’s still attention, it’s better than the alternative.

John’s behavior will be shaped over time by being reinforced in a planned and systematic manner.  At first, when John is showing signs of the problem behavior, which will occur what the teacher starts to ask a question, there is an interruption caused by the reinforcer being used. As the reinforcer is a preferred activity or item, is causes a successful interruption with consequences that are not punitive but rather encouraging.  

The purpose at this point may be to simply interrupt the behavior.  You can see that it’s a distance from there to John thinking about the question, deciding if he knows the answer, or purposefully deciding to guess, and then raising his hand.  Each of those areas need attention through reinforcement.

The child needs to internalize the feeling of having done the correct thing; the importance of what they're doing is emphasized by accentuating the part they did correctly.

John needs to have the intrinsic feeling, that deep gut feeling, "Oh, this is how it works."  It has to become habitual so that he will use the new behavior automatically, without thought, it needs to become just the way he responds.