Behavior Reduction and Skill Acquisition Programming
Match the intervention to the function
Every reduction plan starts with the function of the target behavior. Attention-maintained behavior weakens with planned ignoring plus reinforced appropriate attention. Escape-maintained behavior weakens by teaching an appropriate break or request and honoring it. Tangible-maintained behavior responds to consistent contingencies and teaching waiting or requesting. Automatically reinforced behavior usually requires environmental enrichment or competing stimulation, because extinction alone rarely works.
Differential reinforcement
DRA reinforces a functionally equivalent alternative. DRO reinforces the absence of the target for a set interval. DRL reduces (without eliminating) responding by reinforcing rates below a criterion. DRH increases low-rate behavior. A common trap is choosing DRO for every case: DRO does not teach what to do and is weak for automatically reinforced behavior.
Building skills
Shaping reinforces successive approximations. Chaining links a task analysis using forward, backward, or total-task presentation with prompts. Prompt hierarchies move from most to least intrusive, with prompt fading and time delay transferring control to natural stimuli. Behavioral skills training (instruction, modeling, rehearsal, feedback) is the default for teaching new skills to clients and staff.
Programming for the real world
Plan generalization from the start: train loosely, vary examples, use natural contingencies, and program maintenance. Monitor treatment integrity; if the procedure is not implemented as written, the data are uninterpretable.
Worked example
A learner screams to escape difficult worksheets. The plan uses antecedent adjustments (task difficulty, choice), teaches a break request, honors it consistently, and reinforces completion, rather than simply ignoring the scream, which would likely escalate.