Motivating our children

• The ABCs of Changing Behavior
• Antecedent - Parent's Instructions to clean
• Behavior - Child picks up toys

Consequence - Verbal Praise

Rewards vs. Punishments

• Reinforcement: Presenting or removing an event after a response that will increase the likelihood of that response
• Punishment: Presenting or removing after a response that will decrease the likelihood of that response
• Different Reinforcements and Punishments
• Positive Reinforcement Increases Likelihood

• Antecedent: Parent asks child to do homework
• Behavior: Child completes homework
• Consequence: Child gets to play on iPad

Negative Reinforcement Increases Likelihood

• Antecedent: Child doesn’t want to eat vegetables
• Behavior: Child screams and yells
• Consequence: Child gets to eat something else

Positive Punishment Decreases Likelihood

• Antecedent: Child is angry with brother
• Behavior: Child fights with brother
• Consequence: Child gets timeout

Negative Punishment Deceases Likelihood

• Antecedent: Parent asks child to clean their room
• Behavior: Child doesn’t clean room
• Consequence: Child loses TV time

Positive Reinforcement

• Food and Consumables (snacks and TV) Strength: Immediate; Limitation: Cannot give snacks and TV all the time
• Social Reinforces (attention, praise, physical contact)Strength: Easily Provided; Limitation: Difficult to be consistent
• Privileges and Activities (during free time) Strength: Highly reinforcing and easy to identify; Limitation: Not easily administered immediately
• Token System (points, chips, stars) Strength: Highly reinforcing and applicable with more than one child; Limitation: Arranging and tracking what the tokens can be exchanged for

They Resist Change

• In the beginning things are going to get worse.
• We will have to engage in self-care
• Understand that they will have real emotions
• Listen to them and let them know you care
• Reward them for good behavior. Trust in the process.