12. Problem Behavior Quiz
1. Which two answers best explain the reasons why babies cry and fuss?
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The correct answers are A, to let the adult know that they need something or to get their attention, and D, to get out of a situation they don’t want to be in. It can certainly sometimes feel as though they are crying on purpose to get adults irritated and angry but the baby doesn’t really know how the adult is reacting, at least when the baby is very young. Although there may be some truth to the idea that babies are exercising their lungs when they cry, the main purpose or function of crying and fussing is to let adults know they need something or want out of an uncomfortable situation. For example, if a baby is hungry, she will cry until her parents feed her. But if she is finished eating, she may become bored sitting at the table and cry to be let out of her chair. After all, for at least the first couple of years, babies are completely dependent on adults to give them food, comfort, affection, and to keep them comfortable and safe. And before they learn to talk or use their arms and hands to gesture, crying and fussing is the only way they have of communicating this.
2. Which two are more mature forms of communication than crying?
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The correct answers are C and D. When a child can point to what she wants, or make a gesture to show what she wants, or has learned a few words to request what she wants, she will usually cry, scream, or tantrum less often. Unfortunately, when children have trouble learning gestures like pointing, or words, and have tantrums instead, parents will often try hard to figure out what they want and then give it to them to stop the tantrum behavior. Although the parents are doing this with good intentions, it may make the child even more likely to have tantrums in the future.
3. What is the best way to reduce tantrums in children who tend to tantrum because they want something?
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The correct answer is D. Teach the child a better way to communicate what she wants. Giving her what she wants immediately or giving her a favorite treat when she tantrums are likely to reinforce the tantrum behavior. Punishing a child for a tantrum is also not a very effective way of reducing tantrums, since you haven’t helped her learn a better way to communicate what she needs.
4. Which of the following behaviors can be part of a tantrum?
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The correct answer is E. All of the above. Screaming, throwing things, hitting themselves and others can all occur during tantrums, and you want to avoid reinforcing them whenever possible. To teach a more effective form of communication, prompt the child to point to what she wants, preferably when she first shows signs of distress and then reinforce the pointing behavior by immediately giving her what she has pointed to. If you wait until the child is having a full-blown tantrum, she will be less likely to follow your prompt and point to what she wants.
5. A child likes to spin around and around, looking at things while she spins, and ignoring people who try to interact with her. Which three adult actions would be a good strategy to get her to do this less often?
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The correct answers are A, B and C. With A and B, you are making her spinning activity into a more social activity. In the first case, you are trying to give her some of the same pleasant sensations as part of a social game, and in the second case, you are using the spinning as a way of increasing her communication, and you are in control of the amount of spinning. The third choice, distracting the child with another fun activity, is also a good way to keep this stereotypical behavior to a minimum. Simply holding the child down is likely to just upset her and might lead to a tantrum.
6. Which is likely to be a reinforcer of repetitive, stereotypical behavior?
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The correct answer is C; both choices are especially common functions of stereotypic behavior. It is useful to try to figure out what is maintaining your child’s stereotypic behavior in order to come up with a plan to reduce it.
7. You are just starting to work on teaching your child how to make a request for a specific item. Your child wants a cookie out of the box that you just put in your supermarket wagon. She is starting to get upset and cry. What might you do?
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Although you can’t always do this, the best thing to do would be D. What a great opportunity to work on requesting behavior! Here is something your child really wants, and you can use this chance to prompt whatever means of requesting you are working on (speaking, pointing, handing you a PECS picture, preferably with eye contact). In fact, you could get in 3 or 4 great learning trials by giving her a small piece of cookie after each request, putting yourself where she looks at you and then points. Putting the box back on the shelf is likely to cause a great deal of upset, since she’ll know that not only won’t she get a cookie now, but she won’t get it later, either! And scolding her and reasoning with her about dinner will both be rather useless. When a toddler sees a sweet treat that she really wants, she will not listen to or understand your explanation about her nutritional needs. If another customer is rude enough to tell you that you are spoiling your child, you can tell them that you are following expert advice, or that you are teaching your child an important skill, or just to mind their own business!
8. You are working on teaching a new skill and your child is starting to get frustrated and bored. What might be the best thing to do for a child that cannot yet say any words?
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The correct answer is C. Use her beginning frustration as a learning opportunity in which she can learn that requesting a break is rewarded with an actual break. Later, she can learn that sometimes she has to keep going for a while and get her break in a few minutes.
9. Which are some good rules for building compliance (that is, getting your child to what you ask her to do):
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The correct answer is E, All of the above. These four steps are the important ingredients in building compliance. Make sure you have the child’s attention, by putting yourself in front of her or making sure she’s looking at you, say your instruction only once, wait a few seconds and then prompt the correct response, and then reinforce her response, even if it was prompted.
10. Which two of the following suggestions are useful ways to help a child comply with adult instructions during her learning sessions?
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The correct answers are A and B. These are two good ways of building compliance, by letting the child know what she will have to do to earn her preferred activity or treat. Threatening punishment, although it can be a very natural thing for parents to do and can be hard to resist, is not effective in improving behavior, especially in the long term. Allowing the child to become so frustrated that she has a tantrum, and then giving her the treat or preferred activity, will just reinforce the tantrum. If the child has progressed to the tantrum stage, you may have to wait until she calms down before she will follow your prompts to request what she wants by pointing, using words, or exchanging a PECS picture. In any case, once you are able to prompt her, then immediately reinforce the nice requesting.