Time Out From Positive Reinforcement

Overview of Target Population: Social Phobia (Social Anxiety)
Social Phobia definition: "A marked and persistent fear of one or more social or performance situations involving exposure to unfamiliar people or possible scrutiny by others."

  • Types
    • Generalized- fear in most social situations, more serious of the two
    • Non-generalized- fear of one or a few identifiable circumstances

  • Causes
    • Family/parenting: over control, lack of warmth, rejection, over protection, psychopathology
    • Generalized usually comes from family history
    • Within genetics it takes less stress to trigger it
    • Traumatic events- sexual/physical abuse, negative peer relationships, bullying, divorce, death, illness, natural disasters, changing schools, academic failure, familial violence
    • Socioeconomic status, cultural values
    • Gender role differences- girls negatively respond to marital conflict, mental illness, and physical abuse. boys negatively respond to lack of a close relationship or confiding friendship
    • STRESS

  • Rates of occurrence
    • Lifetime prevalence- 7% - 13%
    • Child rates- 0.6%-3.5%
    • Most in adults, then adolescents, then young children
    • Onset: early to late adolescence, could be as early as 7 or 8
    • More in girls and women, adolescents, and kids with low socioeconomic status
    • 3rd most common psychiatric disorder- after depression and alcohol abuse
    • Most widespread

  • Characteristics
    • Fear, shyness, worry, self consciousness
    • Social withdrawal, social anxiety, social isolation, fearful social inhibition
    • Neuroticism- depressed mood based on fear and envy
    • Audience sensitivity, peer neglect

  • Common behaviors associated with topic
    • Anxiety disorders
    • Mood-depression
    • Substance abuse disorder
    • Avoidant disorder
    • Overanxious disorder


Time out definition: "Withdrawal of the opportunity to earn a positive reinforcement, or the loss of access to positive reinforcers for a specified period of time contingent on the occurrence of a behavior."

Goal of a time-out
Decrease the future occurrence of a target behavior.

Overview of Intervention- Child is placed in a less rewarding setting when they engage in an undesirable behavior


  • How to do it
    • First, think about whether time out would be beneficial for the student
    • Have a predetermined time-out duration
    • Determine what students will do during their time out
    • Review time-out procedures with students before hand
    • Log incidents of time-out including the date, duration, and location.
    • Variations
      • Exclusionary- student removed from reinforcing environment
      • Non-exclusionary- student remains in the reinforcing environment but does not engage in reinforcing activities

  • Who Implements- Usually implemented by teachers or parents

  • Materials Needed-
    • Seating
    • Any activities the student will use during time out
    • Timer

  • Potential Pitfalls
    • Exclusion of student
    • Overuse
    • Negative effects on student
References

Brook, C. A., & Schmidt, L. A. (2008). Social anxiety disorder: A review of environmental risk factors. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 4(1), 123–143.

Leitenberg, H. (1965). Is time-out from positive reinforcement an aversive event? A review of the experimental evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 64(6), 428-441. doi:10.1037/h0022657

Martin, G., & Pear, J. (2007). 13. In Behavior Modification: What It Is and How To Do It (10th ed.). New York, New York: Pearson Education.

McReynolds, R. (1969). Application of Time Out From Positive Reinforcement for Increasing the Efficiency of Speech Training. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 2(5), 199-205. Retrieved October 15, 2015, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1311063/pdf/jaba00081-0059.pdf

Tulbure, B. T., Szentagotai, A., Dobrean, A., & David, D. (2012). Evidence Based Clinical Assessment of Child and Adolescent Social Phobia: A Critical Review of Rating Scales.Child Psychiatry And Human Development, 43(5), 795-820.


External Links
Self-Regulation Worksheet
http://lessoninteaching.tumblr.com/post/28935316727/behavior-manageme

Time Out Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S04J3QLHdE