Replacement behaviors work best when they physically cannot happen at the same time as the problem behavior. A student who yells for attention might tap a bus aide instead; one who throws a task bin could use a break card. The replacement must still get the same reward the problem behavior did.
So in the last video, we went in-depth into replacement behaviors. You know how I feel about replacement behaviors. They are the secret sauce to a behavior plan. Now, if you want to take it one more step forward and really make this extremely effective, I want you to make your replacement behavior incompatible with the negative behavior. An incompatible replacement behavior cannot occur at the same time as the problem behavior. These two behaviors are incompatible. It is best if you can find an incompatible replacement behavior. This is gonna make your data system a lot more smooth, and this is gonna really help you decrease that negative behavior more quickly. So you want to think about these two behaviors and really push and think if they can co-occur. Now, these are two behaviors that are incompatible. You cannot sit in a desk raising your hand and wander around the classroom at the same time, right? You can't do both. If you're sitting in your desk, you're not wandering. So you need either or, those are incompatible. You cannot ask for a break by pointing to a break card on the desk and yell while running towards the break area, right? The break card is on the desk. So you have to be sitting in the desk pointing, you can't be yelling and running. So it's either or. So we have our problem behavior, yelling while running towards the break area, and then we have our replacement behavior, asking for a break by pointing to a break visual. Those are incompatible. They both can't occur at the same time. If we increase asking for a break with the break visual, we know we are decreasing the negative behavior because they can't happen simultaneously. So if there's more asking for a break with a visual, there will by nature be less yelling and running towards the break area. So these incompatible replacement behaviors still need to result in the same reinforcement that the negative behavior was resulting in. Remember this, it can't just be an opposite. It can't be like, oh, well, I want them— they're running, so I want them to sit. But that sitting still has to result in that same something awesome that the running was getting. So that's why this process, we gotta be a little creative. We gotta think outside the box and really hone in on what's the appropriate incompatible replacement behavior. Behavior. Let's go through a few examples. Let's say the student is crying and yelling while waiting for the school bus and the function is attention, right? We got to really consider that, that function piece here. So instead, the replacement behavior we're gonna teach that's incompatible is tapping the bus aide on the shoulder while quiet while waiting for the school bus. So you can't cry and yell and tap on the shoulder quietly at the same time. You can't do them both, right? They're incompatible, but both of these will result in attention from the bus aide. Next, if you are shouting out the answer to a teacher's question to get attention, the replacement behavior will be raising your hand while quietly. This will result in attention, but it's also incompatible with the negative behavior. Next, throwing the task bin on the floor when given work. Function is escape. You don't have to do your work if it's not on the table, it's on the floor, right? You get a break. Leaving the bin on the table while handing a break card to the staff. So we're honing in on, hey, we want the bin to stay on the table, we're not throwing it, but you're still gonna get that break with the break card. Two more examples: student is talking to peers and drawing on the desk when given an assignment. This is escape and attention from peers, right? So instead, asking, "Can I draw for a minute in my notebook?" and giving that drawing break has to result in that escape because it has to be a replacement behavior. And last, when provided error correction, erasing the paper so hard it rips. This results in attention in the form of help from the teacher. Instead, saying, "I'm frustrated and crossing off the incorrect," or Correct answer: gently. Now, we can't erase the paper so hard it rips and cross it off gently at the same time. They're incompatible. But again, it's still a replacement because it's also going to result in teacher attention. So look at your replacement behaviors. How can you level up and make sure that those replacement behaviors are incompatible with the negative behavior?
