AN INTRODUCTION TO BEHAVIOUR

If our main aim is to support children towards recovery, whereby their responses (or behaviour) can be modified in a way that will support them to thrive, it is really important for you as a Proactive trainer (or the in-house behaviour expert) to understand what we are talking about when we say behaviour!

What is behaviour?

Behaviour is everything we do and speak. Behaviour is observable (you can see it or hear it) and measurable in some way (frequency, intensity, duration).

Behaviour can be ‘external’ or ‘internal’

External behaviour is fairly obvious, it is things that we can actually see people doing. Examples might include a child kicking a ball, somebody waving their arms around and chanting at a football match or a student ripping up their work. Even sitting down and doing nothing or sleeping is behaviour as it passes both tests, we can see it and measure it (e.g. how long is the person asleep for? how deep is the sleep?)

Internal behaviours are things that are taking place inside our brains and bodies. For example, neurological activity of the brain, the beating of the heart, and the processes taking place in the digestive system. These internal behaviours are still observable and measurable so long as you have the right equipment.

Somebody once described ‘the dead man rule’ as a test for whether something constitutes behaviour. ‘If a dead man can do it, it’s not behaviour’. By default, everything else IS behaviour.

Form and function

The FORM of a behaviour is simply what it looks like. The FUNCTION of a behaviour is the purpose it serves the person, what they get or avoid by displaying it.

What is meant by ‘functions’ of behaviour?

One of the defining principles of PBS is the premise that all behaviour happens for a reason. A particular behaviour serves a purpose (function) for the person exhibiting it. The person will have learned that it is a generally reliable way to access something they desire or avoid something they do not like.

For example Stefan hits his cup on the desk (1) to draw our attention to the fact that he is thirsty (2). In this example the form of the behaviour is hitting the cup on the desk, it is what Stefan did, literally what the behaviour looked like. We can see that the function of the behaviour is to draw attention to the fact that he is thirsty, he needs a drink, and his previous experience has been that when he hits his cup on the desk, people respond by giving him a drink. This strategy works for him, it is ‘functional’ so he will continue to do it unless we teach him a different way to show he is thirsty and/or make sure drinks are readily available and he can access them. The function in this respect is to get ‘something’ that he needs-this is described as a ‘tangible’ in terms of functions of behaviour

The functions of behaviour

The functions of behaviour are categorized as to get (access) or get away from (avoid) certain things and are generally described as;

1. Sensory or Stimulation – for example to obtain auditory, tactile or visual sensory stimulation
2. Demand avoidance – e.g., to avoid non-preferred tasks, difficult or boring tasks, or tasks and activities that are too easy, physical demands
3. Access social attention – for example from a teacher or peer
4. Tangibles – access to ‘things’ such as desirable items, activities, games, food, drink
5. Escape – (Social avoidance) avoiding the attention of teacher or peer. For example, teacher reprimands, comments from other students

Labelling

When understanding the culture of a setting one indicator is the language we use daily, both around the children and with our colleagues. A common time when the culture can become unhealthy within a team, is when colleagues are discussing ‘behaviour’ or ‘how Charlie has been today’ during handover or debrief. Therefore, it is crucial when you start to consider the responses you are seeing from a child, that you establish whether what you are listing as a behaviour is an actual behaviour or whether it is a label. It can be easy to ‘describe’ (label) a child in a way that is not helpful. Especially if we are feeling frustrated or helpless when working with a certain child.

“He’s really annoying”, “She is disruptive”, “They are being controlling”, “She is attention seeking”, “He is manipulative” “They were just being rude”