Applied Behavioral Analysis and Employment

Five employees from Operations staff have not participated in the wellness program.  They also struggle to get to work on time.   They typically clock-in 10-15 minutes late. These five employees often look at their cell phones and listen to music in the break room when they aren’t on break, which is against company policy.  This often happens during slow times at the Center. The Operations manager, the Center’s Director and the five employees meet to discuss strategies to support positive behavior during work times.  They would also like to get them more involved in the wellness program. The employees report that their bus schedule recently changed and that there has not been enough work to keep them busy during their shifts. The Operations manager shifts the schedule so that their start times align better with their bus schedules. The Operations manager also adjusts who is assigned to which cleaning and equipment maintenance duties.  This ensures that employees have a specific focus during each shift. The manager provides verbal praise when employees stay on-task during their shifts. The Operations manager also implements an additional incentive for these employees to participate in the wellness program.

The following principles of ABA are represented in the example:

• Antecedent Intervention.  Modifying the work schedule to match bus schedule.
• Non-contingent Reinforcement.  Verbal praise for on-task behavior.
• Positive Reinforcement.  Additional reward for participating in wellness program.

Logan, an Operations Staff member with an intellectual disability continues to struggle. He continues to get off-task while working.  He looks at his phone, sits in a chair and closes his eyes, and wanders the Center.  This happens at least three times per hour during each shift. When Logan was hired, his manager met with Logan’s job coach to discuss how best to support Logan. They meet again to discuss how best to support Logan during work. Logan reports that he sometimes forgets what he is supposed to be working on and doesn’t know what tasks to complete. Logan’s manager states that some of his responsibilities have changed. There are new procedures for doing the laundry and a new floor-cleaning machine has been added to Logan’s list of tasks. This machine operates slightly differently from the previous floor cleaner.

 

Together, Logan, his job coach, and the manager come up with a plan to support Logan while he is at work. At the beginning of each shift, Logan receives a list of tasks to complete. Logan learns to cross each completed task off the list when he is finished. Logan’s job coach now visits him twice weekly and provides direct instruction so Logan can learn new procedures and how to operate the new floor-cleaning machine. Logan’s manager tracks Logan’s off-task behavior and observes that his off-task behavior is decreasing from three times per hour per shift, to one to two times during an eight-hour shift.

The following principles of ABA are represented in the example:

• Teaching Alternative Behaviors.  Greeting, requesting information about daily schedule, requesting preferred activities.
• Antecedent Intervention.  Giving instruction for new skills, ongoing support from job coach.
• Non-contingent Reinforcement.  Verbal praise for on-task behavior.