Variables That Affect Behavior

Information about triggers taken from:

Colvin, G. & Scott, T. (2015). Managing the Cycle of Acting-out Behavior in the Classroom.

Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin A SAGE Company.

Triggers are defined as those events that set off the cycle of acting-out behavior. The student may be engaged appropriately in the first phrase – calm – and a trigger comes into play that sets the stage for acting-out behavior.

Triggers – School

  • Conflicts - denial of something the student wants or needs and something negative is inflicted on the student.
  • Changes in routine - change in schedule, not finishing work beforetransition.
  • Peer provocations - name calling, teasing, etc.
  • Pressure -stressof school, complying with a wide variety of tasks and completing complex tasks.
  • Ineffective problem-solving - limited strategies for identifying problems and strategies to solve the problem.
  • Facing errors during instruction - stop working after making a mistake and avoid new learning rather than make a mistake.
  • Facing correction procedures - have problems accepting assistance after errors have been made or being required to do the task over again.

Triggers – Non-School

  • High-needs homes - homes where many critical needs are not met.
  • Health problems - behaviors are different when students are healthy or sick.
  • Nutrition needs - deficits in nutrition can impact health and general well-being and may result in negative effects on student behavior.
  • Inadequate sleep - inadequate sleep makes it difficult to behavior appropriately and to participate effectively.
  • Dual diagnosis - medications may be given for dual diagnoses and interact negatively with each other.
  • Substance abuse - using drugs and alcohol may lead to acting-out behavior at school.
  • Gangs and deviant abuse - this behavior sets the stage for serious problems at school.

Information about trauma taken from:

Perry, B. (Dec. 13, 2016). The Brain Science Behind Student Trauma. Retrieved from:

Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2015) Understanding the Effects of Maltreatment on Brain

Development. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Children’s

Bureau.

  • Nearly one-third of all children attending U.S. public schools will have significantly impaired cortical functioning due to abuse, neglect, domestic violence, poverty, and other adversities.
  • When children have attentive caregiving at home and supported emotional, motor, social, and cognitive experiences throughout their early years, they develop a well-regulated stress-response system.
  • When trauma or unpredictable stress brought on by poverty alters these systems, the neural networks involved in the stress response stop working properly, which can lead to emotional, behavioral, and learning problems.
  • Children who have experienced trauma will be in a persistent state of alarm and less capable of concentrating when they enter classrooms.
  • The changes in brain structure and chemical activity caused by child maltreatment can have a wide variety of effects on children’s behavioral, social, and emotional functioning.
  • Most teens act impulsively at times, but for teens who have been maltreated, this impulsive behavior may be even more apparent. Often, these youth have developed brains that focus on survival, at the expense of the more advanced thinking that happens in the brain’s cortex (Chamberlain, 2009).

Anxiety

Diaz, K, et al. (2015). “Understanding Anxiety”. University of Kansas Clinical Child Psychology

Program.

  • Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health problems of childhood and adolescence.
  • Anxiety disorders cause people to feel: excessively frightened, distressed, uneasy during situations in which most people would not feel that way, causes psychological distress, and disrupts normal development.
  • Examples of interference in school include: difficulty concentrating in class or complete classwork due to worrying, feeling self-conscious and avoiding certain situations, negative physical symptoms, such as racing heart, fast breathing, tense muscles, difficulty at drop-off time because child (or adolescent) does not want to be away from parent, not speaking to teachers and/or students in the classroom, difficulty turning in assignments due to perfectionistic worries, impaired performance on exams due to anxiety, not being able to get good sleep due to excessive worrying, and missing class time due to problems coping at school

Autism

Indiana Resource Center for Autism. Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Resource for Families Whose

Child is Newly Diagnosed. Retrieved from:

  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new figures in 2015 indicating that the prevalence rate of autism spectrum disorders in the U.S. had climbed to 1 in 68 children. The estimated rate is 1 in 41 among boys and 1 in 189 among girls.
  • It is important to understand that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is called a spectrum disorder because each child is different; no two are the same. This means that what works for one child may not work for another.
  • There are two main categories that characteristics of ASD fall into.
  • The first category addresses deficits in social communication and social interactions. This means children may struggle with the normal give-and-take of everyday interactions. Children might have significant problems understanding the thoughts and feelings of others, and regulating social interactions and emotions.
  • The second category of ASD characteristics is restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. Children with ASD often prefer things to be the same and like routines. Some children are only interested in one particular topic.
  • Individuals with autism frequently perceive sensory information such as sounds, smells, textures, tastes, and sights differently.
  • ASD often occurs along with difficulties in expressive communication (how they deliver information) and receptive communication (how they take in information).

Information about motivation taken from:

Sprick, R. (2013). Discipline in the Secondary Classroom. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, A

Wiley Brand.

Expectancy x Value = Motivation

Note: The value in the formula can include extrinsic rewards (e.g., money, awards, grades), intrinsic rewards (e.g., sense of accomplishment, enjoyment of the task, pride in a job well done), or both. Regardless of the type of value involved, if the expectancy of success if low, motivation will be low.