Goals of the Motivation System

1. Goals of the Motivation System To motivate youth to work toward goals and learn new skills. To create awareness that behaviors generate consequences (cause and effect relationship). To provide a way of delivering rewards and consequences that will be effective, but also allow the youth to remain in the community during treatment. To help the youth move from high structure and artificial reinforcers to low structure and natural reinforcers. To eliminate points. To increase youth’s internal motivation and reliance on natural rewards and contingencies.

2. Types of Motivation Systems • Sign • Positive = youth only earns points for appropriate behaviors. • Negative = youth only loses points for inappropriate behaviors (demerit system) • Positive and negative = youth earns points for positive behavior and loses points for negative behavior. • Flexibility • Inflexible = specified number of points available. Once lost they can’t be regained. • Flexible = limitless ways of earning and losing points. Anything lost can be regained. • The Teaching Family Model motivation system is both positive/negative and flexible.

3. Material reinforcers • Examples: money, candy, clothing, toys • Disadvantages • expensive • limited in number • not immediate • difficult to match size to behavior • Privileges or activities • Examples: movies, TV, phone • Advantages • inexpensive, you have them in your home • usually don’t require conditioning, youth already like these things • variety • Disadvantages • must be delivered all at once – can’t customize the size (how can you give half a movie?) • easily used up (satiation) • limited in number • not always immediate • difficult to deliver due to cost, scheduling

4. Social reinforcers • Examples: praise, smiles, affection, attention, high fives, etc. • Advantages • always available (although some of us are stingy with them) • natural • free • not easily used up • difficult to satiate someone • immediate • contingent (only delivered for desired behavior) • can become conditioned reinforcers • Disadvantages • Not initially reinforcing for most of our youth (not conditioned or significant enough until youth has developed relationship with you). • This is why we pair social reinforcers with points (natural with artificial). • Using social reinforcers helps us build relationships with youth and teaches them (through modeling) how to use social reinforcers with others.

5. Tokens • Examples: points, poker chips, stars on star chart • Advantages • Immediately earned or lost • Infinite – unlimited opportunity to teach • Doesn’t infringe on youth rights if taken away • Can equal behavior (size) • Easily recorded, convenient • Flexible – represents the meaningful privileges to each youth • Tangible – youth knows where he stands at all times • Contingent – only delivered for desired behavior • Controllable – you determine the amount • Can be re-earned (positive correction) • Disadvantages • Must be conditioned • Artificial, not natural • Must be faded out to promote generalization

6. Social Learning Theory PrinciplesUsed in the Motivation System • Immediacy = points given or teaching started within 60 seconds after the behavior occurs. • Contingency = points only awarded if desired behavior occurs. Privileges contingent on points accumulated. • Size = match the amount of points to the difficulty of the behavior, significance, time needed, and opportunities to engage in the behavior. • Deprivation = the youth must experience not earning privileges occasionally; this will motivate the youth to earn privileges. • Satiation = the youth won’t get tired of earning points. This is prevented because of the number and variety of back up reinforcers (privileges). • Response cost = negative points or loss of privileges • Reinforcement = positive points, social reinforcement, privileges • Conditioning = pairing points with privileges so that the points become reinforcing.

7. DAILY AND WEEKLYSYSTEMS Advantages of system that is both Positive & negative as well as flexible: • Allows us to increase appropriate behaviors through positive reinforcement • We can simultaneously decrease inappropriate behavior through response cost. • We can target unlimited behaviors. (4 basics) • We can provide constant feedback to youth. Allows us to teach youth how to accept criticism and feedback. • Allows us to pair artificial consequences with both positive and negative natural consequences (poor grade may earn negative points and extra study time). • It allows us to take an overall positive approach to treatment. Youth can always earn back part of what was lost (positive correction). • This system is less restrictive. The youth’s behavior determines the level of restrictiveness. (gives them control)

8. Daily and Weekly Systems Defined • Daily System: • Daily is a restrictive level of the motivation system with fewer available privileges. A youth buys a privilege package each day. The teaching emphasis is on the four basic skills. • Weekly System: • Weekly is a less structured level of the motivation system which allows for more privileges and responsibility. Separate privileges are purchased once a week for various point amounts. The teaching emphasis is on more advanced and individualized skills.

9. Rationales for Daily and Weekly • Daily Weekly Helps youth learn new Delayed gratification behaviors Basic skills are focus More advanced skills are focus Shaping of small but vital Provides opportunity for behaviors intermittent reinforcement Cause and effect is paired Approximation to real life with response cost Time to pre-teach many More privileges for fewer skills points

10. Privilege Menu • Basics: The youth has the freedom to walk around the house, have free time in his room, do fun activities in the house like playing board games, playing the piano, listening to the radio, etc. • Snacks: The youth can have snacks in addition to the three meals per day. These are often more reinforcing when they are paired with social time, i.e., popcorn while playing a game, ice cream while visiting together. • TV: The youth can watch TV, however, this doesn’t mean unlimited TV time. The Treatment Parent monitors the amount of time and type of programs, considering what is reasonable and age-appropriate. • Telephone: The youth can make local phone calls to friends. This is separate from the contact with family, caseworker, and attorney that the youth has a right to at all time, unless he is out of instructional control. • Free Time I: The youth has free time in the yard and in the general vicinity of the house (that street, the block). He may play at a friend’s house on the block (with supervision of friend’s parent) for up to one hour. • Free Time II: The youth has free time away from the home to participate in an activity without direct supervision such as going to the mall, going to a movie, walking to the store to buy a snack, etc. The youth must have definite activity in mind and a time limit, he can’t just “hang out” somewhere. Planned/Beginning and End. • Allowance: Daily youth earn 50 cents each day they earn their privileges. The allowance is paid weekly – maximum of $3.50. Weekly youth may buy $3.50 at the end of the week for 3,000 points. • Allowance II: Weekly youth may buy an addition $3.50 at the end of the week for 5,000 points. • Bonds: Weekly youth may buy bonds at the end of the week for 5,000 points each bond. Bonds are used to buy onto Achievement System. Once purchased, bonds cannot be spent. Bonds are lost for running away. • Specials: The youth can use extra points saved in his “point savings” account to purchase special privileges such as renting a video, having own breakfast cereal, special shampoo, etc. The “cost” of these items are negotiated with the Treatment Parents. Daily youth may not purchase extra allowance or Free Time II since these are Weekly Privileges. • Note: Even though youth have earned privileges, they still need to ask permission to use them. When youth don’t have privileges, their time is very structures. They must stay in the vicinity of the Treatment Parent doing assigned tasks such as role-playing, report writing, extra chores, extra homework, etc.

11. Make-up System • If a youth does not earn his daily or weekly privileges, the Treatment Parent has the option to offer the Make-up system. • Daily youth: The youth must earn twice his daily difference (20,000). At the point in the day he/she reaches this amount, he pays 10,000 points to purchase his/her privileges back for the rest of that day. These 10,000 points are recorded on the negative side of the point card. The other 10,000 points is used to purchase privileges for the next day. • Weekly youth: If the youth was unable to buy any privileges at the end of the week (or can only buy a few), the youth can earn 5,000 points above his/her bridge or above an amount pre-determined by the Treatment Parent. At card conference he/she pays 5,000 points (written on the negative side of the card) to purchase first 5 privileges until the next card conference. His/her bridge (or the amount pre-determined by the Treatment Parent) added to his/her system standing to purchase next week’s privileges. He/she may purchase privileges back on a day-to-day basis.

12. Additional Information about the Motivation System • A. Handling sick days: Treatment Parents have three ways to handle it when a youth is sick: • Option 1 Pro-rating or averaging point total for the week and awarding that amount (good for weekly youth). • Option 2 Award daily difference for skills such as taking care of health, eating something nutritious, getting rest, not using privileges, etc. (good for youth who are obviously sick). • Option 3 Skip that day and the youth resume where he/she left off (good if child didn’t have privileges or you are in doubt about how sick he/she really is). • B. Maximizing the effectiveness of your motivation systems: • Treatment Parents should never pay off behavior with privileges. Always pay off behavior with points and then have the youth buy the privileges with the points. This strengthens your motivation system because the youth will want to earn points to get what he/she wants. • Never use yourself as a “punishment” for inappropriate behavior (i.e. shouting, name-calling, sarcasm, ignoring, hitting, etc.). Let the motivation system “punish” inappropriate behavior. This helps maintain positive relationships.

13. Point Recommendations • InteractionDailyWeekly • Practicing Skills1500 max (usually 1000)800 max (usually 6-700)ChoresAs postedAs posted • Pre-teaching1000700School notes3000 max (typically 2000)1800 max (typically 1500) • Spontaneous skills, things you witness without prompting1000-1500800-1200Study skills1000-15001600-1200 • Therapy2000-3000 Break it up if you can into several interactions; communication, public relations, dealing with frustration, etc.800-2000Going on errands • 1000-1500 you could do more on different skills if they work on other skills appropriately while out • 800-1200Very difficult skills • 1500-20001200-1600 Typical negative points- • 2000SameBoundaries-3000-4000SameHitting or physical harm- • 5000-8000SameInstructional control- • 2000,-5000,-10000,-20000,-50000Same