Pre-Mod Analysis Steps in Action

Step 1:

The first step is to state what Betsy does that is undesirable and what you want her to do instead.  For example, Betsy calls out in class to get her teacher's attention.  Instead, you want her to raise her hand and wait to get his attention.

Step 2:

Next you list all of the prerequisite personal variables that Betsy needs in order to engage in the desirable (i.e., replacement) behavior.  My experience is that teachers have a hard time generating these prerequisites, so I've identified six "universal" prerequisites that are generic to all desirable behaviors (Kaplan, 1995).   I've listed these below in both their generic and their specific forms.  (The latter are bracketed.)

  1. The student understands what behavior is expected of her (i.e., the desirable behavior; it is sometimes referred to as the "rule" prerequisite).  [As it applies to Betsy, prerequisite one may be stated thus: "Betsy knows that she is supposed to raise her hand and wait if she wants her teacher's attention."] 
  2. The student is aware of when she is (and is not) engaging in the desirable behavior.  ["Betsy recognizes when she is raising her hand or calling out to get her teacher's attention."]
  3. The student is able to control her own behavior.  ["There are no factors currently beyond Betsy's control e.g., poor impulse control and high state anxiety, that make it difficult for her to raise her hand and wait to get her teacher's attention."]
  4. The student knows how to engage in the desirable behavior.  ["Betsy knows how to raise her hand and wait to get her teacher's attention."  This may seem like a given, but we all know that simply sitting there with your hand in the air is no guarantee that you will catch the teacher's eye, especially if he is on the other side of the room with his back toward you.]
  5. The student is sufficiently motivated to engage in the desirable behavior.  ["Betsy considers the consequences of raising her hand and waiting for the teacher's attention more rewarding or, at least, less aversive than the consequences of calling out."] 
  6. The student does not endorse any (irrational) beliefs that keep her from engaging in the desirable behavior.  ["Betsy does not endorse any beliefs that keep her from raising her hand and waiting for the teacher's attention (e.g., `If people don't pay attention to you, it means you're a bad person').]  
Step 3:

Next comes the assessment piece; you want to determine which, if any, of the above prerequisites Betsy is lacking.  Here are the assessments that you use and the (hypothetical) results: 

  1. To determine whether Betsy understands the behavior expected of her, you ask her to state the rule in her own words.  "Betsy, what is the class rule about getting the teacher's attention?"  Her answer should convey the idea that students in Mr. Wah's class must raise their hands and wait if they want/need his attention.  Let's say that she does this.  That means that Betsy has prerequisite #1.
  2. To assess whether she is aware of her behavior, both you and Betsy monitor her calling out and her hand-raising behavior at the same time and compare results.  Let's say that her data agrees with yours at least 80% of the time.  In other words, she has prerequisite #2.
  3. To assess whether Betsy is able to control her behavior to the extent that she can raise her hand and wait without calling out, you compare Betsy with her peers on measures of impulsivity and anxiety.  You choose these two measures because calling out in class is often a sign of impulsivity and anxiety in students.  Using direct observation, you collect data on several behavioral correlates of impulsivity (e.g., not waiting for all of the directions to be given before starting a task) and anxiety (e.g., speech disturbances and self-manipulations) in Betsy and her peers and compare the results to determine whether she more closely resembles peers with impulsivity and anxiety or peers without them.  To corroborate the results you administer The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (Spielberger, 1973) and the Matching Familiar Figures Test (Kagan, 1966).  Results indicate that Betsy has poor impulse control and experiences high levels of situational anxiety in school.  This means she lacks prerequisite #3.
  4. To assess whether Betsy knows how to raise her hand and wait to be called on, you tell her, "Let's make believe I'm your teacher and you want to tell me something.  Show me how you are supposed to get my attention."  You role-play several trials with her in different parts of the classroom, looking at her and not looking at her, engaged in another activity and not engaged, sometimes attending to her quickly and other times making her wait.  Each time Betsy is able to demonstrate appropriate attention-seeking behavior. She obviously has prerequisite #4.
  5. To assess whether Betsy is sufficiently motivated to raise her hand and wait for the teacher to call on her, you use a variation on the Q-Sort technique.  You have her state the consequences of raising her hand and waiting and the consequences of calling out, and then have her rank the consequences in terms of how rewarding and how aversive each consequence is.  The results suggest that she is more motivated to call out than to raise her hand; this makes sense because the consequence of calling out is getting teacher attention (which she wants), while the consequence of raising her hand and waiting is typically being ignored.  On the basis of this you decide that she lacks prerequisite #5.
  6. Finally, you assess her beliefs by having her complete a true or false pencil-and-paper assessment.  Her responses suggest that she engages in "I stink" thinking or “Namby-pamby” thinking (see handout titled Roush CIB in Chapter 3), which means she lacks prerequisite #6.

Step 4:

This last step requires that you list all of the prerequisites that Betsy lacks and design a prerequisite modification strategy for each.  You teach Betsy how to use self-instructional training to modify her impulsivity and diaphragmatic breathing to cope with her anxiety.  You also teach her how to use Self-mo by rewarding herself for hand-raising and waiting behavior, regardless of whether the teacher attends to her or not.  And you teach her how to challenge her irrational beliefs about self-worth and her fear of being ignored.

Betsy's case illustrates how you might take a reactive approach in dealing with the behavior problems in your classroom.  When behavior problems occur and they are resistant to your everyday classroom management techniques, you should probably complete an FBA.  This should tell you whether something in the environment is eliciting or maintaining the undesirable behavior.  If you don't get what you want from the FBA, try doing a Pre-mod Analysis.  It should tell you which personal variables (i.e., prerequisites) your student is lacking, and you can then use this information to help you decide which of the strategies covered in this course you need to use in order to eliminate the behavior problem.

For example, if the student lacks prerequisite #1 (knows rule), simply teach it to her and be careful to consistently use reminders.  If she lacks prerequisite #2 (is aware), use the same technique you used to assess this behavior (i.e., have her self-monitor to increase her own awareness).  If it is prerequisite #3 (can control) she lacks, teach her self-instructional training for impulsivity and stress management for reduction of anxiety, anger, or depression.  If she is lacking prerequisite #4 (knows how), teach her directly how to engage in the replacement behavior.  If she lacks prerequisite #5 (is motivated), teach her how to use Self-mo, and if prerequisite #6 (rational beliefs) is lacking, teach her how to use cognitive restructuring to dispute and replace her irrational thinking.

I have taught Pre-Mod Analysis in both pre-service and in-service classes to hundreds of teachers over the years and I've heard a lot of "Yeah buts."   Pre-Mod is not easy and it can be time consuming, but it does work, and as I'm so fond of saying, you can pay now or you can pay later.   Recently I've turned the Pre-Mod process into a product titled Beyond Functional Assessment:  A social-cognitive approach to the evaluation of behavior problems in children and youth (Kaplan, 2000).  It's actually Pre-Mod Analysis in book form.  It comes with all of the materials needed to assess the prerequisites (i.e., personal variables) for ten of the most common behavior problems found in schools.   Figure 6.1 is a sample worksheet completed for a student who responds aggressively to peer-provocation and Figure 6.2 is the sample behavioral intervention plan based on the findings from the worksheet.

 

Figure 6.1: Sample Worksheet

Figure 6.2: Sample Behavior Intervention Plan

Whether you use the Pre-Mod process on your own or you use the product Beyond FA, you can determine which of the strategies covered in this course you need to teach your students.  What Pre-Mod or Beyond FA cannot do is make your students use these strategies.

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