Amy Sampson

Guiding Child Behavior

Spring 2015
Behavior Change Project
Overview:
For the past month I have been working with Isabella who is a
five-year-old girl. I sat down with her mother and we discussed both
positive behaviors and problem behaviors of Isabella. We chose to
focus on changing Isabellas habit of interrupting; more specifically,
Isabellas tendency to interrupt her mother when she is speaking with
adults. We worked together and broke down the details of Isabellas
interrupting behavior. I used the Functional Assessment Technique to
record the observations:

Behavior:
o Who- Isabella, 5 years old, lives with mom and dad
separately, lives with mom the majority of time, spends a
significant time with multiple young relatives
o What- Interrupts mom and others, does not wait for her

turn to speak
o When- Mom is speaking with adults face-to-face
o Where- Home, public places (such as: restaurants, stores)
Consequences:
o Positive Consequences: Receives attention, she is heard,
gets to discuss the topic of her choice
o Negative Consequences: Scolded or ignored (sometimes),

Mom and others become upset or annoyed

Antecedent:

o
o
o
o
o

Listens and behaves well at school all day long

Lives with many others
Other children receive her mothers attention
Desires one-on-one attention
She wants it Isabellas way

After using the Functional Assessment Technique, I was able pinpoint

the possible core reasons for Isabellas behavior and it also helped me
brainstorm strategies that may work to change the behavior. Overall, I
believe Isabella interrupts her mother often because she does not get
to spend as much time alone with her mom as she would like. I also
believe she interrupts her mom at home because she behaves so well
in school all day long, and she needs to release at home.
This is an important behavior change to focus on for Isabella. If
she continues interrupting her mother, it may impact her future
behavior. She may eventually take this problem behavior to school and
begin to interrupt her teacher and other students. As she continues to
become older, the behavior may become more difficult to change.

Written Objective:
Using the SMART goal outline, I have created a goal that is
specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely:

Isabella will interrupt no more than four times within a 15minute time interval by the end of April 2015.

Data Recording Method:

On April 14th, I got frozen yogurt with Isabella and her mother.
After we sat down and were situated, I kept track of every time Isabella
interrupted the conversation within 15 minutes from 8:45PM-9:00PM.
For every interruption, I made a tally in my notebook. This type of data
recording method is known as time sampling, which measures the
frequency of the specified behavior observed within a limited time
period. My initial observations concluded that Isabella interrupted eight
times within a 15-minute interval. My physical observations are
attached to the document.
Plan:
Using this initial time sampling observation, I discussed with
Isabellas mother on what I could do to help change her behavior. We
discussed that Isabella loves books, which led me to discover the book:
My Mouth Is a Volcano! The book is written by Julia Cook, and it
teaches children how to manage their thoughts and words without
interrupting. I personally love this book because it is told from the
perspective of a child, and it is presented in a silly yet relatable way.
After I decided on the book, I sat down and made an official plan. I
planned on continuing my 15-minute intervals of time sampling
observations. I decided that I would read and discuss the book with

Isabella, and then I would begin observing her for the following 15
minutes. Also, I planned to meet with her again one week later to
complete the third 15-minute time sampling observation. I would then
compare the results of the time samples. My ultimate goal is to
minimize Isabellas interrupting to no more than four times within the
15-minute time interval.
Implementation of the Plan:
I met with Isabella and her mother for the second time on April
23rd at Isabellas grandmas house. I sat down with Isabella and we
began to read the book together. She loved reading each page on her
own and then she had me reread it to her. After we read the book I
asked her what she learned. She replied, I learned to wait your turn
and hold your words in by taking a deep breath and holding it in. I
then asked her if there is anytime that it is acceptable to interrupt her
mother while she is talking to an adult. She replied, It is ok to
interrupt my mom when it is an emergency, and it is ok to interrupt
when it is even more emergency. Immediately after we finished
discussing about the book, I began my second 15-minute time
sampling interval from 7:00 PM-7:15 PM. I observed Isabella interrupt
only three times. The first time she wanted to interrupt she took deep
breaths like the book discussed. After the 15minutes, I told her I was
very proud of her and she said, I am proud of myself for learning.

One week later, I met with Isabella and Isabellas mother for the
third time on April 30th. I did not bring up anything about the book we
previously read or anything that we had discussed. I observed Isabella
for the final time sampling between 8:15PM-8:30PM at Isabellas
moms house. I observed Isabella interrupting 5 times. After the
observation, I asked Isabella if she remembered the book that we read
together. She remembered that the book was about a boy who learned
to hold his words in. We also discussed that she will continue to try and
hold in her own words when her mother is speaking to adults.
Analysis:
After completing this Behavior Change Project, I do wish I had
made a few modifications. I am satisfied with my choice of using time
sampling for my observations, though it is only a snapshot of the
childs behavior, I feel that it did reflect Isabellas progress. I do wish I
had completed a total of four observations. I believe that my third
observation, before the final observation, should have consisted of
Isabella and myself discussing what we learned from reading the book
previously. This technique would have reminded Isabella what she had
learned. For the final observation I would have not spoken of the book
or what she had learned. I believe these changes would have helped
Isabella reach her goal of interrupting no more than four times within a
15-minute time interval.