Analysis of an escalating sequence of problem behaviors: a case study.
Dropping teacher rule statements broke the escalation chain for one student with severe disabilities.
01Research in Context
What this study did
One student with intellectual disability kept hitting, screaming, and throwing things during class. The teacher often said rules like "Sit down" or "Quiet hands." The team used an ABAB design. They measured how often the rule statements and problem behaviors happened.
First they recorded baseline. Then they told the teacher to stop giving any rules. They recorded again. Then they brought rules back. Then they removed them again.
What they found
When the teacher stopped stating rules, the student’s problem behaviors dropped fast. When rules came back, behaviors rose. Remove rules again, behaviors fell again. The pattern was clear. Cutting out teacher rule statements broke the escalation chain.
How this fits with other research
Potter et al. (2013) extends this idea. They looked at early warning signs called precursors. Treating those early signs with NCR thinning plus DRA kept severe behavior from starting. The 1995 case showed you can stop the chain by removing one trigger. The 2013 study shows you can also act earlier on milder signs.
Boyle et al. (2024) pull both ideas into one guide. Their review says to test each trigger one by one, then pick the best mix of fixes. Removing teacher rules is one tool in that larger plan.
Rojahn et al. (1994) did similar classroom work one year earlier. They showed school teams can run FBAs with light outside help. Finney et al. (1995) took the next step and proved a single antecedent change can work in the same setting.
Why it matters
You can copy this move on Monday. Watch one student during work time. Count how often you say rule statements like "Sit nicely" or "Hands down." Try a short no-rule period. Track problem behavior. If it drops, you just found a quick antecedent fix. Pair this with precursor work from Potter et al. (2013) for a full escalation plan.
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Join Free →Pick one student with escalation. Record your rule statements for 15 minutes. Then stop giving rules for the next 15. Graph both problem behavior and rules. See if the line drops.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
This case study focused on a student with severe disabilities who displayed multiple problem behaviors that fit a pattern of behavioral escalation. Analysis of the pattern in which problem behaviors occurred within instructional sessions, and comparisons of conditional rates of occurrence for specific behaviors to overall base rates of occurrence, indicated that the student's problem behaviors did represent a behavioral sequence. Functional assessment led to the hypothesis that the use of rule statements by the teacher was related to the occurrence and escalation of the problem behaviors. An ABAB reversal design showed that eliminating the use of rule statements was an effective instructional intervention for decreasing the rate of the student's problem behaviors. Independent ratings of the physical effort required for specific problem behaviors in the sequence suggested that response effort may be one variable underlying the pattern of responding within a behavioral sequence. Implications are offered for our theoretical understanding of complex patterns of problem behaviors and for future research and clinical intervention.
Research in developmental disabilities, 1995 · doi:10.1016/0891-4222(95)00005-4