From 'Meh' to 'More, Please!': Mutually Entailing the Mundane with the Marvelous
This past week, the Myers’ household was bouncing with festivity as we hosted a fun (big fat Greek) baptism for our daughter. The event saw family from all corners of the US traveling to Northeast Indiana. Among the delightful nuances of the week was my nearly three-year-old son bonding effortlessly with his Great Aunt. Not your everyday connection; Aunt Olga was a school principal for over four decades. She may not have a BACB certification, but she could seamlessly give a lecture on tapping into a child’s real-time motivations…among other things. I was particularly moved watching her guide my son through daily activities like wearing his shoes or picking up his toys – tasks he occasionally struggles with. Oftentimes he gets distracted or asks for help. But for her? He would have climbed a mountain to put his trucks away.
Now, I've harped on the power of motivation in past writings. Yet, witnessing Aunt Olga's interactions serves as a fresh reminder of its immense value in teaching. I regularly come across educators and BCBAs grappling with teaching a difficult or lesser preferred behavior (think eating vegetables, toileting, sharing, etc). Challenges arise when tasks are less favored by the learners. These struggles can manifest as overt as tantrums, or as subtle as distractions. Remember, if you aren’t grasping their attention, you're missing out on their motivation. That's a voyage without a compass.
But here's what I find to be the most important strategy in these scenarios: Convert the less-favored activity into a doorway leading to what the learner genuinely desires. Think of the child who avoids handwriting worksheets but has eyes only for a certain toy. That worksheet must evolve into a ticket to their favored playtime. If another resists restroom breaks but is tethered to their iPad, then the restroom journey should become synonymous with iPad access. If a learner doesn’t explore or play with new toys but loves Goldfish, it may be necessary for toys (holding them, touching them, pushing buttons etc.) to become the archway to delicious Goldfish.
Capability and Motivation: At the heart of successful learning lies a delicate balance between a student's capability and motivation. It’s important to recognize when a learner can’t (but wants to engage in the skill) versus could (but really isn’t that interested). Can’t means that you have to start teaching. Won’t means there’s an issue with motivation. In situations where a learner is actively trying and needs our help, our role shifts from simply being reinforcement machines that hand over iPads for correct responses. Instead, we know to move into active teaching, guiding them step-by-step with various prompts, ensuring they have the tools and skills needed to bridge the gap.
Identifying Gaps in Motivation: Alternatively, sometimes kiddos might be capable of engaging in the skill, but they get distracted or outright refuse. These motivational gaps can manifest in overt ways, like direct refusals, or in more covert manners, like a wandering gaze or frequent, unrelated queries. In most cases, they don’t see the point and the skill or behavior that we’re trying to teach is irrelevant to them. We have to make that skill relevant….we have to make it motivating. Prompting them through the correct answer won’t make a difference if there isn’t some kind of motivation to engage in the behavior and learn it.
This field is 100% knowing how to teach…and 100% knowing how to motivate.
Mutual Entailment. If you know anything about Relational Frame Theory (RFT), this is that phenomenon where a learner derives a relationship between two stimuli. This relationship and the two stimuli are so closely paired that they are nearly synonymous—you can’t have one without the other.
Ever felt the pressing need to use the bathroom after a long airplane ride? As you disembark and make your way up the jetway, your primary thought isn't just about emptying your bladder. Instead, you find yourself eagerly searching for one of those familiar restroom signs. You might even find yourself longing for it. Even fantasizing about it. That little sign, after numerous experiences, has become almost synonymous with relief in your mind. It's a powerful association. The sight of the restroom sign becomes nearly as comforting and as relieving as the act of using the restroom itself. We’ve mutually entailed a relationship between an arbitrary set of symbols (the sign) and physiological relief.
We aim to establish a similar relationship for our learners between the activities and items they deeply desire and the important skills they might not be so keen on. To draw from the examples above, we want our learners to think of toys when they see goldfish and vice versa. We'd like them to associate the iPad with the restroom and the restroom with the sight of an iPad. In essence, just as the restroom sign becomes a beacon of relief after a long flight, these seemingly unrelated items (like toys and toilets) should transform into archways to 'awesomeness'.
So, major take away? For those skills and behaviors your learner doesn’t seem interested in, work to introduce them as passages to preferred items and activities. The offered rewards must be so enticing that the task itself becomes an exhilarating gateway to them. As always, love hearing from fellow clinicians and enthusiasts. Do share your experiences and thoughts.