#020: All About Motivation Pt 2 - Expanding and Creating New Motivators with Steve Ward, BCBA

Last week, we started our interview with BCBA, Steve Ward and we had an extremely interesting conversation. It lasted so long that I decided to break the interview into three parts, and you won’t want to miss any of them. If this is the first episode you’ve found, make sure to look at part one. Here, in part two with Steve, we discuss the common misconceptions of motivation. One is the assumption that contracts made can be sustained by positive reinforcement. However, sometimes, the real reason the task was completed was because they want to get it done with. For example, sometimes a child may empty the dishwasher and accept time with their phone afterwards, but they were motivated more by escape or avoidance.

Steve and I dive into conditioning new interests in children and how it could help in a program for a developing child. Some kids have a narrow range of interests and with that comes a risk of satiation. Having something else to switch to is key and we can use motivation to expand interests. We talk about some of the dangers and pitfalls of this as well, and it’s important to know what our kid’s “hook” is in order to make it work. Steve and I also discuss how the principles of ABA can be used universally and the importance of basic ABA knowledge, regardless of whether there’s a diagnosis. 

What’s Inside:

• Common misconceptions regarding motivation.
• The importance of conditioning new interests in children.
• How to introduce new interests and potential pitfalls.
• Using ABA principles and procedures for different types of learners.

Mentioned In This Episode:
Just 7 Steps YouTube
Whole Child Consulting
Book - What You Need To Know About Motivation And Teaching Games: An In-Depth Analysis