Backward Chaining Case

Annie is a 40-year-old schizophrenic female who resides in a heath care facility. Annie has been exhibiting difficulty with her daily care routines; including brushing her teeth and making her bed in the morning. Currently, she has a newly implemented token system in place in which she may earn one token for each completed activity and then collect a reward such as extra time in the courtyard once 10 tokens are obtained. Hospital Administrator Rodriguez reports that Annie is not completing the tasks and then, as a result, not earning any tokens. Ms Rodriguez has asked for a re-evaluation of the program to determine what is not working. Annie participates in a token economy system which is relatively new. There is a potential for an array of problems when starting a new program. In Annie's case, the identified reinforcer may not be strong enough. Although she might find spending time in the courtyard a rewarding event, it may not be rewarding enough to complete the
Backward chaining is a procedure in which the last part of the chain is taught first; in this case putting the pillow on the bed and brushing her teeth. Once the last response in the chain is consistently occurring, the next to last piece is taught, and the client performs last two parts of the chain occur together (Miltenberger, 2012). This training progresses backwards through all steps until the client has learned all the components in the chain and is able to perform them independently. Backward chaining has a natural reinforcer of being finished and allowed to go on to more enjoyable tasks; further in Annie's case, it will be met with a token for completion which will further reinforce the behavior and strengthen the token system already in