A girl I used to watch (Rebecca) learned the word "booty". She was only two years old and the way she said it was amusing at first. When she would say it, people would laugh and so would she. Eventually she started to say "booty" constantly and it became a serious problem. When introduced to someone, the first word out of her mouth would be "booty".
             When Rebecca is around her parents, and introduced to a new person, Rebecca is engaging in an excess of inappropriate social behavior. By saying the word "booty" and having people laugh at her, she is achieving the social attention she desires. Therefore, laughter of other people is a positive reinforcement of this inappropriate behavior.
             To discourage Rebecca from saying "booty" so much, the adults around her should stop laughing and giving her the social attention she wants. Ignoring her outbursts instead of encouraging them should decrease the behavior.
             The target behavior is Rebecca's inappropriate use of the word "booty". Instead of reinforcing the inappropriate social behavior, her parents should try to punish the behavior by not giving Rebecca access to the social attention she is craving, providing negative punishment. Replacing this behavior with a new one, specifically when she is introduced to someone new, saying "hello", is also important. Parents should prompt Rebecca by introducing her and telling her to say "hello".
             During science class, John often ignores the teacher and instead, grabs a magazine off the bookshelf by his desk and reads it during group work and classroom discussions. He does this especially when he did not do his reading from the night before. He does not really like or understand science problems, and finds the National Geographic magazine a lot more interesting, especially the pictures of the animals. The
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