Why Students Behave Differently with Different Teachers (ABA without the Jargon)

Have you ever heard someone say, "They never do that for me!" or "She behaves completely differently in my class."?

In this episode, Caitlin breaks down one of the most important (and misunderstood) concepts in Applied Behavior Analysis: stimulus control. Learn why students often behave differently with different teachers, classrooms, and situations, and why those differences are a clue to understanding behavior, not a competition between educators.

Whether you're a special education teacher, BCBA, paraprofessional, or general education teacher, this episode will help you look beyond the behavior and start asking better questions.

🎙️ Key Takeaways
✔️ What stimulus control means in everyday classroom language
✔️ Why students naturally behave differently with different people and settings
✔️ How teachers, routines, and classroom expectations become cues for behavior
✔️ What a discriminative stimulus (SD) is and how it influences behavior
✔️ Why substitute teachers often see different behaviors than classroom staff
✔️ Why behavior differences don't mean one teacher is "better" than another
✔️ Better questions to ask instead of, "Why don't they do that for me?"

📚 Resources
• ABA Without the Jargon podcast series: Start here! https://abainschool.com/ep77
• Also check out the FBA mini-series: Start here! https://abainschool.com/ep31buzz
• Get the FREE visuals for this episode: https://abainschool.com/g3qk
• Join The Misfit Behaviorists Facebook Group → https://abainschool.com/misfits
• Find Caitlin here! → https://beltransbehaviorbasics.com/
• ABA in School Resources → https://abainschool.com/tptstore
• Browse all podcast episodes: https://abainschool.com/podcast

💬 Join Us Next Time
Next episode, Caitlin will go over Preference Assessments.

Join the Facebook group for collaboration and freebies: The Misfit Behaviorists

😍 More, you say? We’re here for you! 

• Apple podcast | The Misfit Behaviorists
• YouTube | @‌themisfitbehaviorists

👋 Find us!

• Audra | ABA in School  
• Caitlin | Beltran’s Behavior Basics

🖱️ Rate, Review, Like & Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! Showing this love helps us get out to more educators out there!

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

SD and stimulus contorl
[00:00:00] Hey everyone, this is Caitlin from Misfit Behaviorists Podcast. Today we are talking about one of the most common conversations I hear in schools, which goes something along the lines of two teachers talking and one is saying, "Oh, that student never does that for me," or maybe, "Oh, that's so strange.
[00:00:16] She behaves completely differently in my class." So if you've ever said one of those things, this episode is for you. And in ABA, we call that stimulus control, and stimulus control simply means that a behavior is happening because certain people, places, instructions, or situations have become signals for that behavior.
[00:00:37] So in other words, the environment is influencing when a behavior is likely to occur. So think about it this way, outside of the ABA world. You probably behave differently at a staff meeting than you do at dinner with your friends. You probably speak differently to your spouse than to your boss. And that's not because you're a different person or you're being fake, but it's because you've learned that [00:01:00] different situations call for different behaviors.
[00:01:02] And students do exactly the same thing. Over time, they learn what works with different people and in different environments. So maybe they know that Mrs. Smith follows through every single time she gives a direction. Maybe they know Mr. Jones always gives about three reminders before expecting them to start their work.
[00:01:21] Maybe they know one teacher always ignores calling out, but another teacher immediately redirects it. So students notice these patterns and they adjust their behavior accordingly. And this is where another ABA term comes in, the discriminative stimulus, or SD. And the SD is simply a cue that tells someone that the particular behavior is likely to be successful or reinforced.
[00:01:44] It's a signal that says, "If I do this behavior right now, it's probably going to work." So again, outside of that ABA world, it could look something like the school bell rings and students stand up and move to their next class. The bell doesn't force [00:02:00] anyone to move. It's just a signal that transitioning now is appropriate and it's likely to produce the expected outcome.
[00:02:07] So when a student sees a particular teacher walk into the room, they might already have a history with that person, and based on previous experiences, they may have learned, "If I raise my hand, this teacher will call on me," or, "If I ask for a break, this teacher will honor it," or, "If I keep asking long enough for something, this teacher will eventually give in."
[00:02:24] And the teacher becomes part of the cue that tells the student what's likely to happen next. And that's why a lot of times substitute teachers see different behaviors than we do every day. The substitute hasn't built the same learning history yet, and the expectations and routines might be different.
[00:02:41] And students are essentially testing the waters to figure out what works in a new situation. And adults do this too. So we all learn from experience, right? We learn what's acceptable in one location and another. For example, I might drive differently on, like, a highway on my way to work than in, like, a crowded [00:03:00] school parking lot.
[00:03:00] I'm not a different driver. It could be one hour to the next. I'm the same person, but different environments are causing different behaviors for me under that stimulus control. And so students are no different. And it doesn't mean that teachers are causing behavior problems or ... And it certainly doesn't mean that one teacher is better than the other.
[00:03:18] It just means that behavior is influenced by the environment, and we have to take that into consideration So next time you might hear like, "Oh, they never do that for me," or you might even think like, "Why do they always do that for that person?" Instead of assuming that one teacher has a better style or something's wrong, it's just a signal to us to get curious and ask what's different about the environment, what expectations have been taught, and what has the student learned works in this setting.
[00:03:44] So thank you for joining me and I'll see you next time.