Challenging behaviour can be defined as behaviour that endangers an individual or others and interferes with daily activities. There are several forms of challenging behaviour including physical, anti-social, self-harming, and verbal behaviours. Psychological theories like social learning theory and cognitive theory can help explain why challenging behaviours occur. Life experiences, situational factors, peer pressure, family issues, and lack of communication skills can all contribute to challenging behaviour. Understanding the root causes of behaviours through different perspectives can help psychologists develop interventions.

1. Understanding and challenging behaviours
Topic: understanding and challenging behavioursOrder DescriptionTHE QUESTION TO THE
ESSAY IS BELOW WHICH I WOULD WANT THE WRITER TO REFER TO WHEN EDITING.
Also, I have included some vital hints to follow in the correction please. The ones bold are
the questions , follow with some vital hints to guide the correctionStudents should
include:1. A definition of challenging behaviour and its usefulness in determining
behaviour2. Describe 4 different forms of challenging behaviour :Forms of Behaviour•
PhysicalThrowing objectsLashing out• Anti socialWithdrawal from activitiesRefusal to
participant in everyday activitiesMasturbating in public (learning disabilities)Stereotypical
behaviourNon verbal• Self HarmingSelf Injurous• Verbal• OthersCommunication
difficulties3. Demonstrate an understanding of how two different psychological theories can
help us understand challenging behaviour :Behaviourist Perspective• Social Learning
Theory• Behaviour is learned through:– Classical conditioning e.g Pavlov– Operant
conditioning e.g Skinner– Modelling/Imitation e.g BanduraPavlov• Discovered a type of
associative learning• Called Classical Conditioning• Experiments carried out on dogs• The
underlying principles have also been applied to human learning4. Analyse how life
experience’ s and situational factors can contribute to challenging behaviour giving two
examples.Factors which attribute to challenging behaviour? External Factors–
Institutionalisation– Peer Pressure– Family Pressure– Poverty– Illness (physical)– Abuse
(physical/sexual)Internal Factors (relate to the perception of a threat)– Response to
authority– Fear– Personality (differences)– Response to stressful situation– Experience of
abuse– Lack of knowledge (situation/carer)THE LECTURER FEEDBACK ON ESSAY #
81081659Psychology is the study of human behavior and mental systems. Psychologists
through psychological theories try to explain why, what, and how people do what they do.
Diverse psychology theories administer how various psychologists move towards
investigating the human behavior. Each of the theories gives a wide framework within
which researchers perform their research work. Each theory has a distinct point to stress
when investigating into the main psychological questions of why, what, and how (Emerson
& Einfeld 2011).Understanding human behaviour is a challenging task that psychologists
over the years have investigated. The major aspect of human behaviour that is on the rising
concern is challenging behaviour. Challenging behaviour is believed to stem from
psychological, social, familial, and brain related factors. Thus, understanding those factors
and their effect on human behaviour can help develop interventions to help reduce the
frequency and severity of behavioural disturbances (Emerson & Einfeld 2011).Challenging

2. behaviour is difficult to define because of the complexity of the factors that contribute to its
manifestation in humans. Although there is no educational literature that has been put
together a unified definition of the challenging behaviour, it can be defined as behaviour of
such intensity, regularity, and time that the physical security of the individual or others is
liable to be positioned in serious risk, or behavior, which is probable to bind or delay an
entrance to, and use of the usual amenities (Emerson & Einfeld 2011). Challenging
behaviour takes a myriad range of forms ranging from low intensity and high intensity
.Thus, understanding the various forms challenging behaviour takes can help psychologists
trace the causes of the behaviour, and to establish whether the behaviour is biological,
behavioural, humanistic, psychoanalytic, humanistic, feministic, socio-cultural, or cognitive.
The challenging behaviour acts as a sample and an easy way, for psychologists, to track the
mutual cause of behaviour or the way humans behave. It can help psychologists to establish
the reasons behind the challenging behaviour and the underlying facts about it. Its
existence, such as gaining the attention of others, self-stimulation, avoidance, and formulate
the management criteria for challenging behaviour (Powell, Tod, Cornwall & Soan 2004
).Psychologists have pointed out four types of behaviour that meet the definition of
challenging behaviour. They include self-injurious behaviour, stereotype behaviour, non-
person directed behaviour, and aggressive behaviour (Emerson & Einfeld 2011). To start
with, the self- injurious behaviour involves pulling, eye poking, grinding teeth, picking,
head-banging, eating non-foodstuffs, and scratching. The aggressive behaviour involves
harsh reactions towards other people that may involve spitting, verbal abuse, hitting,
grabbing, throwing objects, screaming, and hair pulling. In aIDition, the stereotypical
behaviour includes rockng, recurrent speech, recurrent movements, and recurrent
manipulation of objects. Lastly, non-person directed behaviour exists, and it involves
damage to property, poor awareness of danger, destruction of clothing, hyperactivity,
inappropriate sexualised behaviour, withdrawal, and stealing (Emerson & Einfeld
2011).Another psychological theory that can help explain the existence of challenging
behaviour includes the cognitive theories. Cognitive theorists concentrate on the mental
manipulation of information, including the particular ways of reasoning, remembrance, and
problem solving. The involved psychologists are paying attention in the mental strategies
and feelings that direct and root behaviour (Aune, Burt & Gennaro 2010). Therefore,
according to the theory of cognitive, challenging behaviour may emerge as a result of
mental plans and feelings of an individual. In this case, a challenging behaviour can develop
when a person’ s way of reasoning and solving problems opts for wrong deeds. Since these
mental strategies stem from the way individual reasons and are pre-planned, they become
involuntary actions leading an individual to usually reasoned does wrong things.In
analyzing how life experiences and situational factors can contribute to challenging
behaviour, all behaviours are forms of communication. Everyone communicates through
behaviour. A baby may cry when he or she is annoyed or wet, just like a grownup may yawn
when he is hungry. Both adults and children do communicate for something through their
behaviours on a daily basis, although they might not be aware of it (Emerson & Einfeld
2011). There is often a reason for problem behaviour. Babies may have problems in
communicating, because they may lack words to explain their feelings or what to do in

3. uncompromising situations. In such circumstances, children show out their
feelings.Therefore, children get involved in challenging behaviours for a cause. Their aim
might be drawing somebody’ s attention, gaining sensory enjoyment, or barring an event
they do not like (Powell, Tod, Cornwall & Soan 2004). Furthermore, children with
challenging behaviours may be conveying a message to the grownups that their desires are
not being met, or that there is something wrong. Other reasons for showing challenging
behaviour include being insecure, tired, annoyed, hurt, among others. Some children may
have difficulties in communicating their problems to the adults; as such, they act in ways
which get them into problems. Some may be involved in destructive activities just because
they enjoy doing them, like hurting a person or bullying other children at school.Children
who have attempted several times to communicate to the grownups about their desires, but
still the needs remain unmet, would sometimes use problem behaviour as criteria of
delivering a loud message (Aune, Burt & Gennaro 2010). For instance, where behaviour is
being influenced by the actions of others, pupils with difficulties in behaviour have the
chance to be in contact with other pupils, who have good social skills. This is specifically
important when pupils are working in small groups. Also, a child is seen as being an
inherent part of a larger social system in and outside school, and the nature of the
overarching processes as observed supporting the behaviour of the child. Therefore, the
whole school echoes affect the behaviour of an individual child in several ways (Dunlap,
Strain, Fox, Carta, Conroy, Smith, & Sowell 2006)In conclusion, Psychological theories
explain behaviour of human beings. Regardless of their diverse approaches towards
determining human behaviour, psychologists agree at some point on the origin of the
behaviour. The psychological theories used include biological, feministic, psychoanalytic,
behaviourism, socio-cultural, postmodern, cognitive, and humanistic. Understanding human
behaviour can help people to develop interventions to handle challenging behaviour when
they start appearing in children or adults.