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3.2: Defining Characteristics of Applied Behavior Analysis

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    57834

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    [Principles of ABA for Teachers Video]

    Principles of ABA for Teachers Video, https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=UuvQpat4CAk

    Based on the principles of learning theory, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is an applied science, meaning that practitioners use systematic procedures to teach, resulting in improvements in areas like self-care, communication, academics, behavior reductions, behavior, and/or recreation and leisure (Allen & Wallace, 2013; Van Camp & Hayes, 2012; Wolf, 1978). Behavior analysts approach problems of social significance from a scientific perspective. It is not a matter of nature versus nurture but a matter of nature and nurture working together to produce observable changes in behavior (Skinner, 1974). This focus on social relevance, or social validity, to the individual marks a division in the field of behaviorism from a strictly experimental or basic research to an applied research. Baer, Wolfe, and Risley (1968) clarified this distinction in the seminal article “Some Current Dimensions of Applied Behavior Analysis,” published in the first issue of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, which describes ABA and outlines the future applications of its characteristics. These seven characteristics include: applied, behavioral, analytic, conceptual, technological, effective, and generalizable. When using ABA, one incorporates these components within a process to teach and evaluate effects of the approach. For example, one starts with 1) choosing a socially relevant behavior, 2) measuring the behavior, 3) using data to determine which treatment to use, 4) using data to implement procedures, and 5) using data to evaluate effects of the treatment (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007). The characteristics of ABA will be described within this 5-step model to show how the fundamental characteristics are interwoven with data to make a good ABA program.

    This page titled 3.2: Defining Characteristics of Applied Behavior Analysis is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Samuel Sennott, Sheldon Loman, Kristy Lee Park, Luis F. Pérez, Michael J. Kennedy, John Romig, & Wendy J. Rodgers (Portland State University Library) .