In Depth: Applied Behavior Analysis History
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is “the science in which tactics derived from the principles of behavior are applied to improve socially significant behavior and experimentation is used to identify the variables responsible for the improvement in behavior” (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007).
In 1968, Baer, Wolf, and Risley defined ABA studies in terms of seven criteria:
- Socially significant (applied)
- A measurable behavior (behavioral)
- Demonstrated relationship between the behavior and the environment (analytic)
- Clearly defined, replicable procedures (technological)
- Relevant to the basic principles (conceptually systematic)
- Produces sufficient change to be of practical value (effective)
- Proves durable over time and places (generality)
Similar to the definition provided by Cooper et al. (2007) ABA along with PCP serve as foundations to PBS. ABA focuses on how an individual interacts with and is affected by their environment. In this lesson we will focus on a brief history of ABA and defining key terms related to ABA.
Behavior analysis is divided into two domains: experimental and applied. Basic principles derived from experimental behavior analysis inform the field of applied behavior analysis.
In experimental behavior analysis the objective is to identify relationships between behavior and environmental variables utilizing tightly controlled experimental conditions. B.F. Skinner’s research embraced the experimental analysis of behavior in his 1938 book The Behavior of Organisms.
| Term | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Positive Reinforcement | the contingent presentation of a consequence that follows a behavior that increases the probability that the behavior will occur. | A person appropriately asks for a drink of water and is immediately given a drink. If this event happens repeatedly, the person learns to associate the behavior (the appropriate request for water) with the consequence (immediate delivery of water). This learning increases the future probability that the person will appropriately request a drink when thirsty. |
| Negative Reinforcement: | The contingent removal of an aversive event that increases the future probability of that behavior’s emission. | When the full garbage bag is sitting by the back door, a parent nags a child to take out the garbage. At some point, when seeing full garbage bag by the back door, the child takes it out to avoid nagging. |
| Positive Punishment | Presentation of a stimulus immediately following a behavior that decreases the future probability of that behavior. | When a person engages in aggressive behavior (i.e. hitting staff) and she is immediately given extra chores to complete. |
| Negative Punishment | Contingent removal of a preferred stimulus immediately following a behavior that decreases the future probability of that behavior. | When John fails to follow an instruction, his parent removes his computer access for a short time. |
| Stimulus Control | a relationship between an antecedent event and a behavior where the behavior is more likely to occur in the presence of the antecedent event than in its absence | When the phone rings, we pick it up and answer it. People do not answer phones when they are not ringing. |
| Discriminative Stimulus (SD) | An antecedent event that reliably signals the availability of reinforcement contingent on the production of a particular behavior. | In the above example, the phone ringing serves as the SD. We do not usually pick up the phone and say “hello” when the phone is silent. The presence of a person on the other end of the line serves as the reinforcer, while the ringing is the stimulus that alerts us to the presence of the reinforcer. If we don’t pick up the phone (i.e. the behavior), we can’t get access to the reinforcer. |
| Setting Event |
an antecedent event that affects the salience of a discriminative stimulus in signaling the availability of positive or negative reinforcement contingent on a particular response. Setting events, also known as motivating operations, may be very broad in scope or very specific. Common types of setting events include:
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When a room is too hot, a person is more likely to engage in aggressive behaviors towards staff members. The temperature of the room is uncomfortable for the person and makes them less likely to attend to the SD . |
| Establishing Operation | A motivating operation that increases the likelihood of a behavior. Establishing operations change the reinforcement value | If a person with autism is hungry, they are said to be in a state of deprivation. The person may be more likely to follow instructions during an intervention session and emit a request in order to receive food. |
| Abolishing Operation | A motivating operation that decreases the reinforcing effectiveness of a stimulus. | When person with autism is no longer hungry, they are said to be in a state of satiation. The person may be less likely to follow instructions during an intervention session because food is no longer as reinforcing as when they were hungry. |
| Extinction | Discontinuing reinforcement for a behavior that has previously been reinforced, such that the behavior eventually disappears (or is indefinitely suppressed). | A staff member ignores a person’s yelling. The yelling has been reinforced consistently in the past and was most recently maintained by access to a video game: When the person yelled, the staff member would let her play a video game. If the staff member now consistently ignores the yelling, the yelling will decrease and, eventually be eliminated when the person learns that the behavior no longer results in access to a video game. However, prior to the reduction in yelling, the staff member can expect an “extinction burst” (see below). |
| Extinction Burst | The sharp increase in the appearance, frequency, or intensity of the challenging behavior immediately following the removal of the learned (or anticipated reinforcer. If reinforcement for the challenging behavior remains absent, the behavior will gradually diminish and, eventually, disappear. | Staff decide to ignore a person’s screaming behavior when she wants the TV turned on. Initially, the frequency and magnitude of her screaming increases (as she tries even harder to gain the expected reinforcer) before her screaming begins to decrease (as she learns that screaming is no longer associated with the reinforcer). |
| Operant Conditioning | When a behavior is changed or established as a result of the history of its consequences (i.e. positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement and punishment), we describe this process as operant conditioning. Behavior is strengthened when followed by reinforcement and weakened when followed by punishment. Operant conditioning is based on an overwhelming base of literature demonstrating that behavior is influenced by the consequences that follow. Operant conditioning is one of the most frequently used teaching paradigms to establish, maintain and generalize new behaviors. |
An may be told they will lose the ability to take a 15 minute break during work if they don’t complete a task by 10am. This potential for punishment may lead to a decrease in off-task behaviors. |
| Respondent conditioning | (sometimes referred to as Classical conditioning Pavlovian conditioning, or respondent conditioning) occurs when a conditioned stimulus (CS) is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US). Usually, the CS is a neutral stimulus (e.g., a spoken word), the US is biologically potent (e.g., the taste of food) and the unconditioned response (UR) to the US is an unlearned reflex response (e.g., salivation). Subsequent to repeated pairing, the learner produces a conditioned response (CR) to the CS when the CS is presented alone. Classical conditioning differs from operant or instrumental conditioning, in which a behavior is strengthened or weakened, depending on its consequences (i.e., reward or punishment).[2] | Example: Efron’s (1957) report of treating a person with epilepsy provides an example of respondent conditioning. Some persons with epilepsy can detect the onset of a seizure by a subjective aura that precedes the seizure. Efron found that one of his female clients could inhibit her seizures by inhaling the odor of jasmine during the early stages of the aura. Efron then respondently conditioned the smell to the sight of a bracelet. Then she could inhibit the seizure by staring at the bracelet. Eventually, just thinking about the bracelet could inhibit seizures. |