Applied behavior analysis facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is a way to understand and change how people act. It helps figure out why certain behaviors happen. ABA is based on behaviorism, a way of studying how our surroundings affect what we do. It's often used to help people with certain learning differences or challenges. ABA uses ideas about behavior that scientists found through experiments.

History

Scientific studies and articles about ABA are published in the Journal for Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA). This journal started in 1968. In its first issue, three people wrote an article explaining what Applied Behavior Analysis is.

Psychologists who study how the environment affects behavior are called behaviorists. They look at outside reasons for behavior, not a person's feelings. Feelings are inside a person, so behaviorists believe they cannot be studied scientifically.

Psychologist John B. Watson started Behaviorism in 1913. He is seen as one of the first to study the science of behavior. He thought that inner feelings should not be studied at all. He also believed that our surroundings shape our behavior over time. This happens because of the results of our actions. He felt all behavior is learned and can be changed. If something good happens after a behavior, a person is more likely to do it again. If something bad happens, they are less likely to do it. This idea is very important in ABA.

One of the most famous behaviorists was B.F. Skinner. Skinner first shared his ideas about behaviorism in 1938. He wrote a lot about it during his life. He developed some of the behavior ideas that ABA uses today.

ABA began when experimental behavior ideas were used for social behavior. Many people started applying these ideas. One famous person was Ole Ivar Lovaas. In the 1960s, Lovaas was one of the first to use ABA to help people with autism. When Lovaas started using ABA for children with autism, it changed how developmental challenges were helped. Lovaas also thought that help would be more successful if it started early in a child's life. This idea of starting help as soon as possible is called 'early intervention'. Early intervention is still very important in ABA.

A more recent step in Applied Behavior Analysis is the Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB). The BACB is a non-profit group that started in 1998. The BACB gives certificates to behavior analysts. To become a behavior analyst, a person must go to a special school. Then they must pass an exam. After passing, they become board-certified behavior analysts. The BACB sets rules to make sure these BCBAs are good at their jobs. The BACB makes sure BCBAs work in a fair, legal, and professional way.

Characteristics of ABA

There are seven features of ABA. Any treatment based on ABA must have all of these things.

Applied: This means the behavior being studied must be important in everyday life. It should be a behavior that matters socially.
Behavioral: A behavior is anything a person does. Feelings are not studied because they are inside and cannot be measured. ABA treatments measure how often behaviors happen.
Analytic: For behavior to be analytic, a behavior analyst must be able to control it. This means they can make the behavior happen at certain times. The data from before a change is made is called baseline data.
Technological: This word describes how well a treatment must be explained. A behavior plan must be explained very clearly. If it's not well-explained, it's not technological.
Conceptually systematic: For an ABA treatment to be conceptually systematic, it must connect to known behavior ideas. Using ideas that are already known makes ABA more effective.
Effective: This means that behavior plans must show good results to be used in ABA. The goal of these plans is to make social behavior better.
Generality: This shows how meaningful a behavior change is. A behavior change has high generality if:
- The change continues for a long time after the help stops.
- The change happens in different places or situations.
- The change causes other behaviors to also improve.

Key Ideas in ABA

The following terms and ideas are used in Applied Behavior Analysis. It is important to understand them when using ABA-based help.

Problem Behavior

In ABA, a behavior that causes trouble is called a problem behavior. This is something that harms the person doing it or others around them. A problem behavior also makes it harder for a person to learn new things.

Operant behavior is different from respondent behavior. Operant behavior is something a person chooses to do and can be changed. A person has control over their operant behavior. They decide which behaviors they want to do. Respondent behavior cannot be controlled like operant behavior. ABA mostly studies operant behavior because it can be controlled and changed.
Three-term contingency is an idea for understanding operant behavior. B.F. Skinner first used it, and it's still used in ABA. This idea says that every behavior has an antecedent and a consequence. An antecedent is what happens right before the behavior. The antecedent can change how likely a behavior is to happen. Some antecedents make a behavior more likely. Others make it less likely. The consequence is what happens after the behavior. It is the reaction to the behavior. ABC data (Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence) can help find things that might be causing a behavior. Then, these causes can be tested.
An operational definition tells people exactly what a target behavior looks like. The target behavior is the behavior you want to change. The operational definition needs to be very clear. People who have never seen the behavior should be able to tell when it happens just by reading the definition. A good operational definition makes studying behavior better.
Reinforcement: When something increases the chance of a behavior happening again, it's called a reinforcement. A reinforcement is often thought of as a reward. A reward is anything given after a behavior. A reward is only a reinforcement if it makes the behavior happen more often in the future. If it doesn't, it's not a reinforcement. Not all reinforcers work for all people. So, it's important to try different types to find what works best.

Primary reinforcers are things that meet a basic body need. Food, water, and warmth are primary reinforcers. Reinforcers that do not meet basic needs are called secondary reinforcers. Secondary reinforcers are not naturally rewarding. A person learns that they are rewarding because they are linked with other things that are already rewarding. They are also called conditioned reinforcers.

A discriminative stimulus (SD) is something that tells a person that a reward is available. Seeing an SD should make a behavior happen.

Positive Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement (SR+) is when you add something, and it makes a behavior happen more often. There are four main types of positive reinforcement:

Tangible reinforcers are things you can hold. Toys or food are examples. Tangible reinforcers can be costly. They should not be the first choice for positive reinforcement.
Social reinforcement is one of the best types of positive reinforcement. It's good because it's not expensive and easy to use. Social reinforcers are things that have social value or meaning. Examples are awards, praise, or compliments. Social reinforcement can be very effective.
Activity reinforcers are events a person can earn. Examples include playing games, going to the movies, or earning a break. Activity reinforcers can work very well if the person really wants to earn the activity. But activity reinforcers might not be given right after the behavior. This can cause a delay. The reinforcer will be less effective if it's given a long time after the behavior.
Token reinforcers are neutral items that can be traded for an object or activity. The objects or activities they can trade tokens for are called back-up reinforcers. The tokens themselves don't have value. They are only valuable because the person knows they can trade them for something they want.

Negative Reinforcement

Negative reinforcement (SR-) happens when you take away something, and it makes a person more likely to do a behavior in the future. In this case, "negative" does not mean "bad." The thing that is taken away is something the person doesn't like. People will want to do a behavior if they know that something they dislike will be removed.

Reinforcement Schedules

Rewards are given based on reinforcement schedules. The schedule explains how rewards are earned. Behavior analysts decide which schedule is best. Different schedules work well for different things. The schedule used depends on the person. It also depends on the behavior being rewarded.

Continuous Reinforcement Schedules

Continuous reinforcement schedules (CRF) reward a person every time they do the target behavior. There are some issues with CRF schedules. The behaviors don't last long. If the person stops getting rewarded, they might stop doing the behavior. Another issue is satiation. If a person becomes satiated, it means they don't want the reward anymore.

Intermittent Reinforcement Schedules

These schedules only reward the target behavior sometimes. The four most common types of intermittent schedules are:

Fixed-ratio schedules (FR) give a reward after a certain number of behaviors.
Variable-ratio schedules: With variable-ratio (VR) schedules, the number of behaviors needed for a reward changes. The number of behaviors needed will be different each time.
Fixed-interval schedules: With fixed-interval (FI) schedules, a reward is given for the first behavior that happens after a set amount of time passes.
Variable-interval schedules (VI) give a reward after a changing amount of time passes.

Differential Reinforcement

A discriminative stimulus (SD) is something that tells a person a reward is available. Seeing an SD should make a behavior happen. Differential reinforcement teaches a person the difference between an SD and a non-discriminative stimulus (S-delta). An SD signals that a reward is ready. An S-delta does not tell the person anything about rewards. An S-delta is not likely to cause behaviors because no reward is given.

Differential reinforcement is also used to reduce problem behaviors. There are four types that can be used:

DRL stands for differential reinforcement of a "low-rate" of response. DRL is helpful when you want to reduce a behavior but not stop it completely.
DRO stands for differential reinforcement of "other" behavior. With DRO, a person gets a reward if they do not do the problem behavior for a set time.
DRI stands for differential reinforcement of "incompatible" behavior. A DRI program rewards a behavior that cannot happen at the same time as the problem behavior. An incompatible behavior would stop them from doing the problem behavior.
DRA stands for differential reinforcement of "alternative" behavior. For a DRA program, the person learns a different behavior they can do instead of the problem behavior.

Extinction

Extinction is a way to reduce how often problem behaviors happen. A DRA program should be used at the same time as an extinction program. This will make the extinction program work better.

Punishment

Reinforcement is always the first thing tried when trying to change a behavior. Reinforcement creates lasting results and is better for the person. However, reinforcement does not always reduce problem behavior. If reinforcement doesn't work, it might be necessary to try punishment. Punishment is effective, but it can have bad effects. It can cause emotional harm if not used correctly.

Punishment is any reaction to a behavior that decreases the chance of that behavior happening in the future. Punishment of a problem behavior should be used with reinforcement of the right behavior. Good behavior should always be rewarded, even when using punishment for problem behavior. Just like reinforcement, punishment can be both positive and negative. Positive punishment is the addition of something that reduces the chance of future behaviors. This added thing is something the person dislikes. Negative punishment is the removal of something that reduces the chance of future behaviors. The thing that is removed is something the person likes.

Prompting

Prompting makes it more likely that a behavior will be done the right way. Using prompts will make learning easier and faster. Someone teaching a new behavior can use prompts to help the person learning. The two main types of prompts are stimulus and response.

Examples of stimulus prompts are lists or pictures that help the learner remember the correct action.

Response prompts do not change what happens before the behavior. There are three types of response prompts:

The first type is verbal prompts.
The second type is a gestural prompt. The most common gestural prompt is pointing to the correct action.
The third type is a physical prompt. A physical prompt is when the teacher touches the learner to help them do the correct behavior. Physical prompts are often used when teaching new skills that involve body movement.

Fading

Fading prompts is a way to help the learner become more independent. Once the learner can do the behavior on their own, they won't need the teacher's help. However, if a teacher stops using prompts too quickly, it might confuse the learner. So, prompts should be reduced slowly. This process of slowly reducing prompts is called 'fading'.

Shaping

Shaping is a way to teach new behaviors or make existing behaviors better. It involves rewarding small steps towards a target behavior.

Chaining

Complex behaviors are made of smaller, simple behaviors. This is what the idea of behavior chains is based on. A behavior chain is when smaller behaviors are put together to form a complex behavior. These smaller behaviors are done in a certain order. Each smaller behavior is a step in the chain. There are three different ways to teach a behavior chain:

Forward chaining is the most common way to teach a behavior chain. The chain is taught starting with the first step. Once learners can do the first step, they move to the second. This continues until they have completed all steps.
Backward chaining is the opposite of forward chaining. With backward chaining, the last step is taught first. Once they can do the last step, they move to the second-to-last step. This continues until they reach the first step.
Total task presentation is the third way to teach a behavior chain. With forward and backward chaining, only one step is taught at a time. But with total task, the learner completes every step in the chain every time they do the program. They should complete every step in the correct order. Total task requires the learner to know how to do all steps before starting the program.

Analyzing Behavior

ABA uses data to make choices about behavior. Behavior analysts are always collecting data about a person's behavior.

Data Collection

Direct observation is when behavior is watched and recorded. Indirect measures compare one person's behavior to other people's behavior. An example would be an intelligence test. One person's score is compared to the scores that other people got.

There are three common ways to collect data. They are frequency, interval, and time sampling. These methods are used for direct observation.

Frequency is how often a behavior happens. So, frequency recording just counts the number of times a behavior happens.
Interval recording breaks the observation time into smaller parts. The total time is divided into smaller intervals. If the behavior happens at any time during one of the smaller intervals, it is recorded.
Time sampling methods are a little different from frequency and interval methods. The observer will only look to see if the behavior is happening every once in a while. If the behavior is happening when the observer looks, it gets recorded. But if the behavior happens at any other time, it does not get recorded. So the behavior is only recorded sometimes.

ABA for Autism

Applied behavior analysis is often linked with autism. This is because ABA is the only treatment for autism that has been scientifically proven to work well.