Advanced ABA for Teachers

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QuizArticle Presentation by LaurenQuestions about course requirementsPsychINFO assignment questions

Review: Technical language and basic concepts

Why Use Technical Terms?

Effective communicationDemonstrates professionalism in your field

CH & H - Mastering the technical vocabulary of ABA is an important first step in becoming a behavior analyst

recommend students “study the field’s technical terminology with diligence” (p. xv)

ABA is a scienceUsing precise terminology facilitates goal of thorough

understanding of socially important behaviorsNote: It takes practice to learn new terminology!

Especially when there are similar words already in your repertoire

Basic ConceptsWhat is ABA?

Technical definition: 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

What you might say to your Aunt Sally: A way in which to provide assistance to individuals

by breaking complex skills into easier ones. As the individual begins to learn, we withdraw our assistance until they can learn in the same way others do.

Behavior

The activity of living organisms – everything a person does, including how he moves, what he says, thinks, and feels

A well-known technical definition: “That portion of an organism’s interaction with its

environment that is characterized by detectable displacement in space through time of some part of the organism and that results in a measurable change in at least one aspect of the environment” (Johnston and Pennypacker, 1993, p. 23)

Response

An instance of behaviorResponse topography refers to the physical

shape or form of the responseResponse class: A group of responses with

the same function (each response in the group is maintained by the same reinforcer or produces the same effect on the environment) Examples

Saying “thank you” Opening a bag of chips

Environment

Conglomerate of circumstances in which the organism exists Includes not only the organism’s external features but physical

events inside its skin Example: itching

Stimulus: an energy change that affects an organism through its receptor cells

Stimulus Class: a group of stimuli that set the occasion for the same response E.g., person dropping a bunch of papers, carrying lots of things,

looking for a lost object, cleaning up an activity, setting up an activity

E.g., spoken word dog, written word dog, picture of a dog, actual dog

Respondent Behavior

The response component of a reflexIt’s elicited by a stimulus that precedes it

Does not require a history of learning – examples?

Respondent Conditioning New stimuli can acquire the ability to elicit

respondent behaviorExample: Teaching nighttime continence

Enuresis can occur because the sensation of a full bladder does not elicit waking

1. Alarm Waking2. Full bladder + Alarm Waking3. Full bladder Waking

Nocturnal Enuresis Therapy(“Bell & Pad”)

Operant Behavior

Any behavior whose future frequency is determined primarily by its history of consequences

It’s not elicited like respondent behavior – it’s maintained by consequences that have followed it in the past

Examples Saying “hi”

Teacher walks in the

room

Bobby says, “hi”

Teacher smiles and says, “hi!”

Operant Behavior

Any behavior whose future frequency is determined primarily by its history of consequences

It’s not elicited like respondent behavior – it’s maintained by consequences that have followed it in the past

Examples Saying “hi” Katie screaming when her mom gets out the

vacuum cleaner – how could this be both respondent AND operant behavior?

Teacher walks in the

room

Bobby says, “hi”

Teacher smiles and says, “hi!”

Mom brings out vaccuum

Katie screams and

cries

Mom puts the vacuum

away

ConsequenceEveryday usage?Technical definition: stimulus that follows a given

behavior in a relatively immediate temporal sequence and alters the probability of future occurrences of that type of behaviorNote that awareness of the consequence, intent, and trying to

“get” the consequence are not part of the definition 2 forms

A stimulus is increased or added to the environmentAn already present stimulus is reduced or removed from the

environment2 behavioral outcomes

The future frequency of the behavior increasesThe future frequency of the behavior decreases

Three-Term Contingency

Operant Conditioning: establishment of a functional relationship between behavior and its consequences and between behavior and certain antecedent conditions

Antecedent - Behavior - ConsequenceContingency refers to the dependency of

a particular consequence on the occurrence of behavior