Key Concepts in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)

Posted on Feb 11, 2025 in Psychology and Sociology

Motivating Operation (MO): Alters the reinforcing/punishing effectiveness of a stimulus and alters the current frequency of all behavior that has been reinforced/punished by that stimulus.

Establishing Operation

Reinforcer is more effective/valuable.

  • Deprivation: Not having a reinforcer for some time.
  • Behavior-Altering Effect: Momentary increase in behavior.
  • Value-Altering Effect: Momentary increase in reinforcing value.

Abolishing Operation

Reinforcer is less effective/valuable.

  • Satiation: Having a reinforcer recently.

Discrete Trial Training

Trials are presented in quick succession with a clear beginning and a clear end.

Errorless Teaching

Prompted to make the correct response immediately, ensuring a correct response each time.

Error Correction

Used to increase motivation by preventing errors and creating more opportunities for reinforcement.

Incidental/Naturalistic Teaching

Client-directed; occurs in the natural environment in the form of indirect learning.

Task Analysis

Breaking down complex skills into smaller, teachable units.

Chaining Procedures

  • Forward Chaining: Teaching the 1st step first until mastered; then teaching the 2nd step, and so on.
  • Backward Chaining: Teaching all the steps except the final step; once the last step is mastered, then teaching the 2nd-to-last step, and so on.
  • Total Task Chaining: Teaching and prompting every step in the chain.

Discrimination Training

The ability to understand the difference between two or more things; i.e., discriminate between red and blue.

Stimulus Control

A response is repeatedly reinforced in the presence of a discriminative stimulus (SD: stimulus in the presence of a particular response will be reinforced) and not in its absence/presence of stimulus S-Delta (SΔ: stimulus in the presence of a particular response will not be reinforced).

Stimulus Control Transfer

Controlled by one SD comes under the control of a different SD.

Stimulus Generalization

When stimuli share physical characteristics with the controlling stimulus evoke the same behavior as the controlling stimulus; i.e., a 2-year-old thinking all men with beards are scary since an uncle yelled at him.

Stimulus Discrimination

Reinforcement is provided for a correct response in the presence of SD and extinction in the presence of SΔ.

Shaping

Differentially reinforcing successive approximations toward a terminal behavior; i.e., a therapist is differentially reinforcing Jack by only rolling him the ball when he produces the correct sound (ball) and not rolling the ball if Jack gives another sound.

Token Economy

Conditioned reinforcers that strengthen behavior; tokens are resistant to satiation.

Functions of Behavior (SEAT)

Sensory/automatic, escape, attention, and tangible.

Antecedent Intervention

Decrease the effectiveness of reinforcing properties that maintain problem behavior:

  1. NRC delivered on a FT or VT schedule.
  2. H-p provide a non-aversive procedure for improving compliance by diminishing escape.
  3. FCT aims to establish alternative behaviors that are sensitive to EO/MO in DRA.

Extinction

Previous reinforcement is discontinued.

Extinction Burst

Behavior increases after extinction.

Spontaneous Recovery

Behavior reappears after extinction.