ABA Foundations and Procedures Flashcards

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards based on the ABA lecture transcript, covering fundamentals, behavior functions, measurement, and intervention strategies.

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)

The science of understanding behavior and using evidence-based strategies to increase meaningful behaviors and decrease behaviors that interfere with learning.

Antecedent

What happens immediately before a behavior occurs in the ABC model.

Behavior

What the client does in response to an antecedent in the ABC model.

Consequence

What happens immediately after a behavior occurs in the ABC model, such as provide praise.

Escape

A function of behavior where an individual seeks to get away from something unpleasant, like a non-preferred task or difficult demand.

Attention

A function of behavior to gain attention from others through praise, conversation, reprimands, or reactions.

Tangible

A function of behavior intended to gain access to items or activities such as toys, iPad, snacks, or games.

Automatic (Sensory)

A function of behavior where the behavior itself is reinforcing, such as hand flapping, rocking, or thumb sucking.

Establishing Operation (EO)

A motivating operation that increases the value of a reinforcer due to deprivation or increases behaviors to escape unpleasant events.

Abolishing Operation (AO)

A motivating operation that decreases the value of a reinforcer due to satiation or decreases behaviors to escape unpleasant events.

Positive Reinforcement

The addition of something desirable following a behavior that results in the behavior increasing in the future.

Negative Reinforcement

The removal of something aversive following a behavior that results in the behavior increasing in the future.

Positive Punishment

The addition of something aversive following a behavior that results in the behavior decreasing in the future.

Negative Punishment

The removal of something desirable following a behavior that results in the behavior decreasing in the future.

Overcorrection

A positive punishment procedure where a client performs additional corrective actions beyond fixing the original behavior.

Response Blocking

A positive punishment procedure involving physically intervening to prevent a problem behavior from occurring.

Time-Out

A negative punishment procedure involving the temporary removal from reinforcement or preferred activities.

Response Cost

A negative punishment procedure involving the removal of earned reinforcers, tokens, or privileges following a problem behavior.

Behavior-Specific Praise

Pairing praise with the exact behavior performed, such as saying "Great job sharing that toy with your friend" within $1-2\,\text{seconds}$.

Continuous Reinforcement

A schedule where every correct response is reinforced, typically used for teaching new skills in a $1:1$ ratio.

Intermittent Reinforcement

A schedule where only some correct responses are reinforced (e.g., a $3:1$ schedule), used to maintain mastered skills.

Discriminative Stimulus (SD)

An instruction or cue that signals reinforcement is available, such as a BT saying "Do this."

Intertrial Interval (ITI)

The brief pause between trials used to collect data, reset materials, and prepare for the next trial.

Most-to-Least Prompting

A hierarchy starting with the most intrusive physical prompts and fading to less intrusive prompts, used for new skills or challenging behaviors.

Least-to-Most Prompting

A hierarchy starting with minimal assistance and increasing intrusiveness as needed, used for familiar or mastered skills.

Prompt Fading

The process of gradually reducing the level of prompting until the client responds independently.

Random Rotation (RR)

A step in discrimination training where targets are mixed, positions are rotated, and the individual must achieve $80\%$ or higher across $3$ consecutive sessions with different people.

Probe

A test of current performance used to determine if teaching is needed; if the client scores $3/3$, the target is considered mastered.

Mand

A verbal operant involving requesting something, such as a client saying "juice" to get juice.

Tact

A verbal operant involving labeling something seen, heard, or felt, such as saying "airplane" when seeing one.

Echoic

A verbal operant involving repeating sounds or words made by another person.

Intraverbal

A verbal operant involving conversational responding, such as answering "Billy" when asked "What's your name?"

Transcription

A verbal operant involving writing what is heard, such as writing "dog" after hearing the word "dog."

Forward Chaining

A teaching procedure where the client is taught to perform the first step of a task analysis while the BT completes the rest, progressing step-by-step.

Backward Chaining

A teaching procedure where the BT prompts the client through all steps except the last one, which the client performs to earn reinforcement.

Total Task Chaining

A teaching procedure where the client attempts every step of the chain and the BT provides prompts only as needed.

Premack Principle

The use of a preferred activity to reinforce a less preferred activity, often formatted as "First [Work], Then [Preferred Item/Activity]."

Response Latency

The measure of the time that elapses between the delivery of a Discriminative Stimulus (SD) and the start of the response.

Interresponse Time (IRT)

The measure of the time that elapses between two consecutive occurrences of the same behavior.

Whole Interval Recording

A time sampling method where the behavior is recorded only if it occurred for the entire duration of the interval.

Partial Interval Recording

A time sampling method where the behavior is recorded if it occurred at any point during the interval.

Functional Analysis (FA)

A process where conditions are systematically presented one-by-one to identify which condition predictably results in problem behavior; only implemented under BCBA direction.

Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP)

A written document created after an FBA that explains target behaviors, functions, prevention strategies, replacement behaviors, and data collection methods.

Functional Communication Training (FCT)

An antecedent intervention that teaches the client appropriate communication to request what they need instead of engaging in problem behavior.

Behavioral Momentum

An intervention where several easy, high-probability tasks are presented immediately before a difficult or low-probability task.

Extinction

A procedure where reinforcement for a previously reinforced behavior is no longer provided, resulting in a decrease in that behavior over time.

Extinction Burst

A temporary increase in the frequency, intensity, or duration of a problem behavior when extinction is first applied.

DRA (Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior)

Reinforcing a more appropriate replacement behavior that serves the same function as the problem behavior while withholding reinforcement for the problem behavior.

DRI (Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behavior)

Reinforcing a behavior that cannot physically occur at the same time as the problem behavior, such as sitting instead of running.

DRO (Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior)

Providing reinforcement only when the problem behavior does not occur during a specific period of time.

Functional Reinforcement Contingency

A scenario where the replacement behavior earns the exact same reinforcement that previously maintained the problem behavior.