Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Terminology Flashcards

A comprehensive set of practice flashcards covering vocabulary terms, definitions, and concepts found in the ABA lecture notes, designed for exam preparation.

Antecedent

An environmental condition or stimulus change existing or occurring prior to a behavior of interest.

Autoclitic

A term describing verbal behavior about the speaker that functions as a reinforcer or MO for additional verbal behavior.

Backward chaining

A teaching method where the teacher completes all the steps of the chain up until the last step and having the learner completed it with prompts if needed, then moving back through the chain as competence is shown.

Behavior

Everything a living organism does that can be observed and measured in the organism’s environment.

Chaining

The reinforcement of successive elements of a behavior chain.

Conditioned reinforcement

A reinforcer that is paired with a primary reinforcer, so that this item becomes as reinforcing or replaces the unconditioned (primary) reinforcer.

Consequence

A stimulus change that follows a behavior of interest.

Continuous schedule of reinforcement

A schedule of reinforcement that provides reinforcement for each occurrence of the target behavior.

Count

The total number of occurrences of a behavior, often tracked as tally marks.

Direct assessment

Occurs when the behavior that is measured is the same as the behavior that is the focus of the investigation, such as observation and ABC data.

Discrete trial

A skill acquisition technique consisting of presenting materials in a very structured way and responding to responses using a correction procedure if necessary.

Discrimination

The process of responding differently in the presence of different stimuli.

Discriminative stimulus (Sd)

A stimulus in which a particular response will be reinforced to increase the probability of occurrences.

DRA (Differential Reinforcement of Alternative behavior)

The procedure of reducing the frequency of a target behavior by reinforcing an alternative behavior to provide the person an alternative way of obtaining reinforcers.

DRI (Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible behavior)

The procedure of reducing the frequency of a target behavior by reinforcing a behavior that is incompatible with the target behavior.

DRO (Differential Reinforcement of Other behavior)

A reductive procedure (omission training) in which reinforcers are delivered contingent on the nonoccurrence of a response for a given time interval.

Duration

The length of time that passes from onset to offset of a behavior or a stimulus.

Extinction

A procedure or process in which the reinforcement of a previously reinforced behavior is discontinued, causing the behavior to disappear.

Echoic

A verbal operant in which the learner hears a verbal stimulus and responds by repeating what is said, establishing a point to point correspondence.

Fading

The gradual removal of a prompt or other help or cue for responding.

FBA (Functional Behavior Assessment)

A systematic method of assessment for obtaining information about the purpose or functions of a problem behavior to guide intervention design.

FCT (Functional Communication Training)

An antecedent intervention in which an appropriate communicative behavior is taught as a replacement behavior for problem behavior.

Fixed interval

A schedule of reinforcement in which an operant is reinforced after a fixed amount of time has passed.

Fixed ratio

A response-based schedule of reinforcement that delivers reinforcement after a fixed number of responses are made.

Forward chaining

A teaching method where steps are broken down and each step is taught to competence in sequence, with subsequent steps added on top of previously learned steps.

Frequency

A reference to count (tallies) for each occurrence of a behavior, which can be converted to rate by adding a dimension of time.

Generalization

The spread of effects of training across settings, people, and/or materials.

High-p request (Behavior Momentum)

An antecedent intervention in which 2 to 5 easy tasks with a history of compliance are presented in quick succession immediately before requesting the target task.

Imitation

Behavior that duplicates some properties of the behavior of a model.

Indirect assessment

Structured interviews, checklists, rating scales, or questionnaires used to identify conditions in the natural environment that correlate with problem behavior.

Intraverbal

A verbal operant where the learner responds to questions or fill-in-the-blank statements to engage in conversation.

Latency

The elapsed time from the presentation of an antecedent stimulus until the response occurs.

Maintenance

The continuation of a skill after direct training has ended.

Mand

The first verbal operant learned, evoked by a motivating operation (MO) that results in access to specific reinforcement.

Modeling

The act of providing a behavior to be imitated.

Momentary time sampling

A discontinuous observation procedure divided into intervals where the status of the target behavior is noted only at the exact moment the interval ends.

Naturalistic teaching

Trials that are loosely structured and incorporate natural activities and reinforcers following the child’s interests, lead, or pace.

Negative punishment

Removing a stimulus to decrease the likelihood of a behavior's occurrence, such as a time-out.

Negative reinforcement

The removal of a stimulus to increase the probability of a behavior occurring.

Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR)

Reinforcement that is provided regardless of the behavior that is occurring.

Partial interval

A time-sampling procedure where a response is recorded if it occurs at any time during the specified interval.

Permanent products

A data tracking method using concrete objects or outcomes from behavior to measure its occurrence.

Positive punishment

Occurs when a stimulus is added to decrease the likelihood of the behavior’s occurrence.

Positive reinforcement

Occurs when a stimulus is added to increase the probability of the behavior occurring again.

Preference assessment

Evaluations used to determine a preference hierarchy of items to identify potential reinforcers.

Multiple Stimulus With Replacement (MSW)

A preference assessment where the chosen stimulus is replaced back into the array to be available for choice again.

Multiple Stimulus Without Replacement (MSWO)

A preference assessment where the chosen stimulus is eliminated from the array, resulting in a hierarchy of reinforcers.

Paired choice

A preference assessment where every stimulus is paired with every other offered stimulus to determine which is chosen most often.

Free operant

A preference assessment where the learner has free access to multiple stimuli and the duration of engagement with each item is documented.

Probe

A baseline data collection method where the Sd is stated but no prompts or correction are given to see if the learner knows the skill.

Prompt

An antecedent that induces a person to perform a behavior that otherwise does not occur.

Punishment

Occurs when stimulus change immediately follows a response and decreases the future frequency of that type of behavior.

Rate

The number of times a behavior occurs within a specified time period, such as $\text{responses per minute}$.

Reinforcement

Occurs when a stimulus change immediately follows a response and increases the future frequency of that type of behavior.

Setting events

Stimulus events or complex antecedent conditions that exert general control over stimulus-response interactions.

Shaping

Teaching new behaviors by systematically reinforcing successive approximations toward the behavioral objective.

Social validity

The level to which an intervention or goal is socially acceptable for change and believed to be a valuable contribution.

Tact

A verbal operant that functions as a label for an item, location, or person.

Task analysis

The process of breaking up a complex behavior into a step-by-step guide.

Total task chaining

A variation of forward chaining where every step of the task is taught during each session.

Unconditioned reinforcement

Primary or unlearned reinforcers, such as food or water, that do not require prior experience to be reinforcing.

Variable interval

A schedule in which reinforcement is provided for the first response after a varying period of time has passed.

Variable ratio

A schedule in which reinforcement is delivered after a varying number of responses are made, typically producing high rates of responding.

Whole interval

A direct observational procedure where the behavior must occur for the entire duration of the interval to be recorded.