Qualified Behavior Analyst (QBA) Competency Standards Flashcards

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

A neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by persistent deficits in social communication, social interaction, and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities across multiple contexts.

DSM-V

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition; the diagnostic manual outlining core deficits and diagnostic criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder and related conditions.

Pragmatic Language

A domain of language terminology associated with ASD diagnosis concerning the social use of language and communication rules within different contexts.

Joint Attention

The shared focus of two individuals on an object, event, or third person, identified as a key social skill and diagnostic indicator in early ASD screening.

Stereotypy

Repetitive, non-functional motor movements or vocalizations commonly observed as a characteristic feature in individuals with ASD.

Differential Diagnosis

The process of differentiating between ASD and other commonly associated or overlapping disorders, such as learning disabilities or processing disorders.

Social Communication Disorder

A diagnostic category in the DSM-V characterized by primary difficulties in the social use of verbal and nonverbal communication, evaluated alongside ASD.

QABA Code of Ethics

The professional guidelines and ethical standards established by the QABA board to govern professional conduct and practice in applied behavior analysis.

HIPAA Regulations

Federal health data privacy and security regulations addressing client confidentiality limitations, reportable documents, duty to warn, and duty to protect.

IDEA

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; a federal educational law guaranteeing individuals with disabilities access to free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment.

Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

An educational mandate under IDEA requiring that students with disabilities be educated with non-disabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate.

Individualized Education Program (IEP)

A written, legally binding document required by educational law that outlines personalized goals, accommodations, and services for a student with a disability.

Section 504 Plan

A plan developed under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act to ensure that a child with a disability receives accommodations for equal access to educational environments.

Positive Behavior Supports (PBS)

A systemic, evidence-based approach that uses respectful and non-aversive interventions to improve quality of life and decrease problem behaviors.

Person-Centered Planning

An ongoing planning process focused on the individual's unique preferences, strengths, and life goals to drive intervention development.

Socially Significant Behaviors

Target behaviors selected for intervention that yield meaningful, positive outcomes for the client's daily life, functioning, and social interactions.

Informed Consent

The voluntary agreement by a client or legal guardian to undergo treatment, provided after full disclosure of potential benefits, risks, and alternatives.

Risk Benefit Assessment

A systematic evaluation comparing the anticipated risks of implementing a behavior intervention against its prospective clinical benefits.

Four-Term Contingency

A conceptual framework in ABA illustrating behavior in context, consisting of Motivating Operation (MO), Discriminative Stimulus ($S^D$), Response, and Consequence.

Respondent Conditioning

A learning process (classical conditioning) where a neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus until it elicits a conditioned response.

Operant Conditioning

A learning process in which the future frequency of a behavior is modified by consequences that contingently follow it.

Discriminative Stimulus ($S^D$)

An antecedent stimulus in the presence of which a specific behavior has been previously reinforced, signaling that reinforcement is available.

Stimulus Delta ($S^D$)

An antecedent stimulus in the presence of which a given behavior has not produced reinforcement, signaling that reinforcement is unavailable.

Discriminative Stimulus for Punishment ($S^D_p$)

An antecedent stimulus in the presence of which a given behavior has previously produced a punisher, signaling punishment is available.

Motivating Operation (MO)

An environmental variable that alters the reinforcing or punishing effectiveness of a stimulus and alters the current frequency of all behavior reinforced by that stimulus.

Establishing Operation (EO)

A motivating operation that increases the effectiveness of a reinforcer and evokes behavior related to obtaining that reinforcer.

Abolishing Operation (AO)

A motivating operation that decreases the effectiveness of a reinforcer and abates behavior related to obtaining that reinforcer.

CMO-R

Reflexive Conditioned Motivating Operation; a conditioned stimulus condition that establishes its own removal as a reinforcer because it signals a worsening environment.

CMO-T

Transitive Conditioned Motivating Operation; an environmental variable that establishes another stimulus as a reinforcer because that stimulus is necessary to obtain an ultimate reinforcer.

CMO-S

Surrogate Conditioned Motivating Operation; a neutral stimulus that acquires motivating operation properties by being systematically paired with another motivating operation.

Matching Law

A quantitative principle stating that relative rates of responding across concurrently available reinforcement schedules match relative rates of reinforcement received.

Unconditioned Reinforcer

A primary reinforcer whose capability to increase behavior is unlearned and biologically determined (e.g., food, water).

Conditioned Reinforcer

A secondary reinforcer that acquired its reinforcing properties through prior pairing with one or more other reinforcers.

Extinction

A behavior reduction procedure in which reinforcement for a previously reinforced response is discontinued, leading to a decrease in response frequency.

Extinction Burst

An initial, temporary increase in the frequency, intensity, or duration of a behavior immediately following the implementation of extinction.

Spontaneous Recovery

The reemergence of a previously extinguished behavior after a period of time has elapsed without exposure to the extinction context.

Resurgence

The reappearance of a previously extinguished behavior when a more recently reinforced alternative behavior is placed on extinction.

Renewal

The reappearance of an extinguished behavior when the individual is tested in a context or environment different from the one in which extinction was conducted.

Verbal Operants

The functional units of language identified by B.F. Skinner, consisting of mand, tact, echoic, intraverbal, textual, and transcription.

Non-Contingent Reinforcement (NCR)

An antecedent strategy involving the delivery of reinforcers on a fixed-time or variable-time schedule independent of the client's behavior.

Functional Communication Training (FCT)

An antecedent intervention that reduces problem behavior by teaching and differentially reinforcing an alternative, functionally equivalent communication response.

Setting Events

Contextual variables or environmental conditions distant from an interaction that temporarily alter the effectiveness of reinforcers and influence responses.

Topography

The explicit physical form, shape, or structural appearance of a behavior.