SPE 563 philosophical foundations of ABA in education

Applied (component of ABA)

The intervention must be applied to socially significant behaviors requiring change

Behavior(al) (component of ABA)

Must be observable and measurable

Analytic (component of ABA)

Demonstrating a functional relation between the intervention and the behavior; demonstrating of control of the behavior by the intervention

Technical (component of ABA)

Intervention is described and clear and precise terms

Effective (component of ABA)

The intervention is demonstrated through visual analysis of data to have produced positive results

Generativity (component of ABA)

The behavior continues after withdrawal of intervention and occurs in other settings/situations

Conceptual (component of ABA)

Intervention must be based on the principles of behavior, in the extent available, empirical data, (literature/research)

Principles of behavior

The fundamental concepts that describe the relationships between behavior and environmental variables, guiding the understanding and study of behavior analysis.

Applied behavior analysis (ABA)

• Derived from operant conditioning theory

• Help to improve socially significant behaviors

• Use data to determine whether or not intervention used was successful

Behaviorism

Philosophy of science focused on observable and measurable phenomena

Radical behaviorism

Skinner’s “far reaching” form of behaviorism that included both “public” and “private” behaviors

Methodological behaviorism

A philosophical position which behavioral events that cannot be observed are not behaviors

Experimental analysis of behavior (EAB)

Founded by Skinner, a natural science focusing on studying operant behavior as a subject matter, using single subject experimental designs rather than group designs, to measure behavior as a dependent variable

What is GET-A-CAB

Generativity, Effective, Technological, Applied, Conceptual, Analytic, Behavioral

EAB vs ABA

ABA: focused in improving socially important behaviors for the learner (applied)

EAB: focused on science and scientific inquiry (lab-based)

Science

Seeks to understand behavior in order to better improve it

Interventions

Strategies/treatment used to improve behavior

Pragmatism

A question is only worth pursuing if the answer to it would change our knowledge of the world

Realism

The view of the world that assumes only the natural world, which presupposes an absolute truth.

aka: view of the world that assumes a real world to exist apart from our perceptions (Baum, 2017 p.288)

Mentalism

An assumption of an inner dimension as the explanation of behavior

Mentalistic

Any assumption of inner causes of behavior; inner causes which cannot be confirmed, observed or measured

Determinism

That the universe is a lawful in orderly place in which phenomenon occur in relation to other events, not in accidental fashion

(I.e. there is always cases of behavior: cause & effect)

Explanatory fiction

Another name for observable behavior, which implies an inner cause for the behavior (feelings)

Mentalistic versus behavioral explanations

Mentalistic is the cause within while behavioral explanations are related to observable and measurable, environmental variables

Private event

An event that can only be observed, and verified by the individual performing the behavior

Public event

An event observed by another person

Natural event

An event that is locatable in time and space in the natural world

operant conditioning

A learning process through which behavior is modified by reinforcement or punishment.

learning of “voluntary” responses (behaviors)

Learning takes place through consequences that follow the behavior

Learning history also plays a role in operant learning/conditioning

SD → Response → Consequence

Antecedent → Behavior → Consequence

classical condtioning

A learning process where a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus to elicit a conditioned response. It involves involuntary responses that occur in reaction to certain stimuli.

In classical conditioning, the response is one that is involuntary for the individual, such as breathing, goosebumps, increased heart rate, sweating or salivation

condtioned stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that, after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus, evokes a conditioned response.

In classical conditioning, the conditioned stimulus (CS) becomes associated with the unconditioned stimulus (US) and triggers a learned response.

unconditioned stimulus (US)

A stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response without prior conditioning, such as food prompting salivation in dogs.

condtioned reponse

The learned response to a previously neutral stimulus (NS) that has been paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US), such as salivating when a bell rings.

NS + US = CR

uncondtioned response

The natural and unlearned reaction to an unconditioned stimulus (US), such as salivating in response to food.

discriminative stimulus (SD)

A stimulus that signals the availability of reinforcement or punishment, influencing the likelihood of a specific behavior occurring, such as a green light indicating that a response can be reinforced.

positive reinforcement

A stimulus that, when presented after a behavior, increases the likelihood of that behavior occurring again in the future, such as giving a reward for completing a task. (++)

negative reinforcement

A process where a behavior is strengthened by the removal of an aversive stimulus, such as turning off a loud noise when a desired action is performed. (-+)

positive punishment

A stimulus presented after a behavior that decreases the likelihood of that behavior occurring again in the future, such as adding extra chores for misbehavior. (+-)

negative punishment

A procedure that involves removing a desirable stimulus following a behavior, thereby reducing the likelihood of that behavior happening again, such as taking away privileges for misbehavior. (- -)

Verbal behavior

Is learned under the functional control of the environment.

• An operant behavior that requires the presence of another person for its reinforcement

• Vocal, written, gestures, ASL

Discrimination

A change in an individuals behavior with a change in context

Discriminative stimulus (SD)

Changes in the environment that induced different activities

Rule-governed behavior

Implicitly shaped behavior

Stimulus control

Refers to the phenomenon where the presence of a specific stimulus increases the likelihood of a particular response, establishing predictable behavioral patterns.

Contingency

A dependent relationship between two events

-a contingency between two events exists when one event is predictive of the likelihood of occurrence of the other event

Motivating operation (MO)

• An environmental variable that alters the reinforcing or punishing effects of your stimulus, object event.

• alters the frequency of all behavior reinforced or punished by that stimulus

Echoic

Verbal imitation

Mand

Request/deMAND

Tact

Label

Intraverbal

Asking answering questions/fill in the blank

Parsimony

Scientific explanation that emphasizes simplicity and reliance on well established knowledge

Empiricism

Knowledge based on experience

Reinforcement Trap

A short-term contingency that reinforces maladaptive behavior is pitted against a long-term contingency that provides large reinforcers for good behavior. Maladaptive behavior that is reinforced in the short term is considered a “bad habit.”

Adaptive behavior that is reinforced in the long term is considered a “good habit.”

Phylogenic Selectionism

• The evolutionary history of individuals originating from the contingencies

that operate during the environmental history of a species

• “History of selection of a species analogous to an organism’s learning

history” (Baum, 2017, p. 286)

• Darwinism

Ontogenic Selectionism

How the environment changes an individual over his or her lifetime.

• Changes in an organism resulting from interaction with the environment

• individual changes based on operant conditioning

Cultural Selectionism

• Involves operant conditioning Cultural

• Is specific to culture and may refer to individual organisms as well as groups

• Passing behavior from one person to another by imitation and modeling

Experimentation in ABA

Single Subject Designs & Single Case Designs

Not synonymous with with “case study”

Includes at least one dependent variable and one independent variable

Unlike “experimental designs” (which use statistical measures to identify experimental control), Single Subject Designs use a single individual as both the control and experimental group

Experimental Analysis of Behavior

A natural science approach to the study of behavior as a subject matter.

Independent Variable

The intervention being studied; the intervention that is changing the behavior (DV)

Dependent Variable

The behavior being studied is the behavior being changed. The behavior that is dependent on the intervention for change

Replication

Repeating conditions within an experiment to determine the reliability of effects and increase

internal validity

Verification

Demonstrating that the prior level of baseline responding would have remained unchanged had the independent variable not been introduced.

Prediction

A statement of the anticipated outcome of a presently unknown or future measurement.

Situational Ethics

The tendency to tailor behavior about good/bad, right/wrong to particular situations, rather than more generally across situations.

what is Pseudoscience

Strategies, interventions, and treatments that have no scientific evidence but are regarded as being based on science. Often based on poor science, cherry-picked science, case study, or anecdote.

Quality Research is NOT

• Correlational studies

(claiming causation)

• Case studies

• Anecdotal observation

• Testimonials

• Opinions

• Beliefs

• Infomercials

Paid advertisement

• Social media posts

• Popular media stories

• Poorly designed or

implemented

experiments

• Experiments with biased

results or completed by

those with a vested

interest in the results

Quality Research Is...

randomized or quasi-experimental design studies

single-subject design studies

Combination of evidence.

Red Flags for Pseudoscience

First claims of efficacy are announced via mass media, social media, and tweets

REAL SCIENCE is subject to rigorous peer review prior to release

Claim sounds too good to be true

How Does Science Guide Practice?

Quality studies published in peer-reviewed journals inform practice: What strategies are more or less likely to work

With whom strategies have been shown to work

In what situations/settings, and for what behaviors, strategies

have been shown to work