Behavior Therapy Terminology

Stimulus

Any object or event that an individual can sense (see, hear, smell, fell, or taste).

Antecedent

Environmental events or stimuli that occur or are present immediately prior to the occurrence of a behavior/response.

Consequence

What happens immediately after the behavior.

Reinforcement

A consequence that increases the future likelihood of behavior.

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)

The application of Principles of Behavior to issues that are socially important, to produce practical and socially significant changes.

Core Principle of ABA

Desirable consequences will increase behavior, whereas undesirable consequences will decrease behavior.

The 3-Term Contingency

A method used within ABA to understand, predict and change behavior (AKA the ABCs: Antecedent, Behavior, and Consequence).

Rapport Building

Creating a positive connection and trusting relationship with your patient. Strong rapport forms the foundation for effective and high-quality treatment.

Pairing

A technique to build rapport that involves pairing yourself with items and activities that the child enjoys.

Assent

A patient’s willingness to participate and be a part of the session/treatment.

Skill Repertoire Building

The teaching and strengthening of skills and behaviors for an individual to learn and perform.

Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT)

A teaching method with a clear beginning, middle, and end used to teach skills in a structured setting with is utilized through the 3-term contingency.

Motivating Operation (MO)

The variables that either increase or decrease the value of a stimulus, object, or event as reinforcement.

Discriminative Stimulus (S^D)

A stimulus in the presence of which a particular response is reinforced, and in its absence that same behavior is not reinforced.

Reinforcement

A consequence that increases the future frequency of a behavior.

Positive Reinforcement

A process that occurs when a behavior is followed immediately by the presentation of a stimulus that increases the future frequency of that and similar behaviors under similar conditions.

Negative Reinforcement

A process that occurs when a behavior is followed immediately by the reduction or removal of a stimulus that increases the future frequency of that and similar behaviors under similar conditions.

Preference Assessments

A tool used to identify preferred items/activities that may be used as potential reinforcers.

Error Correction

Procedure that leads to a consequence such as an incorrect or non-response that assists the patient in providing a correct response in the presence of the S^D in the future.

Prompt

A hint or clue that is provided in addition to the SD to assist the patient in providing a correct response.

Differential Reinforcement

Providing different levels of reinforcement for different behaviors or based on the quality of the response.

Prompt Fading

The systematic removal of a prompt across successive trials.

Errorless Learning

A procedure used to teach new skills. The BT immediately prompts the correct response and slowly fades prompts across trials, preventing errors.

Shaping

Systematically reinforcing successive approximations of a target behavior, while extinguishing previous approximations (To teach new behaviors or modify specific aspects of existing behaviors).

Chaining

The methods that are used to connect specific sequence of stimuli and responses to form new behavior.

Mastery

Guidelines to decide when a target is considered known or mastered. Represented as 2x (trials) at 80% or higher in Random Rotation with a first trial correct.

Random Rotation

Presenting two or more SDs (instructions or targets) in a random order.

Field

A set of 1-5 items placed in front of the patient to set up a discrete trial.

Generalization

Occurs when a learned behavior or skill is used in new settings, situations, or with new people, beyond where it was first taught.

Discrimination Training

A teaching technique used to help the patient the important differences between two or more instructions or stimuli. It is the process of reinforcing a target response only when the target antecedent or SD is present.

Single Exemplar Acquisition Discrimination Training

A procedure that is used to teach one exemplar at a time (can teach with or without a field).

Multiple Exemplar Acquisition Discrimination Training

A procedure that is used to teach multiple exemplars at a time - typically this happens in sets of 3.

Natural Environment Training (NET)

An ABA teaching procedure that allows individuals to learn within their natural environments to teach skills in a more functional and meaningful way.

Contriving (Learning Opportunities)

Adjust or manipulate the environment to create a learning opportunity when none naturally exists.

Indirect Prompts

Offers a cue without giving away the correct answer, which helps the learner notice vital information and problem-solve independently. The goal is to lead the patient to discover the correct response through guidance, not direct instruction.

Attention (Function of Behavior)

The behavior is reinforced by another person’s attention or social interactions. The desired attention may come from peers, teachers, siblings, adults, or other people around them (Social praise, compliments, conversations, eye contact, reprimands, emotional reactions, or discussion of the behavior).

Tangible (Function of Behavior)

The behavior is reinforced by gaining access to a preferred item or activity (Something an individual can touch, pick up, or physically engage with; Something desired).

Escape (Function of Behavior)

The behavior is reinforced by the removal, discontinuation, or avoidance of something non-preferred (Getting out of something unpleasant or undesired).

Automatic

The behavior itself produces reinforcement. The reinforcement comes from the behavior and often provides some type of sensory experience - it feels good, or may relieve some unpleasant sensory experience (pain, discomfort, etc.).

Behavior Intervention Plan

A formalized written plan that helps reduce challenging behaviors and teaches more effective or meaningful behaviors instead (3-term contingency = Antecedent Modifications → Replacement Behavior/Challenging Behavior → Consequence Interventions).

Operational Definition

A clear, objective, and specific description of the behavior we’re focusing on (often a challenging behavior).

Antecedent Modifications

Strategies used to prevent challenging behavior before it starts. To perform this you either change or remove things that might contribute to challenging behavior, or give reinforcement (like praise, attention, or breaks) before the behavior happens.

Replacement Behaviors

Behaviors we teach the individual to do instead of the challenging behavior in order to help the learner attain new skills in a better way.

Consequence Interventions

Strategies that weaken the challenging behavior by changing what happens after it occurs by either increasing meaningful behaviors or decreasing the challenging behavior.

Non-Contingent Reinforcement (NCR)

An intervention in which a functional reinforcer is provided on a time-based schedule independent of behavior. The desired reinforcement is provided on a set schedule regardless of the challenging behavior which can be used to address any function of behavior.

Demand Fading

An intervention that initially decreases a difficult/non-preferred task, and then gradually increases the demand requirement prior to receiving a reinforcement. The task is initially presented in a small amount, and then the amount of the demand presented is gradually increased over time.

Task Modification

An intervention that changes some aspects of the antecedent task to make the activity less aversive to the individual. A typically nonpreferred or difficult task is presented alongside preferred stimuli or in a fun/playful way. As a task becomes more enjoyable or less difficult, the desire to escape the task decreases.

Functional Communication Training (FCT)

An intervention in which an appropriate form of communication is taught as a replacement for the target behavior. The communication taught must result in the same reinforcement as the target behavior. It is taught and prompted before, to prevent the need for challenging behavior.

Environmental Modifications

An intervention in which the physical environment is altered in order to prevent or reduce the likelihood that the behavior will occur. The specific conditions altered are based on the topography of the behavior, not function.

Behavior Momentum

An intervention in which several easier or preferred tasks are presented prior to a difficult or nonpreferred task. This allows the individual to access reinforcement for the easier demands and establishes a momentum of responding. This is also referred to as High Probability Request Sequence (High probability requests = easier tasks & Low probability request = difficult tasks).

Token Economy

A system of reinforcement that involves providing tokens, contingent on a target behavior, that are later exchanged for a higher reinforcer.

SD Modification

An intervention where common SDs or demands, which typically set off the target behavior, are modified and presented in different ways. Technicians avoid specific instructions, demands, or words that typically result in challenging behaviors, to avoid the behavior occurring.