Social Skills Vocabulary

Social Competence

The use of social skills and resources to meet one’s social goals.

Social Skills

Discrete behaviors typically displayed by socially competent individuals, such as eye contact, turn taking, and greeting others.

Social Validity

A measure of how acceptable and important a treatment, procedure, or outcome is to society; crucial in applied behavioral analysis (ABA).

Strengths-Based Approach

Collaborative methods that focus on a person's strengths and resources to help achieve their goals.

Pivotal Response Training

An intervention program based on ABA that uses the natural environment to capitalize on naturally occurring reinforcers, targeting pivotal behaviors.

Expressive Communication Skills

Range from nonverbal or alternative methods to minimally verbal to advanced verbal abilities, similar to typical peers.

Nonverbal Communication

Communication using facial expressions and body language.

Social Reciprocity

The give and take of social interactions.

Social Conventions

The hidden 'rules' of social interaction within a culture.

Token Economy or Reinforcement System

A system that rewards people for demonstrating desired behaviors, using tokens or points exchangeable for rewards.

Cognitive-Behavioral Interventions for Social Skills

Interventions that alter an individual’s perceptions and interpretations of social encounters to change thought patterns.

Applied Behavioral Analysis

A psychological therapy used to treat autism and other developmental disorders by applying learning principles to change behaviors.

Video Modeling

A teaching method that uses video recordings to demonstrate a skill or behavior, helpful in teaching new skills or improving existing ones.

Peer Networks

Purposely arranged diverse peer groups that meet outside of class/school for shared activities.

Joint Attention

A social experience shared by two or more people, often initiated by one person.

Priming

The incidental activation of knowledge that facilitates memory recall or behavioral performance, helping activate already possessed skills.