Behavior Modification and Applied Behavior Analysis

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the core concepts, principles, measurement procedures, and assessment techniques of Behavior Modification and Applied Behavior Analysis.

Behavior Modification

The scientific study of behavior that examines how the environment influences behavior and uses learning principles to create meaningful behavior change.

Behavior

Anything a person does or says that can be observed, measured, and recorded, occurs in an environment, follows a lawful pattern, and can be changed.

Overt Behavior

Behavior that is observable by others.

Covert Behavior

Behavior that is private and observable only by the individual experiencing it.

Target Behavior

The specific, defined behavior that is selected to be increased, decreased, or maintained.

Behavioral Deficit

A desirable target behavior that is not occurring enough and that we want to increase.

Behavioral Excess

An undesirable behavior that is occurring too frequently or intensely and that we want to decrease.

Controlling Variable

Any environmental factor that alters the likelihood of a behavior occurring.

Baseline

The initial measurement of a target behavior taken before an intervention is introduced.

Law of Effect

Edward Thorndike's 1911 principle stating that behavior is influenced and shaped by its consequences.

Classical Conditioning

A learning process identified by Ivan Pavlov (1927) in which learning occurs through association between an unconditioned stimulus and conditioned stimuli.

Operant Conditioning

A learning framework developed by B.F. Skinner (1938) where learning and behavior are shaped by the consequences that follow responses.

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)

A scientific approach that focuses on socially significant behaviors in everyday life, identifies environmental factors, uses data to evaluate treatment, and applies learning principles to produce lasting change.

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

A stimulus that automatically elicits an unconditioned response without prior learning.

Positive Reinforcement

The addition of a stimulus following a behavior that strengthens or increases the future likelihood of that behavior.

Negative Reinforcement

The removal or avoidance of an unpleasant or aversive stimulus following a behavior, which strengthens the future likelihood of that behavior.

Behavioral Assessment

The systematic measurement of a target behavior before, during, and after an intervention.

Indirect Assessment

An assessment method that relies on individuals' recall and perception after a behavior occurs, such as interviews, questionnaires, and rating scales.

Direct Assessment

The preferred measurement method where an observer watches and records the target behavior at the exact time it occurs.

Social Validity

The extent to which target behaviors, procedures, and outcomes are deemed important, meaningful, and acceptable by the client and relevant stakeholders.

Natural Setting

An observation environment where the behavior normally occurs in everyday life, such as a classroom, home, or workplace.

Analogue Setting

A controlled or simulated observation environment, such as a clinic, therapy room, or research laboratory.

Structured Observation

An observation procedure in which the observer arranges specific activities or antecedent situations to evoke and observe target behaviors.

Unstructured Observation

An observation procedure in which the observer watches the individual naturally without manipulating or arranging any environmental events.

Independent Observer

A trained, separate individual (such as a teacher, parent, or psychologist) who objectively records the participant's behavior.

Self-Monitoring

A procedure in which an individual observes and records their own behavior, which is especially practical for private or covert events.

Continuous Recording

A recording strategy where the observer records every single occurrence of the target behavior along with dimensions like frequency, duration, intensity, or latency.

Product Recording

An indirect recording method where the observer measures the tangible tangible outcome or permanent product produced by the behavior rather than observing the behavior itself.

Discontinuous Recording

A measurement strategy that samples behavior across divided intervals or specific moments, rather than recording every continuous instance.

Interval Recording

A discontinuous measurement method where the total observation period is divided into equal consecutive time intervals and each interval is scored.

Partial-Interval Recording

An interval recording system where an interval is scored positive if the behavior occurs at any point during that interval.

Whole-Interval Recording

An interval recording system where an interval is scored positive only if the behavior persists continuously throughout the entire interval.

Frequency-Within-Interval Recording

A recording system where the observer counts and records the exact number of times a behavior occurs within each interval.

Momentary Time Sampling (MTS)

A discontinuous recording procedure where the observer checks and scores the behavior only at the exact moment each interval ends.

Reactivity

The phenomenon in which an individual alters their behavior simply because they know they are being observed, before any intervention begins.

Interobserver Agreement (IOA)

The degree to which two or more independent observers report identical data values after simultaneously measuring the same event.

Occurrence IOA

An interobserver agreement metric calculated by considering only those intervals where at least one observer scored the behavior as occurring.

Nonoccurrence IOA

An interobserver agreement metric calculated by considering only those intervals where at least one observer scored the behavior as not occurring.

Level

The overall magnitude or typical value of the target behavior across a phase, often evaluated by comparing baseline to intervention phases.

Trend

The direction in which data points are moving over time within a phase, characterized as increasing, decreasing, or stable/flat.

Variability

The degree of fluctuation or scatter in data points within a phase, where low variability indicates consistency and high variability indicates unpredictability.

A-B Design

A two-phase research design consisting of a baseline phase (A) followed by an intervention phase (B); it demonstrates change but does not prove a functional relation because it lacks replication.

Functional Assessment

A systematic process used to identify the environmental variables, antecedents, and maintaining consequences that explain why a problem behavior occurs.

ABC Model

A behavioral framework that analyzes the three-term contingency: Antecedents (what occurs right before), Behavior (what the individual does), and Consequences (what occurs right after).

Discriminative Stimulus ($S^D$)

An antecedent stimulus that signals that reinforcement is currently available for a specific behavior based on learning history.

S-Delta ($S^\Delta$)

An antecedent stimulus that signals that reinforcement is unavailable for a specific behavior.

Establishing Operation (EO)

A motivating operation that temporarily increases the effectiveness/value of a reinforcer and makes behaviors that produce it more likely to occur.

Abolishing Operation (AO)

A motivating operation that temporarily decreases the effectiveness/value of a reinforcer and makes behaviors that produce it less likely to occur.

Social Positive Reinforcement

A behavioral function where a behavior is maintained because another person delivers attention, tangible items, reactions, or activities following the response.

Social Negative Reinforcement

A behavioral function where a behavior is maintained because another person removes a task, demand, unpleasant interaction, or difficult situation.

Automatic Positive Reinforcement

A behavioral function where the behavior itself produces internal sensory stimulation (tactile, visual, movement) without social mediation.

Automatic Negative Reinforcement

A behavioral function where the behavior directly alleviates an internal aversive state, such as pain, physical discomfort, or anxiety.

Functional Analysis (FA)

An experimental assessment procedure in which environmental antecedents and consequences are systematically manipulated to confirm a causal functional relationship.

Stimulus Control

The reliable occurrence of a behavior in the presence of an $S^D$ and its absence in the presence of an $S^\Delta$ as a result of differential reinforcement.

Stimulus Discrimination

The tendency for a learned behavior to occur only in the presence of a specific stimulus and not in the presence of other, different stimuli.

Stimulus Generalization

The tendency for a behavior learned in the presence of one stimulus to also occur in the presence of novel, similar stimuli or settings.

Antecedent Intervention

A behavior change strategy that involves altering the environment prior to the occurrence of a target behavior by modifying cues, reinforcer values, or response effort.

Response Effort

The amount of physical exertion or difficulty required to engage in a behavior; increasing it decreases behavior, whereas lowering it promotes behavior.

Self-Management

A process occurring when an individual chooses behaviors that yield delayed, long-term benefits over competing behaviors that offer immediate gratification.

Competing (Concurrent) Operants

Two or more concurrently available behaviors that each produce distinct, competing contingencies of reinforcement.

Behavioral Contract

A written agreement between parties that explicitly specifies the target behavior and the precise consequences contingent upon its performance or nonperformance.

Premack Principle

The principle stating that an opportunity to engage in a high-probability behavior can be used as a reinforcer for engaging in a low-probability behavior.

Positive Punishment

The addition of an aversive stimulus following a behavior that decreases the future frequency of that behavior.

Negative Punishment

The removal of access to a reinforcing or desirable stimulus following a behavior that decreases the future frequency of that behavior.

Social Support

A self-management strategy that recruits other people to provide prompts, modeling, accountability, and reinforcement to maintain a target behavior.

Extinction

A behavioral procedure where a previously reinforced behavior is no longer followed by the maintaining reinforcer, resulting in a gradual decrease in that behavior.

Extinction Burst

A predictable, temporary increase in the frequency, intensity, duration, or variability of an unreinforced behavior immediately following the start of extinction.

Spontaneous Recovery

The sudden, temporary reappearance of a previously extinguished behavior after a period during which the response was suppressed.

Resistance to Extinction

The degree to which a behavior continues to occur after reinforcement has been terminated, which is typically higher following intermittent reinforcement schedules.