ABA Lecture Notes

Flashcards related to concepts from studies and articles examining school discipline and Applied Behavior Analysis.

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)

A theoretical framework that makes specific assumptions about why behavior happens (behavior is lawful, learned, and changeable); the application of behaviorism to improving individuals’ lives

Seven Key Principles of ABA

1. Applied 2. Behavioral 3. Analytic 4. Technological 5. Conceptually systematic 6. Effective 7. Generality

Behavior

Done by a living organism; it is the interaction between the organism and the environment and the displacement in space through time

Ex: yelling would be considered the behavior

Response

A specific instance of behavior

Ex: the specific yell would be the response

Response class

Group of responses that produce the same effect on the environment (have the same function)

Function

The purpose the behavior serves and the overall outcome of the reinforcer that is presented after the behavior takes place

Environment

Everything except the moving parts of the organism

Stimuli

Change in the environment sensed by the organism (can happen before/after a behavior)

Antecedent

Stimulus that happens before behavior; can signal that reinforcement will or will not be available for a specific behavior

Consequence

Stimulus that happens after the behavior

Respondent behavior

Behavior that's elicited by the antecedent stimulus

Reflex

The response caused by the stimulus

Habituation

Reflexes can diminish over time; repeated presentation of the unconditioned stimulus will decrease the strength/magnitude of the unconditioned response

Respondent conditioning

A type of learning in which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a naturally occurring stimulus, eventually eliciting a similar response on its own. (process of learning to associate two stimuli)

Ex: dog learns that when a baby is in a high chair, the baby will cause a mess of food on the floor that the dog will be able to eat

Unconditioned stimulus

A stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response without any prior learning

Neutral stimulus

A stimulus that initially does not elicit the unconditioned response

Unconditioned response

The unlearned, automatic response to the unconditioned stimulus

Conditioned response

The learned response to the conditioned stimulus; similar to the unconditioned response but it is triggered by the conditioned stimulus

Respondent extinction

Process of repeatedly presenting a conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus.

• The conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus 

• The unconditioned stimulus will weaken the conditioned response until it goes back to being no response

Operant conditioning

Type of learning in which behavior is modified by its consequences; individuals learn to associate their actions with the outcomes that follow

• Behaviors that are followed by reinforcing consequences are more likely to be repeated, while behaviors followed by punishing consequences are less likely to occur again 

• Has unconditioned and conditioned consequences 

Ex: if a child does well on a math test and their teacher tells them “great work!” it will prompt the child to continue to do well on their tests

Operant behavior

Behavior’s future frequency is determined by its history of consequences

Reinforcement

Increase future behavior

Reinforcer

Consequence when reinforcement occurs

Punishment

Decrease future behavior

Punisher

Consequence when punishment occurs

Positive reinforcement

Addition of a pleasurable stimulus after a behavior occurs which increases the likelihood of that behavior happening in the future

Positive punishment

Involvement of an unpleasant stimulus after a behavior occurs which decreases the likelihood of that behavior happening again

Negative reinforcement

Removal of unpleasant stimulus after a behavior occurs which increases the likelihood of the behavior occurring

Negative punishment

Removal of a pleasant or desirable stimulus after a behavior occurs, which decreases the likelihood of the behavior repeating itself

Unconditioned reinforcers

Stimuli that inherently reinforce behavior without any prior learning or association

ex: food, water, oxygen, touch, warmth

Unconditioned punishers

Stimuli that decrease the likelihood of a behavior without any prior learning or association

ex: pain, odors, tastes, physical restraint, loss of bodily support, extreme muscular effort, intense stimulation to most senses

Conditioned reinforcers

Stimuli that have acquired their reinforcing properties through being paired or associated with unconditioned reinforcers

ex: points, money

Conditioned punishers

Stimuli that have acquired their punishing properties through being paired with unconditioned punishers or other already established conditioned punishers

ex: failing a level, parking tickets

Generalized conditioned reinforcers

A type of conditioned reinforcer that has been paired with many different unconditioned and conditioned reinforcers across various situations

• Social attention: been paired with lots of reinforcers in past so generally reinforcing  

Discriminative stimulus

Reinforcement is available

Stimulus delta

Reinforcement is not available

Three-term contingency (ABC)

Antecedent > Behavior > Consequence;

• behavior can be influenced by what happens before it, and what happens after

• Basis for everything done in functional behavior assessments (FBAs) and corresponding behavior intervention plans

IEP

A written statement for each child with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and revised

• includes current levels of academic and functional performance, annual goals, plan for monitoring progress, service details, inclusion extent, assessment participation, and additional considerations

• Developed and revised by an IEP team at least once a year

How to label a target behavior

Reflect on the observable components of behavior, rather than assumptions of internal states

think objectively and neutrally and avoid judgment and pathologizing

ex:  instead of labeling the behavior as depression, it can be labeled as crying

Goals

Our desired result for this student

• big, such as a timeframe of one school year

• should be meaningful and usable instead of vague

Objectives

Smaller step we will take to get there (to goals)

• small, such as one grading period

• meaningful and usable

• breaking apart into smaller pieces

• Components needed to write an objective: condition, specific behavior, criteria, and evaluation procedure

The SMART acronym

Specific

Measurable

Attainable/Achievable

Relevant

Time-bound/sensitive

Frequency

Number of events in a period of time (ex: 4 hits)

Rate

Number of events per unit of time (ex: 14 words read correctly per minute)

Percentage of opportunities

Use if behaviors follow specific rules (ex. was compliant 40% of time after prompt was given)

Duration

Total/average time(ex: disruptive for 55 minutes total/ for an average of 7.5 minutes per activity) 

• Percentage of time (engaged for 75% of silent reading)

Latency

Time between stimulus (ex. prompt) and response

ex: On average, Evan took 2 minutes to pick up his pencil after receiving a verbal prompt

Partial-interval recording

If the behavior occurs at any point during the interval

Whole-interval recording

If the behavior occurs for the entire duration of the interval

Momentary time sampling

If the behavior is occurring at the moment the interval ends (or begins, just stay consistent)

Continuous observation

A method of data collection where something is monitored or recorded without interruption over a specific period

1. Frequency 

2. Rate 

3. Percentage of opportunities

4. Duration 

5. Latency

• Celeration, inter-response time, topography/intensity

Systematic direct observation

Behavior is directly observed and systematically applied rules to determine how to collect data from the observation

• used almost exclusively in ABA

Percent agreement index

Calculate the percentage of agreement between two or more observers on the occurrence or non-occurence of a behavior or the value of a specific dimension of that behavior

Kappa

Another statistical measure used to assess the level of agreement between two raters or observers; it takes into account the possibility of observers might agree by chance

Functions of behavior

Obtain / get something or escape/ avoid something

Natural consequence

A result that occurs directly and automatically from a behavior, without any planned or imposed actions by another person; inherent outcome of the behavior itself

Premack principle

Make an activity that occurred at a high free-operant level during baseline contingent on a low frequency behavior to function as a reinforcer

• Pairing undesirable behavior with an incentive/rewards upon completion.

Fixed Interval

• Fixed: Length of time interval remains constant 

• Interval: after first response following a minimum length of time since last response 

  • Effects on behavior for reinforcement: 

    • Rate of responding: first slow, then moderate (scallop) 

    • After S^R provided: pause

Fixed Ratio

• Fixed: number of responses remains constant 

• Ratio: after certain number of responses 

  • Effects on behavior for reinforcement: 

    • Rate of responding: very high, steady 

    • After S^R provided: brief pause

Variable Interval

• Variable: length of time interval varies around average 

• Interval: after first response following a specific length of time since last response 

  • Effects on bx for reinforcement: 

    • Rate of responding: low to moderate, but constant/stable 

    • After S^R provided: few if any pauses

Variable Ratio

• Variable: number of responses varies around average 

• Ratio: after a certain number of responses 

  • Effects on bx for reinforcement: 

    • Rate of responding: very high, steady 

    • After S^R provided: no pause

DRO (other)

If target behavior does not occur for a specific amount of time, reinforce student

• Interval dro: S^R if behavior did not occur at all during interval 

• Momentary dro: S^R if behavior is not occurring at specific moments in time

DRL

If the target behavior occurs below a certain amount, reinforce student

• Full session DRL: S^R if behavior equal to or lesser than criterion for entire session 

• Interval DRL: session divided into intervals, S^R if behavior equal to or lesser than criterion at end of each interval 

• Spaced-responding DRL: S^R if behavior occurred within minimum amount of time since last response

DRA

If student engages in positive alternative behavior instead of the problem behavior, reinforce

• Reinforce on FR! And gradually thin

DRI

If student engages in a behavior that cannot happen at the same time as the problem behavior, then it is reinforced

Behavioral contrast

When “ change in one component of a multiple schedule that increases or decreases the rate of responding on that component is accompanied by a change in the response rate in the opposite direction on the other, unaltered component of the schedule”

conditioned stimulus

a previously neutral stimulus that after becoming associated with an unconditioned stimulus eventually elicits a conditioned response

How to record continuous observation

• Record how often the behavior occurs 

• Form of data 

• Important variables that affect behavior (settings, days of week, times of day)

interrater reliability / Interobserver agreement / IOA

• The de facto standard in ABA and direct observation in general 

In no way perfect, but it does provide some information to consider when interpreting data

desired behavior

long term goal

alternative behavior

short-term goal

the role of prevent, replace, and respond in a behavior plan

• Antecedent> Prevent problems from needing to occur in the first place 

• Behavior>replace the problem behavior with an alternative (and then desired behavior) 

• Consequence>Respond to positive behavior with reinforcement and negative behavior without reinforcement

How to prioritize a target behavior

social significance is paramount

• presumption of benevolence is not ethnical

• change should not be primary benefit of others

• To what extent will the propsed behavior change/improve the person’s life experience?

• ways to determine

  • cooper et. al 9 questions

  • janney & snell’s 3 priorities

Cooper, Heron & Heward’s 9 questions about behavior (prioritizing behavior)

1. does it pose danger to self/others?

2. how many opportunities will the person have to use a new behavior? how often does problem occur?

3. how long-standing is the problem?

4. will change produce higher rates of reinforcement?

5. how important will this be to future skill development & independence?

6. will changing it reduce negative or unwanted attention from others?

7. will a new behavior produce reinforcement for significant others?

8. How likely is success?

9. how much will it cost to change?

Janney & Snell’s 3 priorities (prioritize behavior)

1. desructive behaviors

   • is it harmful, health-threathening or life threathening to student or others?

2. disruptive behaviors

   • interfere with their learning, social relationing, pariticpating

   • cause destroyed materials in a dangerous or an interferring way

   • likely to become destructive?

3. distracting behaviors

   • interfere with social acceptance

   • negative impact on students image?

   • damage materials?

   • likely to become disruptive if ignored?

Prioritizing and defining behavior process

step 1: list challenging behaviors

step 2: prioritize behaviors to target

step 3: describe the behavior

• 3a- label the behavior

• 3b- describe the behavior using:

  • operational definition (examples & non-examples)

operationally define a target behavior

• Definitions must be:

1. Observable: Behavior is an action that can be seenor heard. 2. Measurable: Behavior can be counted or timed.

• Or, said another way:

1. Objective: Observed, not inferred

2. Clear: Unfamiliar person could reliably measure

3. Complete: Things that are and are not responses can be distinguished from one another

• Test your description:

– Can you act it out precisely?

– Can a person unfamiliar with the student recognize the behavior without any doubts?