Applied Behavior Analysis by John O. Cooper, Ch. 1

Applied Behavior Analysis by John O. Cooper, Chapter 1

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)

The science in which tactics derived from the principles of behavior are applied systematically to improve socially significant behavior and experimentation is used to identify the variables responsible for behavior change.

Science

A systematic approach to understanding natural phenomena—as evidenced by description, prediction, and control—that relies on determinism as its fundamental assumption, empiricism as its prime directive, experimentation as its basic strategy, replication as its necessary requirement for believability, parsimony as its conservative value, and philosophic doubt as its guiding conscience.

Description

The level of scientific understanding achieved through systematic observation, yielding a collection of facts about observed events that can be quantified, classified, and examined for possible relations with other known facts.

Prediction

The level of scientific understanding that occurs when repeated observations reveal that two events consistently covary (correlation), allowing one to forecast the relative probability that an event will occur based on the presence of another event.

Control

The highest level of scientific understanding, achieved when experiments show that specific manipulations of one event (the independent variable) reliably produce a change in another event (the dependent variable) that is unlikely the result of extraneous factors.

Functional Relation

A relation demonstrated through experiment in which manipulations of an independent variable produce a reliable change in a dependent variable that was unlikely the result of extraneous factors (confounding variables).

Determinism

The fundamental philosophical assumption of science that the universe is a lawful and orderly place in which phenomena occur as a result of other events.

Empiricism

The prime directive of science that demands the objective observation and quantification of the phenomena of interest.

Experimentation

The basic strategy of science involving the controlled comparison of some measure of the phenomenon of interest (dependent variable) under two or more different conditions in which only one factor at a time (independent variable) differs from one condition to another.

Replication

The repeating of experiments (and independent variable conditions within experiments) to determine the reliability and usefulness of scientific findings.

Parsimony

The conservative scientific value requiring that simple, logical explanations must be ruled out experimentally or conceptually before more complex or abstract explanations are considered.

Philosophic Doubt

The guiding conscience of science requiring scientists to continually question the truthfulness and validity of all scientific theory and knowledge.

Behaviorism

The theoretical and philosophical domain of the science of behavior.

Experimental Analysis of Behavior (EAB)

A natural science approach and basic research branch of behavior analysis founded by B. F. Skinner that focuses on discovering and clarifying fundamental principles of behavior.

Radical Behaviorism

A philosophical position developed by B. F. Skinner that attempts to provide a comprehensive account of all behavior, including private events such as thinking and feeling.

Methodological Behaviorism

A philosophical position that restricts scientific inquiry strictly to publicly observable behavior and considers unobservable private events to be outside the realm of science.

Mentalism

An approach to understanding behavior that assumes an inner or mental dimension exists that differs from a behavioral dimension and that phenomena in this dimension directly cause or mediate behavior.

Hypothetical Construct

A presumed but unobserved entity (such as cognitive processes, drives, or free will) that cannot be directly manipulated or observed in an experiment.

Pragmatism

The philosophical position that the truth or value of a scientific statement is determined by the extent to which it promotes effective action.

Stimulus-Response ($S-R$) Psychology

An early formulation of behaviorism espoused by John B. Watson that focused exclusively on direct relations between environmental stimuli and the responses they evoke, omitting consequences.

Respondent Behavior

Reflexive, involuntary behavior elicited by antecedent stimuli that immediately precede it, as established in the tradition of Ivan Pavlov.

Reflex

A functional unit consisting of an antecedent stimulus (such as a bright light) and the respondent behavior it automatically elicits (such as pupil constriction).

Operant Behavior

Behavior that is selected, shaped, and maintained by the environmental consequences that have immediately followed it in the past.

Three-Term Contingency

The fundamental paradigm of operant behavior formulated as $S-R-S$, representing an antecedent stimulus, a response, and a consequence that immediately follows.

Applied (Dimension of ABA)

The defining dimension requiring ABA to select and investigate behaviors that are socially significant and of immediate practical importance to improve participants' everyday lives.

Behavioral (Dimension of ABA)

The defining dimension requiring precise, objective measurement of the actual behavior targeted for improvement (rather than verbal descriptions or proxies) while verifying whose behavior changed.

Analytic (Dimension of ABA)

The defining dimension requiring the researcher to demonstrate experimental control over the occurrence and nonoccurrence of the behavior to establish a clear functional relation.

Technological (Dimension of ABA)

The defining dimension requiring all operative procedures to be identified and described with sufficient detail and clarity to allow an independent reader to replicate the application with identical results.

Conceptually Systematic (Dimension of ABA)

The defining dimension requiring that behavior change interventions and interpretations of outcomes are derived from and described in terms of the basic principles of behavior.

Effective (Dimension of ABA)

The defining dimension requiring that behavior changes produce practical, noticeable improvements reaching clinical or social significance for the client or participants.

Generality (Dimension of ABA)

The defining dimension requiring that behavior change persists over time, appears across untaught settings or conditions, and/or spreads to a variety of related behaviors.

Translational Research

Research that bridges basic experimental analysis (EAB) and applied behavior analysis (ABA) by synthesizing findings and fostering reciprocal development between laboratory and real-world clinical practice.

Practice Guided by Behavior Analysis

The fourth domain of behavior analysis in which professionals design, implement, and evaluate behavior change programs using evidence-based tactics to help individuals behave more successfully.