Module 1 Vocabulary

Focused Interventions

Interventions that target discrete skills or behaviors and are employed for brief periods until the goal is achieved.

Positive Reinforcement

Providing a desired consequence (e.g., tangible item, access to an activity, social reward/praise) after a student engages in a desired behavior, increasing the likelihood of that behavior occurring in the future.

Negative Reinforcement

Removing an unwanted object or condition after the student engages in the desired behavior, which increases the likelihood of that behavior occurring in the future.

Prompting

Using a prompt to assist a student when learning a new skill or behavior to improve chances of success.

5 Types of Prompts

Gesture, verbal cue, visual cue, modeling, physical.

Time Delay

A method of systematically providing and then fading prompts in teaching new behaviors or skills.

Constant Time Delay

Prompting the student at a set interval (typically 3-5 seconds) after the cue when the student does not comply.

Progressive Time Delay

Increasing the time between the cue and prompt, starting with no delay and progressively increasing it.

Modeling

Demonstrating how to perform a skill or behavior correctly prior to asking the student to perform the behavior.

Task Analysis

Method of breaking multi-step skills or behaviors into smaller components taught one at a time.

Forward Chaining

Teaching the first step of a skill and continuing sequentially until the entire skill is mastered.

Backward Chaining

Teaching the last step of a skill first, then the previous step, continuing backward until the entire skill is mastered.

Total-Task Chaining

Teaching each step of the task sequence and allowing the student to demonstrate the step at each point.

Comprehensive Treatment Program

A highly structured program incorporating focused interventions, targeting multiple developmental domains, typically requiring formal training.

Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behaviors (DRA)

Providing a positive consequence for a desired behavior to reduce or eliminate an undesired behavior.

Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behaviors (DRI)

Reinforcement is delivered when the student engages in a behavior that is incompatible with the undesired behavior.

Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior (DRO)

Reinforcement is delivered when the student engages in any behavior that is not the undesired behavior.

Video Modeling

Students watch a recorded demonstration of a behavior or skill performed correctly before engaging in it.

Self-Management Strategies

Strategies that help students engage in appropriate behaviors by increasing their awareness of behaviors.

Self-Monitoring

Students learn to assess their own behavior and record results, effective for increasing or decreasing behavior.

Self-Instruction

Students learn to talk themselves through a task, also known as self-talk or self-statements.

Goal-Setting

Students learn how to set and monitor their progress toward achieving goals.

Self-Reinforcement

Students select a reinforcer and reward themselves for reaching or exceeding a criterion.

Technology-Aided Instruction and Intervention (TAII)

includes a range of technology supports that students can use to achieve a goal such as computer-assisted instruction, computers, smartphones, and tablets.

Computer-assisted instruction (CAI)

under the umbrella of TAII, uses computers to teach skills and enhance comprehension.