Introduction to the Basics and History of Applied Behavior Analysis

Fundamental Definition and Principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)

• Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is defined as a science in which tactics derived from the principles of behavior are applied systematically to improve socially significant behavior.
• This science is dedicated to both the understanding and the improvement of human behavior.
• Socially significant behaviors targeted for improvement include:
  • Reading and Academic skills.
  • Social skills.
  • Communication.
  • Adaptive living skills.
• Adaptive living skills encompass a broad range of categories, specifically:
  • Gross and fine motor skills.
  • Eating and food preparation.
  • Toileting and dressing.
  • Personal self-care and domestic skills.
  • Time and punctuality.
  • Money and value.
  • Home and community orientation.
  • Work skills.

Practical Applications and Behavioral Outcomes in ABA

• ABA interventions aim to demonstrate a clear relationship between the specific intervention and the behavior of interest.
• Measurement and Data Collection are critical: for instance, if the goal is to increase a client's mending repertoire (requesting objects of interest), practitioners must record data tracking whether the client performs the request correctly.
• Scientific Methods used in ABA include:
  • Objective description.
  • Quantification (actual measurement of behavior).
  • Controlled experimentation.
• Strategic Goals of ABA Methods:
  • Increasing behaviors: Using reinforcement procedures to increase on-task behavior or communication (e.g., using words instead of having a tantrum).
  • Teaching new skills: Utilizing systematic instruction and reinforcement to teach functional life skills, social skills, and communication.
  • Maintaining behaviors: Implementing self-control and self-monitoring procedures to maintain job-related social skills.
  • Generalization (Transfer of Behavior): Supporting clients in transferring behaviors from one situation or response to another (e.g., completing an assignment in a classroom and then performing the same task in the community).
  • Restriction of interfering conditions: Modifying the learning environment to narrow the conditions under which interfering behaviors occur to increase client success.
  • Reducing interfering behavior: Targeting behaviors such as self-injury, noncompliance, and stereotypical behaviors for reduction.

Detailed Historical Timeline of Applied Behavior Analysis

• $1913$: John Watson, an American psychologist, identified behavior as the appropriate focus for psychology. He established the psychological school of behaviorism and asserted that all behavior is controlled by environmental events.
• $1938$: B. F. Skinner (referred to in one instance as P. F. Skinner) published his first book, Behavior of Organisms.
  • This work established that the analysis of behavior produces data that can be studied.
  • Behavior was classified into two categories: respondent or operant behavior.
  • Skinner posited that behavior is maintained, increased, or decreased by its consequences.
  • Initial in-depth studies involved rats and their feeding responses.
  • He developed behavior analysis and utilized operant conditioning.
• $1957$: B. F. Skinner published Verbal Behavior, a text that continues to be used in the field today.
• $1961$: Ivar Lovaas started working at UCLA on the treatment of ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), devoting nearly half a century to research.
  • He initiated a research project where children in early intervention received up to $40$ hours of Discrete Trial Training (DTT) per week.
  • This is known as the Lovaas Method, Early Intensive Behavior Intervention (EIBI), or DTT ($30$ to $40$ hours per week).
  • Research showed that over $40\%$ of children receiving this intensive method were able to lose their ASD diagnosis and successfully attend mainstream schools.
• $1965$: Lovers publishes a series of articles coding observed behaviors and describing the antecedents and consequences that maintained problem behavior.
• $1968$: Berra, Wolff, and Wrigley published the article, "Some Current Dimensions of Applied Behavior Analysis."
• $1968$: The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) is founded.
• $1974$: The Association for Behavior Analysis is established.
• $1998$: The Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) is established.
• $2014$: The BACB establishes the Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) training.

The Seven Dimensions of ABA

• Applied: Focuses on realistic settings and real-life behaviors that are socially significant.
• Behavioral: The behaviors targeted for change must be observable and measurable (able to be counted).
• Analytic: Practitioners determine the function of behavior to increase or decrease it by replacing it appropriately.
• Technological: Procedures are described with enough detail and clarity that they can be replicated.
• Conceptually Systematic: Interventions are derived from basic behavior principles.
• Effective: Interventions must produce significant and meaningful changes.
• Generality: The intervention results in behavior change that lasts over time, appears in other environments, or spreads to other behaviors.

Conceptualizing and Measuring Behavior

• B. F. Skinner phrased his objective as: "I'm not trying to change people. All I wanna do is change the world in which they live."
• Definition of Behavior: Anything a person does; an activity. It is the interaction of the muscles and glands of a live organism with the environment.
• Technical Definition: The portion of an organism's activity characterized by detectable displacement in space through time of some part of the organism, resulting in a measurable change in at least one aspect of the environment.
• The Dead Man's Test: A simple test to determine if something is behavior. If a dead person can do it, it is not behavior.
  • Example: "Laying down" is something a dead person can do; therefore, it is not behavior.
  • Example: "Walking" is something a dead person cannot do; therefore, it is behavior.
• Measurability of Behavior:
  • Duration: How long the behavior lasts.
  • Intensity: The force or strength of the behavior.
  • Count/Frequency: How many times the behavior occurs.
• Observable and Definable: Behavior must be observable in the moment or result in a change in the environment. It must be specific, not broad or vague.
• What is NOT Behavior:
  • Something being done to a person (passive).
  • Failing to do something.
  • Broad labels or states/traits: Aggression, depression, noncompliance, knowing, attitudes.

Differentiation of Behavior Types: Operant and Respondent

• Operant Behavior:
  • Any behavior whose future frequency is determined primarily by its history of consequences.
  • It is selected, shaped, and maintained by previous consequences.
  • It is learned through a three-term contingency: Antecedent -> Behavior -> Consequence.
  • Example: A hungry child (Antecedent) screams (Behavior) for an apple, and the mother gives the apple (Consequence). The child learns to scream to get apples.
• Respondent Behavior:
  • Elicited by antecedent stimuli; it is an induced reflex.
  • It is involuntary and unlearned.
  • It involves a two-term contingency: Stimulus -> Response.
  • Example: Being hit on the elbow bone (Stimulus) results in an immediate, unlearned arm jerk (Response).

The Components of the Three-Term Contingency: Antecedent, Behavior, and Consequence

• Antecedent:
  • An environmental event that occurs prior to the behavior.
  • Every behavior is evoked or triggered by an antecedent event.
  • It signals the behavior to occur and must be measurable and observable.
  • Example: A doorbell rings (Antecedent) -> The person opens the door (Behavior).
  • Example: A phone rings (Antecedent) -> The person answers the phone (Behavior).
• Consequence:
  • Occurs immediately after the behavior.
  • Its effect is to increase or decrease the future frequency of that behavior.

Scientific Breakdown of Reinforcement and Punishment

• Reinforcement:
  • The immediate ($3$-$5$ seconds) introduction or removal of a stimulus after a target behavior that increases the future likelihood of that behavior.
  • Positive Reinforcement ($SR+$): The introduction of a pleasant stimulus. (e.g., giving tickles for sitting down).
  • Negative Reinforcement ($SR-$): The removal of an unpleasant stimulus. (e.g., a teacher finishes cleaning up for a student because the student listened well—the unpleasant task of cleaning is removed/taken away to reinforce the behavior of listening).
• Punishment:
  • The immediate ($3$-$5$ seconds) introduction or removal of a stimulus after a target behavior that decreases the future likelihood of that behavior.
  • Positive Punishment ($SP+$): The introduction of an undesired/unpleasant stimulus. (e.g., a teacher reprimands a child in front of the class for talking, making it less likely the child will talk again).
  • Negative Punishment ($SP-$/$SP3P$): The removal of a desired/pleasant stimulus. (e.g., a parent removes access to a game/iPad/Xbox because siblings hit each other).

Practical Scenarios and Examples

• Scenario involving Negative Punishment: A client dials $911$ instead of calling his mother. The technician informs the client that if this behavior continues, he will receive negative punishment by not being allowed to take his dog out for a walk (removal of a preferred activity).