Advanced ABA for Teachers ED 556

Today… Quiz Article Presentation by Lauren Questions about course requirements PsychINFO assignment questions Review: Technical language and basic concepts

Why Use Technical Terms? Effective communication Demonstrates professionalism in your field  CH & H - Mastering the technical vocabulary of ABA is an important first step in becoming a behavior analyst  recommend students “study the field’s technical terminology with diligence” (p. xv) ABA is a science  Using precise terminology facilitates goal of thorough understanding of socially important behaviors Note: It takes practice to learn new terminology! Especially when there are similar words already in your repertoire

Basic Concepts What is ABA?  Technical definition: The science in which tactics derived from the principles of behavior are applied to improve socially significant behavior and experimentation is used to identify the variables responsible for the improvement in behavior  What you might say to your Aunt Sally: A way in which to provide assistance to individuals by breaking complex skills into easier ones. As the individual begins to learn, we withdraw our assistance until they can learn in the same way others do.

Behavior The activity of living organisms – everything a person does, including how he moves, what he says, thinks, and feels A well-known technical definition:  “That portion of an organism’s interaction with its environment that is characterized by detectable displacement in space through time of some part of the organism and that results in a measurable change in at least one aspect of the environment” (Johnston and Pennypacker, 1993, p. 23)

Response An instance of behavior Response topography refers to the physical shape or form of the response Response class: A group of responses with the same function (each response in the group is maintained by the same reinforcer or produces the same effect on the environment)  Examples Saying “thank you” Opening a bag of chips

Environment Conglomerate of circumstances in which the organism exists  Includes not only the organism’s external features but physical events inside its skin  Example: itching Stimulus: an energy change that affects an organism through its receptor cells Stimulus Class: a group of stimuli that set the occasion for the same response  E.g., person dropping a bunch of papers, carrying lots of things, looking for a lost object, cleaning up an activity, setting up an activity  E.g., spoken word dog, written word dog, picture of a dog, actual dog

Respondent Behavior The response component of a reflex It’s elicited by a stimulus that precedes it  Does not require a history of learning – examples? Respondent Conditioning  New stimuli can acquire the ability to elicit respondent behavior  Example: Teaching nighttime continence

Enuresis can occur because the sensation of a full bladder does not elicit waking 1. Alarm  Waking 2. Full bladder + Alarm  Waking 3. Full bladder  Waking Nocturnal Enuresis Therapy (“Bell & Pad”)

Operant Behavior Any behavior whose future frequency is determined primarily by its history of consequences It’s not elicited like respondent behavior – it’s maintained by consequences that have followed it in the past Examples  Saying “hi”

Teacher walks in the room Bobby says, “hi” Teacher smiles and says, “hi!”

Operant Behavior Any behavior whose future frequency is determined primarily by its history of consequences It’s not elicited like respondent behavior – it’s maintained by consequences that have followed it in the past Examples  Saying “hi”  Katie screaming when her mom gets out the vacuum cleaner – how could this be both respondent AND operant behavior?

Teacher walks in the room Bobby says, “hi” Teacher smiles and says, “hi!” Mom brings out vaccuum Katie screams and cries Mom puts the vacuum away

Consequence Everyday usage? Technical definition: stimulus that follows a given behavior in a relatively immediate temporal sequence and alters the probability of future occurrences of that type of behavior  Note that awareness of the consequence, intent, and trying to “get” the consequence are not part of the definition 2 forms  A stimulus is increased or added to the environment  An already present stimulus is reduced or removed from the environment 2 behavioral outcomes  The future frequency of the behavior increases  The future frequency of the behavior decreases

Three-Term Contingency Operant Conditioning: establishment of a functional relationship between behavior and its consequences and between behavior and certain antecedent conditions Antecedent - Behavior - Consequence Contingency refers to the dependency of a particular consequence on the occurrence of behavior