The Behaviorist

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is a science devoted to the understanding and improvement of human behavior (Cooper, Heron & Heward, 2007). An important characteristic of ABA is its reliance on the scientific method as its primary vehicle for proving or disproving the effectiveness of its theories and approaches. Through the continual use of the scientific method as an industry standard, practitioners of ABA are able to describe, predict, and control the many variables of the science, ultimately increasing our understanding of behavior.

According to Cooper, Heron, and Heward, the authors of Applied Behavior Analysis, having a fundamental understanding of the "attitudes of science" is critical when understanding how new information and advances come about. The "attitudes of science" are:

Determinism - The assumption that the universe is lawful and orderly and one where all phenomena occur as the result of other events.
Empiricism - The practice of objective observation, i.e., free of individual biases or prejudices.
Experimentation - The manipulation of variables that are suspected to have a causal status.
Replication - The repetition of an experiment (by other experimenters) where the same results are found. This is required for any finding to be taken seriously as a scientific discovery.
Parsimony - The law in experimental design stating that all simple, logical explanations for the phenomena under investigation be ruled out prior to attributing results to a less common explanation. A less technical way to say this is with the acronym K.I.S.S. or Keep It Simple Stupid. I have found 99% of the time that the simplest explanation is the right explanation.
Philosophic Doubt - Scientific discover, no matter how great or how well known, must always be viewed with skepticism by the scientific community. This is because it is accepted by scientists that all truths are only such until they are disproven. This does not weaken the stance of science, but only serves to strengthen its resolve, since it can be modified at any time to adopt advances made.

The Scientific Method is a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. Below you will find the six steps to scientific discovery:

Ask a Question
Do Background Research
Construct a Hypothesis
Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment
Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
Communicate Your Results

Once we understand the constructs of the scientific method, we can compare and recognize how applied behavior programming follows the same structure. Again you will see six steps below that follow the scientific method, only the wording is changed to behavior specific language:

Recognize the problematic behavior (typically through referral)
Assessment and interviewing to gather information
Construct a Hypothesis as to why the person is engaging in the identified problematic behavior
Develop a behavior program (BSP) based on your hypothesis
Analyze the behavior data and decide whether or not the behavior program is having the desired effect
Write summary that addresses purpose of behavior program and discuss impact program had on client behavior

So as you can see, the applied element of behavior analysis is experimental in nature, i.e. all elements of experimental design are met. Unfortunately, unlike many scientific experiments that occur in controlled environments, we as behaviorist must take into account all the unforeseen and uncontrollable variables that could jeopardize the behavior program. The primary reason that we are at the mercy of these variables is because many behavior programs take place over long periods of time, i.e. 3 months - 12 months. We have ways to control the impact these rogue variables can have on our behavior programs such as training for staff, but must realize perfect control is unlikely; this is discussed further in the behavior support plan section of the site.

Stimulus-Response Behaviorism (see John B. Watson in History)

S-R Behaviorism (also known as Watsonian Psychology early on) deals solely with the idea that all human behavior can be explained by viewing it as nothing more than the presentation of stimulus (S) and subsequent response (R); if you have ever heard anybody criticize behaviorism as being overly simple because it views organisms as nothing more than "stimulus-response machines" this is where it came from (Cooper, Heron & Heward, 2007). It is important however not to marginalize this contribution to the field. (see respondent conditioning below)

Experimental Analysis of Behavior (see B.F. Skinner in History)

Experimental Analysis of Behavior or EAB, is a movement lead by B.F. Skinner that formally began with Skinner's 1938, publication of The Behavior of Organisims. The book summarizes Skinner's laboratory research in which he concluded that there were in fact two kinds of behavior: respondent and operant (Cooper, Heron & Heward, 2007). With operant conditioning, Skinner argued that there was a third variable that could have control over a behavior, a second stimulus or (S) after the response that looks like this (S-R-S); this is also referred to as a three-term contingency. (see operant conditioning below)

Radical Behaviorism (see B.F. Skinner in History)

Skinner's radical behaviorism is indeed "radically" different from the other schools of psychological theory, especially at the time when he presented it. Skinner argued that behaviorists could not just ignore events that the human experiences within "their skin" because they were not directly measurable by the standards of the day; this was the primary argument of Cognitive Psychology at this time. Instead Skinner viewed the thoughts and feelings of the organism (private events) as behavior to be analyzed. Skinner made three major assumptions with regards to private events:

private events such as thoughts and feelings are behavior
behavior that takes place within the skin is distinguished from other "public" events only by its inaccessibility
private behavior is influenced by the same kinds of variables as publically accessible behavior

Structuralism

Structuralism is a school of thought within behaviorism that rejects any variable that cannot be operationally defined by objective assessment, i.e. thoughts, emotions, etc. Structuralists make no scientific manipulations; accordingly, the do not address questions of causal factors (Cooper, Heron & Heward, 2007).

Methodological Behaviorism

Methodological Behaviorism is similar to Structurlism except that a Methodological behaviorist will utilize scientific manipulation of environmental variables to search for functional relationship.

Applied Behavior Analysis

The attempt to solve behavior problems by providing antecedent and/or consequences that change behavior. Applied behavior analysis owes no affiliation with a particular intervention, rather it is a scientific problem-solving approach aimed at producing socially significant behavior change and improving quality of life for individuals, families and communities.

Positive Behavior Support

Positive Behavior Support (PBS) is a set of research-based strategies used to increase quality of life and decrease problem behavior by teaching new skills and making changes in a person's environment. Positive behavior support combines:

Behavior

"If a dead man can perform the action, it isn't a behavior."

The above quote, even if somewhat morbid is technically the premise of all behavior, it being that it is how living organisms interact with their environment. The "Dead Man Test" as it is called fits into all the constructs of behaviorism in that it explains that behavior must be an action of an organism within the elements of space and time. Some examples of behaviors are, pupil dilation and heart rate, sexual arousal (respondent), or having sex, eating, and even reading this sentence (operant), the premise being that a dead man could not do and/or experience any of these. A more technical definition of behavior proposed by Johnston and Pennypacker in 1980, is as follows:

"The behavior of an organism is that portion of an organism's interaction with its environment that is characterized be detectable displacement in space through time of some part of the organism and that result in a measurable change in at least one aspect of the environment."

Environment

Environment refers to the context in which all behaviors occur. Behavior and environment are not mutually exclusive of one another in the sense that behavior cannot occur in the absence of environment, i.e. behavior cannot occur within a void or vacuum. Environment can occur minus the presence of behavior, but this enigma is better characterized by the question, "If a tree falls in the woods and there is no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?" For our purposes, this question is inconsequential, so we don't need to worry too much about it. Again, Johnston and Pennypacker offer up the following definition of environment in the context of behavior:

""Environment" refers to the conglomerate of real circumstances in which the organism or referenced part of the organism exists. A simple way to summarize its coverage is as "everything except the moving parts of the organism involved in the behavior."

Stimuli

A stimuli is an environmental trigger that can come before a behavior (respondent) or before and after a behavior (operant). Stimuli encourage or discourage the future repetition of a behavior, i.e. someone studies hard for all tests because they receive high marks when they do this, or, someone that stole a car doesn't do it a second time because they don't want to go back to jail. Other terms that are associated with stimuli are reinforcement, punishment, and consequence.

Useful Definitions

ABC Analysis – Viewing behavior (B) as a function of its antecedents (A) and consequences (C)

ADA – Americans with Disabilities Act

ADHD – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Antecedents – Environmental events that occur before a behavior

ASD – Autism Spectrum Disorder, onset of behaviors must occur before age 3. Red flags include lack of eye contact, lack of responsiveness when name is called, limited or no attempts to engage others to satisfy wants and needs. ASD includes PDD-NOS, Autism and Asperger's Syndrome.

Baseline - refers to the pre-treatment phases prior to implementation of an intervention. In baseline, instructors should not prompt or consequate a behavior (i.e. do not reinforce or provide correction). The purpose of a baseline is to establish present rates of responding. Once a steady state has been obtained, it is appropriate to implement an intervention. Changes (or lack thereof) in the rate of behavior suggest to practitioners whether to remove or continue with a treatment method.

BCBA – Board Certified Behavior Analyst, independent practitioner that may work independently or through an agency. The BCBA conducts descriptive assessment, functional analysis and provides behavior analytic servces. Often serve as consultants. BCBA's the only individuals' qualified to oversee BCaBA staff according to the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB).

BCaBA – Board Certified Associate Behavior Analyst, conducts assessments and can interpret results and design ethical treatment for situations and scenarios that are similar to what they encountered in supervised field work. All BCaBA's must receive supervision at least 1 hour per month by a BCBA in order to maintain their credential (as of August 2010).

Behavior – An observable and measurable act an organism does, including covert (unseen) actions (like thinking, dreaming, etc). Behavior is not limited to challenging behaviors, rather behavior applies to all observable and measurable acts emited by a living organism (e.g. breathing, eating, singing, yelling, laughing, reading, running, etc.).

Behavior Analyst – An individual who has demonstrated mastery of the professional competencies involved in assessing behavior and designing, implementing, evaluating, and communicating the results of an applied behavior analysis program.

Behavioral Contract – A behavioral plan of action that is negotiated between a client, child, spouse, etc. and concerned others. This plan usually includes a statement of target responses, consequences that follow different actions, and long-term goals. The contract objectively specified what is expected of the person and the consequences that follow behavior.

Behavioral Contrast - Change in one component of a multiple schedule that increases or decreases rate of responding of one behavior which is accompanied by a change in response rate of the other unaltered component. This occurs as a result of a change in reinforcement or punishment density.

Behavioral Repertoire – Behavior that a particular person has emitted in the past. This is very important to consider when teaching a new skill to someone. It may seem easy to others or logical to respond in a particular way in a particular situation, however for others emitting a particular behavior will be more challenging if it is something the individual has never done before (e.g. Expecting an individual to use pictures to ask for "help" would require an individual who will need to maintain focus, likely cross the room, obtain the attention of another person in the environment, scan pictures in an array, have fine-motor control to manipulate the picture and velcro and then hand the icon to a waiting participant.).

BSP – Behavior Support Plan: often developed after a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) or minimally descriptive assessments have been completed. Behavior Intervention Plans should have the target behaviors/challenges listed and defined. In addition, there should be preventative (antecedent management) measures noted as well as the consequences for 1) for responding when the individual has emitted the desired behavior and 2) for responding when the target behavior (or no response) occurs.

CFR – Code of Federal Regulations: Best piece of advice I can give, is to familiarize yourself with the laws, research and science.

Consequences – Environmental events that occur after a behavior, these may be planned events (such as a time out when a child tantrums in a store) or unplanned events (items on shelf all over store floor) that may have an impact on maintaining a particular behavior of concern. Consequences are not only "negative" in nature. In the field of ABA, the term consequence also includes "positive" responses to a behavior that occur after the behavior. For example, if a child is promised that they can have dessert after dinner and they eat all of their dinner, "having access to dessert" is a consequence.

Dependent Variable – The measure of the subject’s behavior. The dependent variable is the one that you are trying to change. If working to help someone quit smoking, dependent measures might be 1) number of cigarettes consumed per day 2) number of dollars spent on nicotine items and/or 3) time between cigarette breaks.

Deprivation – is a state of withholding or lack of access to a particular reinforcer. Deprivation is an establishing operation, which increases the effectiveness of the reinforcer. If you offer a child a cookie for helping clean up the house and the child has skipped breakfast and snacks, the (a smaller amount of the) cookie is likely to become momentarily more valuable because the child is in a state of food deprivation.

DSM-IV - Diagnostic and Statistical Manual currently version IV (4) is the most up-to-date version available. Soon to be released is the DSM-V, which proposes absorbing Asperger's Syndrome as mutually exclusive with an Autism Diagnosis.

DTT – Discrete Trial Training often referred to as Lovaas teaching. The concept behind discrete-trials is that for some individuals larger, more complex skills need to be broken into smaller more discrete steps. Each step is taught individually and then is strategically intermixed with other acquired skills. Most often DTT programs occur at a table top as they allow for materials to be placed in front of the learner. DTT is commonly assumed to be synonymous with Applied Behavior Analysis, which is an incorrect comparison.

Establishing Operation – An antecedent event or change in the environment that alters the momentarily increases the value of a reinforcing item. Some medications can increase the "reinforcing capacity" of food, for example.

Escape – The term escape describes a relation between a performance and an aversive stimulus in which the performance terminates the aversive stimulus. There are four functions of behavior 1) attention 2) sensory/automatic 3) to access a tangible/edible item and 4) to escape a particular person, place or activity.

Extinction - The withholding of reinforcement. Removal of reinforcement that decreases a behavior would be considered a negative punisher NOT extinction. As an example, if your spouse typically takes out the trash because you clean the bathroom, and you stop cleaning the bathroom (therefore withholding their reinforcement), their behavior of taking out the trash is likely to decrease. Of course, in this example, we see how it is possible to inadvertently apply extinction procedures which will result in undesirable outcomes (a smelly kitchen trash AND a dirty bathroom). However, if you and your spouse are planning to go to dinner and they know if they pester enough they will get to pick the restaurant...and you consistently decide to not give in with the pestering, eventually the pestering will cease. Thus, giving us another example - only this time, one with a desirable outcomes

FAST – Functional Analysis Screening Tool, one tool that is available to Behavior Analytic practitioners when conducting informal descriptive assessment (aka interviews).

FA – Functional Analysis: The process of testing hypotheses about the functional relations among antecedent, target behavior, and consequence

FBA – Functional Behavior Assessment. A FBA has five (5) components. 1) Identify and Operationally define the target behavior(s) 2) Identify situations in which the behavior will and will not occur (antecedents and consequences) 3) Identify the functions the behavior(s) serve/the reason the behaviors occur 4) Develop hypotheses/summary statements and 5) Collect direct observation data to confirm or refute the hypotheses developed.

FAI – Functional Assessment Interview, an semi-structured indirect assessment tool available to Behavior Analysts.

Frequency – The number of times a behavior occurs. Frequency is the dimension of measurement one should select when you wan to answer the question "How many times".

Functional Relationship – A relationship in which one variable changes systematically according to the value of another. Often events tend to co-vary, or change at the same time and seemingly be related in ways that they are not.

Generalization – The spread of the effects of reinforcement (or other operations such as extinction or punishment) during on stimulus to other stimuli differing from the original along one or more dimensions

Hypothesis – A speculation, prediction, or guess about the outcome of an experiment. In respec to behavioral assessments, hypotheses are developed after indirect assessments have been conducted. Direct observation should occur following the development of hypotheses to attempt to confirm or dispute the suspected reasons and cause.

IBI - Intensive behavioral intervention

IDEA – Individuals with Disability Act

Independent Variable – Any variable that is different from the dependent variable in that it can change independently of it. It is something that can change when the dependent variable does not or can remain the same when the dependent variable changes. Simply put, the independent variable is your intervention/treatment. If you are trying to lose weight, your independent variable might be 1) reading nutrition labels 2) decreasing caloric intake 3) increasing number of fruits/vegetables. If you are trying to increase a person's vocabulary, the independent variable might be 1) site word programs 2) sounding letters out 3) observing others perform the skill and repeating (such as the case with Video Modeling and echoic operants).

IOA – Inter-observer Agreement – A procedure for enhancing the believability of data that involves comparing independent observations from two or more people of the same events. IOA is computed by taking the number of agreements between the independent observers and divide by the number of agreements+disagreements. The coefficient is then multiplied by 100 to compute the percentage (%) of agreement.

LEA – Local Education Agency

LRE – Least Restrictive Environment

MAS – Motivation Assessment Scale, created by Mark Durand. Likert rating scale that is used for indirect assessment purposes. The MAS is a list of 16 questions, each which allude to a particular function/reason for a specific behavior to occur. The MAS is usually presented in an interview format where respondents are required to select an answer from a 6-point scale (0 = Never, 3 = Half the time, and 6 = Always). The points are then added up by grouping certain questions together (determined by the creators). The highest ranked column is the specific function suggested by the interview. It is important to follow up with direct observation and collect "live" data to confirm these hypotheses. Typically the MAS is conducted with 2-3 different individuals on the same target behavior.

Maintenance – Continuation of the conditions that generated a performance

Matching Law - The rate of responding is typically proportional to the rate of reinforcement from each choice alternative (Herrnstein, 1961).

Negative Reinforcement – The removal of a stimulus upon the occurrence of a behavior that is likely to lead to that behavior happening again in the future. For example, a loud Fire alarm prompts you to exit a building. If it is the absence of being caught in a burning building, being reprimanded or potentially fined for not exiting the building or even the removal of the loud, blaring noise of the alarm are enough to suggest that when you hear an alarm again in the future, you are likely to continue to engage in the behavior (i.e. exit the building)

Negative Reinforcer – An event or stimulus that increases the frequency of operants when it is removed contingent on behavior. If when you put on your sunglasses the sun is no longer blinding you while you drive - AND - because you can see, you are more likely to put your sunglasses on when the sun is in your eyes in the future, then you could say that you have been negatively reinforced. In this situation, the "removal of the blinding sun" is the negative reinforcer.

Operant – A class of responses defined by a functional relation with a class of common environmental effects. Behaviors that are operant in nature are directly shaped by the antecedents (events that precede) and consequences (events that follow) surrounding that behavior. The (3) three-term contingency is another name for an operant paradigm.

Operational Definition – A definition in terms of the operations used to produce and measure a phenomenon. It is important to define a behavior in clear and concise terms so that it can be accurately measured, assessed and treated by a number of individuals across a variety of environments.

Overt Behavior – Behavior that can be observed by someone other than the person performing it (i.e. singing, screaming, laughing, smoking, eating, etc.). Conversely, covert behavior is behavior that cannot be observed by anyone other than the person performing the behavior (i.e. thinking, dreaming, etc.).

Positive Reinforcement – The presentation of a stimulus that increases the future likelihood that a behavior will occur. It is important to note that "positive" does not necessarily mean "good" or "desirable". Examples of positive reinforcement: 1) Giving a child a high five after they clean their room and increases the odds that they will clean their room again next time. 2) Giving your spouse a massage after they do the dishes, which leads to them doing the dishes more and more in the future.

Positive Reinforcer – A stimulus which is presented following a behavior which increases the likelihood that the behavior will occur in the future. In the examples above the "reinforcer" is the 1) high five and 2) massage.

PDD – Pervasive Developmental Disorder - this disorder is used when there is severe and pervasive development of reciprocal social interaction or verbal and non-verbal communication skills, or when stereotyped behavior, interests, and activties are present (DSM-IV).

Punishment – The term punishment in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) literally means to "reduce behavior". An example of a punishment procedure could include having a person brush their teeth after each cigarette they smoked. If brushing their teeth after each cigarette led to the person smoking less and less cigarettes, this "tooth-burhsing procedure" would be considered a "punishment procedure".

Reinforcement – The procedure of providing consequences for a behavior that increase or maintain the frequency of that behavior. There are positive and negative reinforcement procedures. Positive refers to the addition of a stimulus and negative to the removal of a stimulus which leads to a target behavior increasing in the future.

The right to effective behavioral treatment: 1) An individual has a right to a therapeutic environment 2) An individual has a right to services whose overriding goal is personal welfare 3) An individual has a right to treatment by a competent behavior analyst 4) An individual has a right to programs that teach functional skills 5) An individual has a right to behavioral assessment and ongoing evaluation and 6) An individual has the right to the most effective treatment procedures available. (Van Houten, et al, 1988).

Shaping - Reinforcing successive approximations of a terminal behavior until the terminal behavior is exhibited. Differential reinforcement is involved in shaping procedures. In order to be effective when reinforcing closer approximations, previous versions of the behavior will be put on extinction aka will no longer receive reinforcement. For example, if you are trying to teach a child to sign, you might first accepting hands clapped together for "more". As the student becomes more precise with the formation, such as folding their hands you would no longer honor 'sloppier' versions for "more". Every interaction we have with our environment shapes our behavior.

Stimulus – Anything or event. A stimulus exists even if nobody responds to it. A stimulus can be a bottle of water, a paycheck, an article of clothing, a television, table, and so forth.

Topography – the way a behavior looks

Unconditioned Reinforcer - (also known as Primary Reinforcer) Reinforcement that is inherent, that you do not have to experience in your past for it to be reinforcing (increase behavior). Examples include food, clothing, shelter, and sex

Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2007). Applied behavior analysis. (2 ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Key Concepts and Definitions