WHAT IS APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is the applied research of behaviour from a natural science perspective. It is one of four domains of behavior analysis: the philosophy of behaviour analysis, basic research, applied research, and practice guided by the science. ABA provides the technology for application in a wide range of settings from individuals with autism/dd to organizational improvement.

[ABA] is defined as the science in which tactics derived from the principles of behaviour are applied systematically to improve socially significant behavior and experimentation is used to identify the variables responsible for change.

Baer, Wolfe, and Risley's 1968 article is still used as the standard description of ABA.and it describes the seven dimensions of ABA; application, a focus on behavior, the use of analysis, a technological approach, conceptually systematic, effective, and generality. Applied behavior analysis now encompasses treatments in applied settings in things as varied as leisure skills development, improving sports performance, cigarette smoking cessation, increasing exercise, and other areas.

Applied: Applied behaviour analysis focuses on areas that are of social significance. In doing this, ABA scientists must take into consideration more than just the short-term behavior change, but also looks at how behaviour changes can affect the consumer, those who are close to the consumer, and how any change will affect the interactions between the two.

Behavioural: ABA must be behavioural, ie: behaviour itself must change, not just what the consumer SAYS about the behaviour. It is not the goal of applied behaviour analysis to get their consumers to stop complaining about behaviour problems, but rather to change the problem behaviour itself. In addition, behaviour must be objectively measured. A behaviour scientist can not resort to the measurement of non-behavioural substitutes.

Analytic: The behaviour scientist can demonstrate believable control over the behaviour that is being changed. In the lab, this has been easy as the researcher can start and stop the behaviour at will. However, in the applied situation, this is not always as easy, nor ethical, to do. According to Baer, Wolf, and Risley, this difficulty should not stop a science from upholding the strength of its principles. As such, they referred to two designs that are best used in applied settings to demonstrate control and maintain ethical standards. These are the reversal and multiple baseline designs. The reversal design is one in which the behaviour of choice is measured prior to any intervention. Once the pattern appears stable, an intervention is introduced, and behaviour is measured. If there is a change in behaviour, measurement continues until the new pattern of behaviour appears stable. Then, the intervention is removed, or reduced, and the behaviour is measured to see if it changes again. If the behaviour scientist truly has demonstrated control of the behavior with the intervention, the behaviour of interest should change with intervention changes.

Technological: This means that if any other researcher were to read the study's description, that researcher would be able to "replicate the application with the same results". This means that the description must be very detailed and clear. Ambiguous descriptions do not qualify. Cooper et al. describe a good check for the technological characteristic: "have a person trained in applied behaviour analysis carefully read the description and then act out the procedure in detail. If the person makes any mistakes, adds any operations, omits any steps, or has to ask any questions to clarify the written description then the description is not sufficiently technological and requires improvement."

Conceptually Systematic: A defining characteristic is in regards to the interventions utilized; and thus research must be conceptually systematic by only utilizing procedures and interpreting results of these procedures in terms of the principles from which they were derived.

Effective: An application of these techniques improve behaviour under investigation. Specifically, it is not a theoretical importance of the variable, but rather the practical importance (social importance) that is essential.

Generality: It should last over time, in different environments, and spread to other behaviours not directly treated by the intervention. In addition, continued change in specified behaviour after intervention for that behaviour has been withdrawn is also an example of generality.

Behaviour as a subject The components of any behaviour are as follows:

Antecedent: environmental conditions or stimulus changes that exist before the behaviour of interest, these may be either internal or external to the subject.

Behaviour: the behaviour of interest emitted by the subject. Future instances of this behaviour will be influenced by both antecedents and consequences.

Consequence: a stimulus change that follows the behaviour of interest. In controlled situations the consequence depends on the subject's behaviour and goal of the program and can include reinforcement of desired behaviour, no response or punishment.

Research Methodology A signature of both the basic and applied field of behaviour analysis is the almost exclusive use of Single Subject Design

Service delivery models.
Services of an applied behaviour analyst can be delivered through consultation and/or therapy; the former involves three parties - consultant, consultee, and a client whose behavior is changed. Consultation can involve working with the consultee (i.e. a parent or teacher) to build a plan around the behavior of a client (i.e. a child or student), or training the consultee themselves to modify the behavior of the client. Within the domain of parent-child consultation, standard intervention includes teaching parents skills such as basic reinforcement, time-out and how to manipulate different factors to modify behavior. Direct therapy involves the relationship of behaviour analyst and client, usually one-on-one, in which the analyst is responsible for directly modifying the behaviour of their client. Direct therapy is also used in schools, but can also be found in group homes, in a behaviour modification facility and in behaviour therapy (where the focus may be on tasks such as quitting smoking or modifying behaviours related to mood disorder) or to encourage job seeking behaviour in psychiatric patients Two older less used models still exist for the delivery of behaviour analytic services. These models worked mostly with normal/typically developing populations. The two models are the Behavioural Coaching and the Behavioural Counseling model. Both were very popular in the 1960-1980s but have recently seen a decline in popularity in spite of its success as proponents argued the merits of holding strictly to learning theory. The behavioural coaching model is sometimes referred to a life coaching. However, like counselors and psychologists life coaches can have varied philosophical orientations; behavioural life coaches operate exclusively from a behaviour analytic orientation. Unlike therapy, this model is applied to typically developing people, who desire to achieve a specific goals such as increasing their assertiveness with others This is a model is educative in behavioural principles and presented as an alternative to therapy. Coaches use behavioural techniques of goals and objective setting, self control training, behavioural activation, and other techniques to help clients to achieve specific life goals . Behavioural coaching sometimes was used with those with mental retardation or head injury to teach job skills. In this area, the model made extensive use of task analysis, direct instruction, role play, reinforcement, and error correction

Behavioural counseling was very popular throughout the 1970s and at least into the early 1980s  Behavioural counseling is an active action oriented approach that works with the typically developing population also but also assists people with specific/discrete problems such as drinking, smoking, or rehabilitation after injury.

Behavioural counseling was largely seen as a growth model, that tried to increase the individuals sense of "freedom" be helping the client reduce punishment or coercion in their lives, build skills, and increase access to reinforcement. Even B.F. Skinner himself created a video discussing the processes involved and the importance of reinforcement to increase the sense of  freeom".Behavioural counseling attempts to  use in-session reinforcement to improve decision making and  use behavioural interventions to reduce problem behaviours. Some behavioural counselors approach therapy from a social learning perspective but many held a position based on the use of behavioural psychology with a focus on the use of operant, respondent conditioning procedures Some who did adopt a position on modeling held closer to the behavioural view of modeling as generalized imitation developed through learning processes.

Treatment of Autism
Among the available approaches to treating autism, ABA therapies have demonstratedefficacy in promoting social and language development and in reducing behaviours that interfere with learning and cognitive functioning. The ABA approach teaches play social, motor, and verbal behaviours as well as reasoning skills. ABA therapy is used to teach behaviours to individuals with autism who may not otherwise "pick up" these behaviours spontaneously through imitation. ABA therapies teach these skills through use of behavioural observation and reinforcement or prompting to teach each step of a behaviour. Generally treatment based from ABA involves intensive training of the therapists, extensive time spent in ABA therapy (20–40 hours per week) and weekly supervision by experienced clinical supervisors known as a board certified behavior analyst.

An increasing amount of research in the field of ABA is concerned with autism; and it is a common misconception that Behaviour Analysts work almost exclusively with individuals with autism and that ABA is synonymous with discrete trials teaching. ABA principles can also be used with a range of typical or atypical individuals whose issues vary from developmental delays, significant behavioural problems or undesirable habits.

ABA is often confused as a table-only therapy. Properly performed, ABA should be done in both table and natural environments depending on the student's progress and needs. Once a student has mastered a skill at the table, the ABA team should move the student into a natural environment for further training and generalization of the skill.

Frequently, the Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills (ABLLS) is used to create a baseline of the learner's functional skill set. The ABLLS breaks down the learner's strengths and weaknesses to best tailor the ABA curriculum to them. By focusing on the exact skills that need help, the teacher does not teach a skill the student knows. This can also prevent student frustration at attempting a skill for which he or she is not ready.

Discrete trials
Discrete trials were originally used by people studying classical conditioning to demonstrate stimulus - stimulus pairing. Discrete trails are often contrasted with free operant procedures like one ones used by B.F. Skinner in learning experiments with rats and pigeons how learning was influenced by rates of reinforcement. The discrete trials method was adapted as a therapy for developmentally delayed children and individuals with autism. For example, Ole Ivar Lovaas used discrete trials to teach autistic children skills including making eye contact and following simple instructions and advanced language and social skills. These discrete trials involved breaking a behaviour into its most basic functional unit and presenting the units in a series.

A discrete trial usually consists of the following: The antecedent, possibly combined with a prompt (a non-essential element used to assist learning or correct responding), the behavior of the student, and a consequence. If the student's behaviour is what is desired, the consequence is something positive: food, candy, a game, praise, etc. If the behaviour was not correct, the teacher offers the correct answer, then repeats the trial, possibly with more prompting if needed.

There is usually an inter-trial interval that allows for a few seconds to separate each trial, to allow the student to process the information, teaches the student to wait, and makes the onset of the next trial more discrete. Discrete trials can be used to develop most skills, which includes cognitive, verbal communication, play, social and self-help skills. There are procedures for error correction and a problem solving model to use if the program gets stuck.

ARTICLE SOURCE MATERIALS

(1)
Health Illustrated Encyclopaedia
Daniel W. Haupt, M.D.,
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
Article: Applied Behavioural Analysis – An Introduction
2004

(2)
The Highfield Centre
Article: ABA - Practice
Behavior Analysis in Practice Journal
2006, February

(3)
Cambridge Center for  Behaviour Analysis
Concord, Massachusetts
Dr. Howard Sloane
Artricle: What is ABA
2006