Applied Behavior Analysis:
What is it and what should the SLP know?
Amy Fetter, MA CCC-SLP, BCBA Candidate
Karen Duerk, MA CCC-SLP, Program Specialist
What is Applied Behavior Analysis?
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is a
science in which tactics derived from the principles of behavior are applied
systematically to improve socially
significant behavior, and experimentation is used to identify the variables
responsible for change.
Cooper, Heron, and Heward, 2007
ABA is a science.
It is not a teaching strategy.
It is the science of how people learn. Since everything we do is learned, everything can be taught using the principles of ABA.
It is devoted to improving and understanding human behavior.
it focuses on objectively defining observable behaviors.
It works to identify the variables responsible for behavior change.
it provides a technology (a means) of changing behavior.
It demonstrates a reliable relationship bet ween the intervention
and the actual improvement of behavior.
In terms of communication, the strategies of ABA can be used to:
replace maladaptive or idiosyncratic behaviors with more appropriate and effective communication.
shape current levels of functioning into higher levels.
build independence, initiation, and
spontaneous communication.
ABA as the Science
The following are intervention
methodologies under the guidelines of ABA:
PRT (pivotal response training) Verbal Behavior
Precision Teaching
Core Basic Principles of Behavior
Stimulus Control Motivation
Reinforcement/Punishment/Extinction
Conditioned Reinforcement/Punishment
Scheduling Effects
“Behavior” defined
Anything that we say or do.
Behavior is often learned.
We engage in responses because they serve a PURPOSE (function).
An organism’s interaction with it’s environment that is characterized by detectable displacement of space through time of some part of the
organism that results in a measurable change.
What makes a “good” ABA program
SLP must be a detectives of ABA.
Seven Defining
Characteristics of ABA
Applied
Behavioral Analytic
Technological
Conceptually Systematic Effective
Generality
Applied Dimension
ABA is individualized.
ABA’s commitment is to improving
behaviors that will enhance people’s lives.
Quality of life for the individual AND family.
Assessment drives intervention
Let’s hear it from
the experts!
How do we ensure we are choosing socially significant behavior?
The foundation of individualization is the assessment process.
Initially, a thorough and comprehensive assessment.
The assessment itself is individualized.
A good assessment helps us identify where to start, but a learners’ progress is analyzed THROUGHOUT the
intervention to ensure programming continues to be effective and appropriate.
Knowing where to start isn’t enough, take BASELINE!
Behavioral Dimension
ABA is data-based evaluation and decision making.
Direct and frequent measurement of data.
Behavior must be precisely and objectively measured Measurement is considered direct when a learner’s performance of the target behavior is observed and recorded as it occurs in the natural environment.
Frequent measurement is better than infrequent
measurement.
Most common measurements used to show change in behavior
Intensity - how severe?
How severe is a person who stutter’s fluency (e.g. mild, moderate, severe).
Frequency - how often?
How often a learner requests a highly preferred item (5 times).
Rate - how often, within a certain amount of time?
How often an individual who stutters uses easy onsets in one minute.
How many 30 minutes reading sessions of a DRA level B book are required to learn to label a common noun within the book on a speech generating device.
Duration - How long?
Latency - how long after a one-step direction is given, does it take for the student to initiate or complete the request.
Analytic Dimension
ABA is effective.
Frequent and direct data collection during instruction Visual Analysis through “intelligent” graphing.
Intervention is analytic when a reliable change in the behavior in question is evidenced; functional relationship has been
established.
A functional relationship can be looked at as: a specific change in
one event (your student’s behavior) that can reliably be produced
by specific manipulations of another event (your intervention or
teaching strategy).
Data analysis involves graphing the data and analyzing the following
elements:
Level: how much is the behavior happening?
Trend: Is the behavior increasing, decreasing, or maintaining?
Stability: are the behaviors (data points) close together or highly variable.
This information is used to make decisions about appropriate interventions and goals for
performance.
What does this tell us?
Yellow - Manding with AAC
Orange - Verbal Manding
Title
0 10 20 30 40
April May June July
Technological Dimension
This dimension is about procedures.
Procedures are precisely described so that replication is possible, minimizing
misunderstanding and confusion.
A person should be able to read a description of the procedures and conduct them as intended
A behavior change method is of little value if it
cannot be replicated.
A few terms a SLP may hear when collaborating with BCBA’s
Differential reinforcement: DRO, DRA, DRI
Verbal Behavior; elementary operants: tact, mand, intraverbal
Functions of behavior: attention, tangible, automatic, escape Reinforcement schedules: variable interval, variable ratio, fixed interval, fixed ratio
Extinction
Consequences: Positive reinforcement, negative
reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment
Conceptually Systematic Dimension
We break down skills into small, doable, orderly precursor steps.
ABA is not a “bag of tricks.”
We make decisions about behavior and implement interventions in a highly
methodical way, using data to drive these
decisions.
What are some ABA tools that SLPs may use to support identification of
conceptually systematic goals?
ABC data collection
Functional Analysis of Behavior VBMAPP Assessment or ABLLS
Assessment, Kaufman Speech Praxis Test
Effective Dimension
Interventions and the application of techniques must improve the target behavior to a practical degree.
Treatments that lack social or practical value are not
considered effective and would not be selected given these guidelines.
Remember things like “standard deviations” and “statistically
significant?” Sometimes you can reduce or improve a behavior
to statistical significance, but in a child’s life, the change has
not improved their quality of life.
Examples of communication goals that could be considered “effective”
when looking at verbal operants
Tact: teaching a child to respond to sensory stimuli.
Teaching a child to label common/high frequency nouns -> teaching a child to label verbs -> teaching a child to label with verb/noun combination -> teaching a child to label/describe a picture using
proper noun + auxiliary + present progressive verb + noun (“Amy is eating pizza”) -> teaching a child to use pronouns and/or prepositions to describe a picture or video.
Mand: when motivation is present, the child will request what he wants/
needs.
Teaching a child to request highly preferred items when asked, “what do you want?” -> teaching a child to spontaneously request -> teaching a child to request missing items -> teaching a child to request for an adult to emit an action (e.g “up” or “open it”) -> teaching a child to request to a peer.
Intraverbal: teaching a child to respond to verbal stimuli:
Teaching a child to fill-in-the blank of a common song or phrase -> teaching a child to to respond to his name -> teaching a child to respond to common social and rote questions -> teaching a child to respond to a certain number of concrete “who” and “what” questions -> teaching a child to respond to a who/what/when/where question given a novel picture.
Generality Dimension
!
The intervention that we select and the behaviors we target for change must contain generality.
Generalization occurs when a person learns something in one environment and can independently apply it in another.
While it is sometimes important to teach a new skill in a controlled situation, it is also important to make sure that the person can use the skill in a functional and
meaningful way.
A behavior has generality when:
It lasts over time.
It is demonstrated in environments other than the initial teaching environment.
It spreads to other behaviors not targeted in the intervention.
It remains present even when the intervention is removed.
When a student masters a communication skill/goal ask
yourself:
Does this student demonstrate mastery given the 3 types of generalization?
Stimulus Generalization: the learner can respond the same way with different cues.
Response Generalization: a learner exhibits different responses in the same situation.
Maintenance: the ability to demonstrate skills long
after responses are no longer reinforced as they were
int he training setting.
Preschool Example
Older Student Example
Objective
Across 2 people and 2 settings, G will self-
monitor to follow communication steps (find the person, gain attention, greet, making a comment or asking a question, wait for a response,
comment, and close the conversation) while maintaining eye contact and staying in
appropriate proximity (e.g. standing in front or next to the person without reverting attention to another part of the room) in 80% of
programmed opportunities for 3 consecutive
opportunities.
What is a - Board Certified Behavior Analyst - anyway?
There are t wo certifications that can be obtained in the field of ABA: Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and a Board Certified Assistant
Behavior Analyst (BCaBA).
The Behavior Analyst Certification Board, Inc (BACB) was established in 1998 to meet professional credentialing needs identified by behavior analysts, government, and consumers of behavior analysis services.
http://www.bacb.com
The Board Certified Behavior Analyst
®(BCBA
®) certification is an
internationally recognized credential that indicates professional competence in behavior analysis.
To become a BCBA
®individuals must complete a master's degree, complete specific coursework in applied behavior analysis, meet a supervised
experience requirement, and pass the BACB
®exam.
How do I know a good ABA program when I see it?
Intensive
Individualized
Comprehensive
Remember, if it doesn’t have these characteristics, it’s not an ABA
program:
Assessment - thorough initial assessment and continual assessment of behavior change over time.
A link bet ween assessment and intervention - intervention is guided by assessment and is individualized to the learners unique needs.
Data-based decision making - decisions about what to do next are deterred by rate of progress and other object indicators of progress, not based on
“impressions” or predetermined criteria.
Dynamic and responsive programming - the constant data collection and analysis ensures that learners aren’t distressed, exhibiting increased
challenging behaviors, or fail to attain skills.
Social significance - skills addressed/goals written should make a real difference
in the individuals lives in a meaningful way and to a meaningful degree.
Myth 1: ABA is discrete trial teaching!
Truth: It involves teaching in a variety of environments and
ways based on what the
individual needs.
Myth 2: ABA is all about
giving a child edible rewards!
Truth: YIKES! ABA is not
bribery. The learning in ABA is
meant to be…wait for it….. FUN!
Myth 3: The goal of ABA is to decrease challenging behavior!
Truth: The goal is to increase the strength, independence,
initiation, and frequency of appropriate behaviors which should result in a decrease in
challenging behavior.
Myth 4: ABA is a teaching method or strategy!
Truth: ABA is not a “brand name”, it the science in which other
techniques are derived from.
Myth 4: ABA is for young children who do not have “higher-level”
skills.
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