Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) Solution Guide; Updated 2021/2022/ABA Cooper Book (Glossary)

Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) Solution Guide; Updated 2021/2022 ABA Cooper Book (Glossary) ABA Cooper Book (Glossary) Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) Solution Guide; Updated 2021/2022 A-B design 2-phase design: 1. Pre-treatment baseline (A); 2. treatment condition (B). A-B-A design 3-phase design: Pre-treatment baseline (A); 2. treatment condition (B); 3. return to baseline conditions (A). Each phase should reach "steadystate" responding before the introduction of the next phase. A-B-A-B design 4-phase design: Pre-treatment baseline (A); 2. treatment condition (B); 3. return to baseline (A). and (4) a second intervention phase (B). Each phase should reach "steadystate" responding before the introduction of the next phase. (Also called reversal design, withdrawal design) abative effect (of a motivating operation) A decrease in the current frequency of behavior that has been reinforced by the stimulus that is increased in reinforcing effectiveness by the same motivating operation. For example, food ingestion abates (decreases the current frequency of) behavior that has been reinforced by food. ABC recording A form of direct, continuous observation in which the observer records a descriptive, temporally sequenced account of all behavior(s) of interest and the antecedent conditions and consequences for those behaviors as those events occur in the client's natural environment (also called anecdotal observation). abolishing operation (AO) A motivating operation that decreases the reinforcing effectiveness of a stimulus, object, or event. For example, the reinforcing effectiveness of food is abolished as a result of food ingestion. accuracy (of measurement) The extent to which observed values, the data produced by measuring an event, match the true state, or true values, of the event as it exists in nature. adjunctive behavior Behavior that occurs as a collateral effect of a schedule of periodic reinforcement for other behavior; time-filling or interim activities (e.g., doodling, idle talking, smoking, drinking) that are induced by schedules of reinforcement during times when reinforcement is unlikely to be delivered. Also called schedule-induced behavior. affirmation of the consequent A three-step form of reasoning that begins with a true antecedent-consequent (if-Athen-B) statement and proceeds as follows: (1) If A is true,then B is true; (2) B is found to be true; (3) therefore, A is true. Although other factors could be responsible for the truthfulness of A, a sound experiment affirms several if-A-thenB possibilities, each one reducing the likelihood of factors other than the independent variable being responsible for the observed changes in behavior. alternating treatments design An experimental design in which two or more conditions (one of which may be a nontreatment control condition) are presented in rapidly alternating succession (e.g., on alternating sessions or days) independent of the level of responding; differences in responding between or among conditions are attributed to the effects of the conditions (also called concurrent schedule design, multielement design, multiple schedule design). alternative schedule Provides reinforcement whenever the requirement of either a ratio schedule or an interval schedule—the basic schedules that makeup the alternative schedule—is met, regardless of which of the component schedule's requirements is met first. anecdotal observation A form of direct, continuous observation in which the observer records a descriptive, temporally sequenced account of all behavior(s) of interest and the antecedent conditions and consequences for those behaviors as those events occur in the client's natural environment (also called ABC recording). antecedent An environmental condition or stimulus change existing or occurring prior to a behavior of interest. antecedent intervention A behavior change strategy that manipulates contingency-independent antecedent stimuli (motivating operations). antecedent control A behavior change intervention that manipulates contingency-dependent consequence events to affect stimulus control. antecedent stimulus class A set of stimuli that share a common relationship. All stimuli in an antecedent stimulus class evoke the same operant behavior, or elicit the same respondent behavior. applied behavior analysis (ABA) 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. arbitrary stimulus class Antecedent stimuli that evoke the same response but do not resemble each other in physical form or share a relational aspect such as bigger or under (e.g., peanuts, cheese, coconut milk, and chicken breasts are a member of an arbitrary stimulus class if they evoke the response "sources of protein"). (Compare to feature stimulus class). artifact An outcome or result that appears to exist because of the way it is measured but in fact does not correspond to what actually occurred. ascending baseline A data path that shows an increasing trend in the response measure over time. (Compare with descending baseline.) audience Anyone who functions as a discriminative stimulus evoking verbal behavior. Different audiences may control different verbal behavior about the same topic because of a differential reinforcement history. Teens may describe the same event in different ways when talking to peers versus parents. autoclitic A secondary verbal operant in which some aspect of a speaker's own verbal behavior functions as an SD or an MO for additional speaker verbal behavior. The autoclitic relation can be thought of as verbal behavior about verbal behavior. automatic punishment Punishment that occurs independent of the social mediation by others (i.e., a response product serves as a punisher independent of the social environment). automatic reinforcement Reinforcement that occurs independent of the social mediation of others (e.g., scratching an insect bite relieves the itch). automaticity of reinforcement Refers to the fact that behavior is modified by its consequences irrespective of the person's awareness; a person does not have to recognize or verbalize the relation between her behavior and a reinforcing consequence, or even know that a consequence has occurred, for reinforcement to "work." (Contrast with automatic reinforcement.) aversive stimulus In general, an unpleasant or noxious stimulus; more technically, a stimulus change or condition that functions (a) to evoke a behavior that has terminated it in the past; (b) as a punisher when presented following behavior, and/or (c) as a reinforcer when withdrawn following behavior. avoidance contingency A contingency in which a response prevents or postpones the presentation of a stimulus. (Compare with escape contingency.) B-A-B design A three-phase experimental design that begins with the treatment condition. After steady state responding has been obtained during the initial treatment phase (B), the treatment variable is withdrawn (A) to see whether responding changes in the absence of the independent variable. The treatment variable is then reintroduced (B) in an attempt to recapture the level of responding obtained during the first treatment phase. backup reinforcers Tangible objects, activities, or privileges that serve as reinforcers and that can be purchased with tokens. backward chaining A teaching procedure in which a trainer completes all but the last behavior in a chain, which is performed by the learner, who then receives reinforcement for completing the chain. When the learner shows competence in performing the final step in the chain, the trainer performs all but the last two behaviors in the chain, the learner emits the final two steps to complete the chain, and reinforcement is delivered. This sequence is continued until the learner completes the entire chain independently. backward chaining with leaps ahead A backward chaining procedure in which some steps in the task analysis are skipped; used to increase the efficiency of teaching long behavior chains when there is evidence that the skipped steps are in the learner's repertoire. bar graph A simple and versatile graphic format for summarizing behavioral data; shares most of the line graph's features except that it does not have distinct data points representing successive response measures through time. (Also called a histogram.) baseline A condition of an experiment in which the independent variable is not present; data obtained during baseline are the basis for determining the effects of the independent variable; a control condition that does not necessarily mean the absence of instruction or treatment, only the absence of a specific independent variable of experimental interest. baseline logic A term sometimes used to refer to the experimental reasoning inherent in singlesubject experimental designs; entails three elements: prediction, verification, and replication. behavior The activity of living organisms; human behavior includes everything that people do. A 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 & Pennypacker, 1993a, p. 23). behavior-altering effect (of a motivating operation) An alteration in the current frequency of behavior that has been reinforced by the stimulus that is altered in effectiveness by the same motivating operation. For example, the frequency of behavior that has been reinforced with food is increased or decreased by food deprivation or food ingestion. behavior chain A sequence of responses in which each response produces a stimulus change that functions as conditioned reinforcement for that response and as a discriminative stimulus for the next response in the chain; reinforcement for the last response in a chain maintains the reinforcing effectiveness of the stimulus changes produced by all previous responses in the chain. behavior chain interruption strategy An intervention that relies on the participant's skill in performing the critical elements of a chain independently; the chain is interrupted occasionally so that another behavior can be emitted. behavior chain with a limited hold A contingency that specifies a time interval by which a behavior chain must be completed for reinforcement to be delivered. behavior change tactic A technologically consistent method for changing behavior derived from one or more principles of behavior (e.g., differential reinforcement of other behavior, response cost); possesses sufficient generality across subjects, settings, and/or behaviors to warrant its codification and dissemination. behavior checklist A checklist that provides descriptions of specific skills (usually in hierarchical order) and the conditions under which each skill should be observed. Some checklists are designed to assess one particular behavior or skill area. Others address multiple behaviors or skill areas. Most use a Likert scale to rate responses. behavior trap An interrelated community of contingencies of reinforcement that can be especially powerful, producing substantial and long-lasting behavior changes. Effective behavior traps share four essential features: (a) They are "baited" with virtually irresistible reinforcers that "lure" the student to the trap; (b) only a low effort response already in the student's repertoire is necessary to enter the trap; (c) once inside the trap, interrelated contingencies of reinforcement motivate the student to acquire, extend, and maintain targeted academic and/or social skills; and (d) they can remain effective for a long time because students shows few, if any, satiation effects. behavioral assessment A form of assessment that involves a full range of inquiry methods (observation, interview, testing, and the systematic manipulation of antecedent or consequence variables) to identify probable antecedent and consequent controlling variables. Behavioral assessment is designed to discover resources, assets, significant others, competing contingencies, maintenance and generality factors, and possible reinforcer and/or punishers that surround the potential target behavior. behavioral contract A mutually agreed upon document between parties (e.g., parent and child) that specifies a contingent relationship between the completion of specified behavior(s) and access to specified reinforcer(s). (Also called contingency contract) behavioral contrast The phenomenon in which a change in one component of a multiple schedule that increases or decreases the rate of responding on that component is accompanied by a change in the response rate in the opposite direction on the other, unaltered component of the schedule. behavioral cusp A behavior that has sudden and dramatic consequences that extend well beyond the idiosyncratic change itself because it exposes the person to new environments, reinforcers, contingencies, responses, and stimulus controls. behavioral momentum A metaphor to describe a rate of responding and its resistance to change following an alteration in reinforcement conditions. The momentum metaphor has also been used to describe the effects produced by the high-probability (high-p) request sequence. behaviorism The philosophy of a science of behavior; there are various forms of behaviorism. believability The extent to which the researcher convinces herself and others that the data are trustworthy and deserve interpretation. Measures of interobserver agreement (IOA) are the most often used index of believability in applied behavior analysis. bonus response cost A procedure for implementing response cost in which the person is provided a reservoir of reinforcers that are removed in predetermined amounts contingent on the occurrence of the target behavior. calibration Any procedure used to evaluate the accuracy of a measurement system and, when sources of error are found, to use that information to correct or improve the measurement system. celeration The change (acceleration or deceleration) in rate of responding over time; based on count per unit of time (rate); expressed as a factor by which responding is accelerating or decelerating (multiplying or dividing); displayed with a trend line on a Standard Celeration Chart. Celeration is a generic term without specific reference to accelerating or decelerating rates of response. celeration time period A unit of time (e.g., per week, per month) in which celeration is plotted on a Standard Celeration Chart. celeration trend line The celeration trend line is measured as a factor by which rate multiplies or divides across the celeration time periods (e.g., rate per week, rate per month, rate per year, and rate per decade). chained schedule A schedule of reinforcement in which the response requirements of two or more basic schedules must be met in a specific sequence before reinforcement is delivered; a discriminative stimulus is correlated with each component of the schedule. chaining Various procedures for teaching behavior chains. changing criterion design An experimental design in which an initial baseline phase is followed by a series of treatment phases consisting of successive and gradually changing criteria for reinforcement or punishment. Experimental control is evidenced by the extent the level of responding changes to conform to each new criterion. clicker training