Applied Behavior Analysis 3rd Edition Ch. 1

ABA -Applied Behavior Analysis - 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 behavior change ABC's of behavior -1. antecedent - environmental conditions or changes, pre-response 2. behavior (response) - action of a person, the behavior 3. consequence - after the response, the environment changes analytic --studies are analytic when the experimenter has demonstrated the functional relation between the manipulated events and a reliable change in some measurable dimension of the targeted behavior -are we the ones responsible for behavior change - environment is systematically/purposefully manipulated so that causality between intervention and behavior change can be proved (example: children with token economy) applied -select behaviors to change that are of social significance for the individual (reading, eating, crossing the street) behavior -portion of an organism's interaction with its environment that is detectable displacement in space through time behavioral -the behavior chosen of study must be the behavior in need of improvement, not a similar behavior that serves as proxy for behavior of interest or the subjects verbal description of behavior. behaviorism -the philosophy of the science of behavior, basic research is the province of experimental analysis of behavior (EAB), and developing a technology for improving behavior is the concern for ABA characteristics / dimensions of ABA -1. Applied 2. Behavioral 3. Analytic 4. Technological 5. Conceptually Systematic 6. Effective 7. Generality conceptually systematic --meaning procedures for changing behavior and any interpretations of how or why those procedures were effective, should be described in terms of the relevant principle(s) from which they derived -what behavior is responsible? what parameter is being used for behavior change? what schedule of reinforcement? conditioned R+ -- previously neutral stimulus change that gains reinforcing properties through pairing other reinforcement control -In an experiment, the standard that is used for comparison description -it consists of collection of facts about the observed events that can be quantified Determinism -science is predicated on the assumption of determinism - scientists presume that the universe is a lawful and orderly place in which all phenomena occur as the result of other events effective --an effective application of behavior techniques must improve the behavior under investigation to a practical degree -ABA is generally concerned in wether a person's behavior changed to a sufficient extent to be important to them (and their community) - does it make a difference in that person's life? Empiricism -scientific knowledge is built upon empiricism - the practice of objective observation and measurement of the phenomena of interest experiment -is a controlled comparison of some measure of the phenomenon of interest (DV) under two or more different conditions in which only one factor at a time (IV) differs from one factor to another Experimental Analysis of Behavior (EAB) -a natural science approach to the study of behavior as a subject matter in its own right founded by B.F.Skinner explanatory fiction -a fictitious or hypothetical variable that often takes form of another name for the observed phenomenon it claims to explain and contributes nothing to a functional account or understanding of the phenomenon, such as "intelligence" or "cognitive awareness" as explanations for why an organism puches the lever when the light is on and food