Manzon Marilyn Francisco

Mr. Bernie Comia

SPED 206 Contingency Management with Exceptional Needs

APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) reflects a systematic description and implementation of a therapeutic
intervention to change a given behavior, based on the principles of the science of learning and
behaviour. This process involves an analytic investigation of various triggers that determine and
modulate behaviour.
(Baer, Wolf & Risley, 1968; Sulzer-Azaroff & Mayer, 1991).
Applied research
Desire to contribute to further development of a humane & effective technology of behavior
change.
Experiments are aimed at discovering & clarifying functional relations between socially significant
behavior & its controlling variables

HISTORY

Ole Ivar Lovaas

(1927-2010)
Father of Intensive Behavioural Intervention
Obtained significant results in the treatment of 19 children with autism in 1987, with approximately
half reported to obtain a normal level of educational and intellectual functioning.
1968: SEAB begins publishing the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) and names M.
Wolf as its first editor. D. Baer, M. Wolf, and T. Risley, now at the University of Kansas, define the
field in their seminal paper, "Some current dimensions of applied behavior analysis." JABA, 1, 91-
97. This one of the most frequently cited articles in the field of behavior analysis.

B.F. Skinners
The Behavior of Organisms (1938/1966)
Formally began the experimental branch of behavior analysis
Summarized his laboratory research from 1930-1937
Discussed two types of behavior
1. Respondent
2. Operant

CHARACTERISTICS OF APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS

Applied:
Applied interventions deal with problems of demonstrated social importance. (SOCIALLY
SIGNIFICANT BEHAVIOR)
Behavioural:
Applied interventions deal with measurable behaviour. (PRECISE MESUREMENT OF THE
BEHAVIOR)
 Analytic:
Applied interventions require an objective demonstration that the procedures caused the effect.
(EXEPERIMENTAL CONTROL)
Technological:
Applied interventions are described well enough that they can be implemented by anyone with
training and resources. (WRITTEN DESCRIPTION)
Conceptual Systems:
Applied interventions arise from a specific and identifiable theoretical base rather than being a set
of packages or tricks. (USES BASIC PRINCIPLES OF BEHAVIOR)
Effective:
Applied interventions produce strong, socially important effects. (PRACTICAL RESULTS FOR
THE CLIENTS)
Generality:
Applied interventions are designed from the outset to operate in new environments and continue
after the formal treatments have ended. (LAST OVER TIME)

CONCEPTS OR METHODS OF APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS

Behavior
Is the persons interaction with the environment. Behavior refers to the movement of some part of
an organism that changes some aspect of the environment. Often, the term behavior refers to a
class of responses that share physical dimensions or functions, and in that case a response is a
single instance of that behavior.

Operant conditioning
By Burrhus Frederic Skinner.
Operant behavior is the so-called "voluntary" behavior that is sensitive to, or controlled by its
consequences. Operant conditioning involves learning through the consequences of behavioural
responses.
(1938) he coined the term operant conditioning that means roughly changing of behavior by the
use of reinforcement which is given after the desired response.
Skinner identified types of responses or operant that can follow behavior.

1. Reinforcement
Responses from the environment that increase the probability of a behavior being repeated.

Kinds of Reinforcement
Positive reinforcerment are favorable events or outcomes that are given to the individual
after the desired behavior. This may come in the form of praise, rewards, etc.

Negative reinforcerment typically are characterized by the removal of an undesired or

unpleasant outcome after the desired behavior. A response is strengthened as something
considered negative is removed.

2. Punishment
Punishment is a process by which a consequence immediately follows a behavior which
decreases the future frequency of that behavior.
 Kinds of Punishment
Positive punishment is when unfavorable events or outcomes are given in order to weaken
the response that follows.
Negative punishment is characterized by when an favorable event or outcome is removed
after a undesired behavior occurs.

Classical conditioning
A learned reflex/response that you do when evoked by a stimulus.
It is a learning process that occurs through associations between an environmental stimulus and
a naturally occurring stimulus.

Four factors of classical conditioning:

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

The signal that occurs before a biologically significant event. It's what "CUES" the conditioned
response.
(The conditioned stimulus was the ringing of the bell, which previously had no association with
food)

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

Unconditionally, naturally and automatically trigger the response.
(Was the sight or smell of the food itself)

Conditioned Response (CR)

A learned reaction to the previously neutral stimulus.
(The salivation of the dogs in response to the ringing of the bell, even when no food was present)

Unconditioned Response (UR)

Unlearn response that occurs naturally in response to the unconditioned stimulus.
(The dogs' natural salivation in response to seeing or smelling their food)

Environment
The environment is the entire constellation of stimuli in which an organism exists.

Extinction
Extinction is the technical term to describe the procedure of withholding/discontinuing
reinforcement of a previously reinforced behavior, resulting in the decrease of that behavior.
Extinction refers to the process of no longer providing the reinforcement that has been
maintaining a behavior.

Discriminated operant and three-term contingency

Three-term Contingency
The three-term contingency - also referred to as the ABCs of behavior (antecedent-behavior-
consequence) illustrates how behavior is elicited by the environment and how the consequences
of behavior can affect its future occurrence.
 An ABC Chart is used to organize information over several observation sessions by recording the
types of behaviors observed and the events that precede and follow the behavior. Observing and
recording ABC data assists the team in forming a hypothesis statement and gathering evidence
that the function maintaining a problem behavior has been identified.

Antecedent - The events, action, or circumstances that occur before a behavior.

Behavior Observable and Measurable
Consequences - The action or response that follows the behavior.

Verbal behaviour
The Verbal Behavior (VB) approach is a form of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), that is based on B.F.
Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior and works particularly well with children with minimal or no speech
abilities. B.F. Skinner's classification system of behavior analysis has been applied to treatment of a host
of communication disorders.

Skinner's system includes:

Mand (Requesting) Asking for reinforcers that you want. Saying candy because
you want candy.

Tact (Labeling) Naming or identifying objects, actions, events, etc. Saying candy
because you see candy.

Echoic (Vocal Imitation) Repeating what is heard. Saying candy after someone else says
candy.

Intraverbal (wh Questions) Answering questions or having conversations where the speakers
words are controlled by other words.

MEASURING BEHAVIOR

1.Repeatability
Repeatability refers to how a behavior can be counted or how it can occur repeatedly through time.
Count is the number of occurrences in behavior.
Rate/frequency is the number of instances of behavior per unit of time.
Celeration is the measure of how the rate changes over time.

2.Temporal extent
Temporal extent refers to how much time a behavior takes up.
i.e., how long the behavior occurs.
Duration is the amount of time in which the behavior occurs.

3.Temporal locus
Each instance of behavior occurs at a specific point in time.
i.e., when the behavior occurs.
 Response latency is the measure of elapsed time between the onset of a stimulus and the
initiation of the response.
Interresponse time is the amount of time that occurs between two consecutive instances of a
response class.

4.Derivative measures
Derivative measures are unrelated to specific dimensions:
Percentage is the ratio formed by combining the same dimensional quantities.
Trials-to-criterion are the number of response opportunities needed to achieve a predetermined
level of performance.

ANALYZING BEHAVIOR CHANGE

Experimental control
Experimental control is the highest level of scientific understanding. Experimental control can be defined
as a predictable change in behavior that can be reliably reproduced by the systematic manipulation of
some aspect of the person's environment.
In applied behavior analysis, all experiments should include the following:
At least one participant
At least one behavior (dependent variable)
At least one setting
A system for measuring the behavior and ongoing visual analysis of data
At least one treatment or intervention condition
Manipulations of the independent variable so that its effects on the dependent variable may be
quantitatively or qualitatively analysed.
An intervention that will benefit the participant in some way

FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS

Functional analysis is determining the function of the behavior: What purpose is the behavior serving for
the person?
Functional Analysis of Behavior identify the variables of which behavior is a function; to discover "cause-
effect relationships (Skinner, 1953)

Goals:
Understanding
Treatment
Prevention

Functional analysis (FA) methodology is a well-established standard for assessment in applied behavior
analysis research. Although used less commonly in clinical (nonresearch) application, the basic
components of an FA can be adapted easily in many situations to facilitate the treatment of problem
behaviour.
As noted by Baer et al. (1968), a functional analysis of a behavior consists of a believable
demonstration of the events that can be responsible for the occurrence or non-occurrence of that
behavior. From a research perspective, believability requires control over (a) measurement (dependent
variable), (b) application of treatment (independent variable), and (c) potential sources of confounding.

TASK ANALYSIS

Task analysis is the process of taking a chained task and breaking it up into teachable components or a
set of discrete steps.