ABA therapy Flashcards
what is ABA therapy
a learning based theory based on operant conditioning but we do not punish the child we only use reinforcement
what part of operant conditioning does ABA actually use
positive reinforcement where each child is given a different reward to reinforce behavior e.g stickers, bubbles
what other process used in operant conditioning is used in ABA and what is it referred as in ABA
shaping /descrite trial training where we reinforce behavior the closer we get to the desired behavior to help make sure the child isn’t overwhelmed and gradually reaches their goal
give an example of discrete trial training for eye contact
when child looks at face they will be rewarded
then when they make eye contact for a second they will be rewarded
then they will only be rewarded when they give eye contact for a long period of time so they become more comfortable with it
how is ABA flexible/personalized
each child has their own specific rewards they will enjoy
therapist and child are 1:1
each child will have their own goals
each child will have a different base line
what is a functional behavioral analysis
a baseline is taken on what the individual child can do and their personal targets
what is the antecedent
trigger - what causes a behavior to happen
what is behavior
the behavior we see
what is consequence
consequence of the behavior from the researchers perspective
what is the ABC model that ABA is based on give an example
therapist works out what antecedents trigger behaviors that lead to consequences
if we can alter these then we can change behavior
e.g Antecedent:therapist asks child to pass toy behavior:child says yes consequence:therapist rewards child with specific toy
what is Lovaas find about ABA
Lovass supports the idea that ABA is effective for supporting autistic children as they found 47%of autistic children who revived ABA therapy achieved normal intellectual and educational functioning compared to 2% of control group
give an OTOH point of using Lovass to support ABA
53% of children did not reach normal IQ and intellectual functioning so ABA is not effective for everyone
what did Cebula find about ABA
looked at 135 families and found there was more evidence of positive interactions between siblings and autistic individuals in the ABA group . Parents also rated ABA as effective therefore this shows ABA can improve social skills
OTOH what did Cebula not account for
only children are ignored as they don’t have people to develop their social skills with at home
what did Gale find about ABA
gales study supports ABA as they interviewed and observed 3 children with autism looking at acceptance of food , refusal to eat and disruptive behaviors and gale found after ABA acceptance of food increased and disruptive behaviors decreased after ABA therapy
what is the problem with gale
sample size of 3 not generalisable to all children with autism
what did warren find about ABA
Warren conflicts ABA as he found lots of ABA therapies were poor quality and although early intervention for those under 2 was promising he thought results were not consistent enough to claim effectiveness
why is the fact ABA can be used by parents a strength of its usefulness
parents can ignore and reward behaviors at home which makes them feel like they are helping and can continue rewarding outside of training so ABA can be utilised to help the children frequently
why may CBT be better than ABA
ABA has only shown benefit for short amount of time as children forget about rewards so far so we don’t know it will be an effective therapy outside of ABA sessions compared to CBT which actually teaches skills to help manage anxiety
how is ABA socially controlling (relate this to double empathy)
the children’s behaviors are being changed against their will because of what others deem as normal there is double empathy in society as we have created a society where allistic people can’t understand autistic people and vice versa which leads to communication issues and allistic people norms are forced onto autistic people
how is ABA socially sensitive
makes children with autism seem abnormal and that they need to be ‘fixed’ as people like teachers may tell parents they need this therapy to succeed and without it they will fail = this is offensive and can lead to self fulfilling prophecy
is ABA cost and time effective
usually around 40 hours per week which is very intense and expensive for a therapy which may not be long term effective as this therapy usually continues for 1-3 years
when is ABA usually started
2-4 years old