Chapter 1: ABA Flashcards
ABA
Using behavioral science to help people in the real world in a socially significant way that improves their life.
Example: Reducing SIB
Behaviorism
Viewing behavior through a philosophical, historical, and theoretical lens.
Determinism
Everything happens for a reason. Things don’t just randomly occur.
Example: Johnny is not running out of the room for no reason.
Empiricism
Observation and measurement must occur.
Example: Johnny ran out of the room 5 times in a 30 minute period.
Experimentation
Systematically using an intervention to determine it’s effects.
Example: Changing the setup of a classroom
Experimental Analysis of Behavior
A scientific approach to the study of behavior.
Example: Lab rats
Professional Guided Practice
Caregivers, teachers, RBTs, etc. implementing ABA under guidance of a BCBA.
Example: Teaching a parent to implement protocol under your supervision
Explanatory Fiction
Explaining a behavior based on a label.
Example: Johnny did the behavior because he has ADHD
Circular Reasoning
The cause equals the effect, and the effect equals the cause.q
Example: Using logic is important because it’s important to use logic.
Functional Analysis
Experimentally arranging antecedents and consequences so that their separate effects on problem behavior can be observed and measured.
Example: Conducting a FA to determine the function of Johnny yelling out during instruction.
Functional Relation
Exists when we can make the DV happen or not based on whether or not the IV is present.
Example: Changing the setup of a classroom stopped Johnny from running out of the room.
Independent Variable (IV)
The variable that is manipulated in an experiment.
Example: Time doing work, proximity to teacher, light/lever press experiment.
Dependent Variable (DV)
The measured behavior in an experiment.
Example: Hand raising, profanity, running out of room, SIB
Setting Events
Any event or situation that makes it more likely for the behavior to occur in the presence of an antecedent.
Example: Waking up late and not eating breakfast
Hypothetical Construct
Explaining one’s behavior as a result of them “knowing” or “wanting” something.
He is crying because he knows it’s almost nap time.
Mentalism
Explaining why behavior occurs is due to an unobservable reason/cause that comes only from within.
Methodological Behaviorism
Only looks at publicly observable events, not private events, and behavior should be studied by direct observation between environmental stimuli and the responses they bring out.
1913, S-R Psychology, Watson
Parsimony
Simple before considering complex.
Example: My headache is likely caused by dehydration not a brain tumor.
Philosophic Doubt
A healthy skepticism of everything until you have seen the data yourself.
Example: I successfully completed the experiment once, but I need to repeat it to make sure I get the same results.
Pragmatism
The practical and logical nature of behavior analysis.
Example: Taking advil for a headache before going to the ER
Radical Behaviorism
An attempt to understand all human behavior, including private and public events.
1938-1990s, Skinner, S-R-S Psychology
Example: ABC data
Replication
Conducting an experiment multiple times with different subjects/settings or behaviors to assess the strengths of its findings.
Example: If I do this experiment several more times, will it come out with the same results?
Science
A systematic approach for seeking and organizing knowledge about the natural world.
Example: Experimental method, levels of organization of species, etc.
Levels of Scientific Understanding
Description, prediction, control
