Lecture 1-3

Question 1

What is behaviour?

Answer 1

o The activity of living organisms; observable
and measurable; interaction between
organisms and environment.
o Actions learnt within their environment (the
things you say and do; interact with others;
not specific to humans).
o Functional (communicative; fulfil a
goal/need).
o Informed by culture, motivation, thoughts,
environmental stimuli.
* Dead mans’ test: if a dead man can do it than it is
not behaviour.

Question 2

Where behaviour can occur?

Answer 2

Externally in the physical environment (i.e., actions) or internally within the body (i.e., thoughts).

Question 3

Is ABA a science?

Answer 3

Yes. It is a set of attitudes. A systematic approach of seeking & organizing knowledge about the natural world. It is concerned with: (a) discovering the causes of behaviour, and (b) developing effective procedures for promoting behaviour change, development, and learning.

Question 4

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 4

o Behaviour that is elicited by antecedent stimuli
 Induced, brought out by the stimulus that precedes
it (i.e., involuntary behaviours)

o Reflexes are respondent behaviour
 Something in your eye elicits an eye blink (reflex;
involuntary).

o Respondent Conditioning
 The process by which new stimuli come to elicit the
same responses as unconditioned stimuli (e.g., food
poisoning: Restaurant name (neutral stimulus)
paired with food poisoning (unconditioned
stimulus) to elicit nausea (response).
o A stimulus–stimulus pairing in which a neutral
stimulus (bell) is conditioned with an unconditioned
stimulus (unlearned reflex; salivate) until the neutral
stimulus (bell) becomes a conditioned stimulus that
elicits a conditioned response (salivating). [e.g.,
when Jim from the office trains Dwight to salivate in
anticipation for a mint when his computer starts up]
 Pavlov found that for associations to be made, the
two stimuli had to be presented close together in
time. He called this THE LAW OF TEMPORAL
CONTINUITY. If the time between the conditioned
stimulus (bell) and unconditioned stimulus (food) is
too great, then learning will not occur.

Question 5

Is knowing behaviour?

Answer 5

No

Question 6

Classical conditioning is also known as….

Answer 6

Respondent or Pavlovian Conditioning

Question 7

Any behaviour whose future frequency is determined primarily by its history of consequences is called an ___ ___?

Answer 7

Operant behaviour

Question 8

Why do we collect data?

Answer 8

o Analyze the need for an intervention.
o Analyze the effects of an intervention.
o Allow for formative and summative
evaluation of an intervention and allow for
data-based decision-making.
o Without data there is nothing to guide our decisions
on what to do. Data analysis takes the guess work
out of ABA and allows therapists to make better
decisions to change behaviour.

Question 9

Having a precise operational definition is key to?

Answer 9

Reliability

Question 10

Operational definitions must be ___ & ___?

Answer 10

Observable and measurable.

Question 11

What are the benefits of an operational definition?

Answer 11

o Ensures that everyone is collecting data on
the same behavior and measuring it in the
same way.
o Ensures reliability & accurate information.
o It enables verification that an intervention
is working.
o Helps goal to be precise.

Question 12

What is a behavioural objective? What are the components of a goal?

Answer 12

A statement that communicates a proposed change in behavior. A behavioral objective must include statements concerning the learner, the behavior, the conditions under which the behavior will be performed, and the criteria for evaluation.

o Learner
o Target behaviour
o Conditions
o Criteria for acceptable performance

Question 13

What is operant conditioning?

Answer 13

• Skinner & Thorndike
• Voluntary behaviour is learnt via environmental
  contingencies.
• Consequences do NOT affect current behaviour but
  FUTURE BEHAVIOUR (i.e., it increases or decreases
  the probability that the behaviour will occur in the
  future).
• Voluntary behaviour is any response that future
  frequency is determined primarily by its history of
  consequences.
• The effects of stimuli (that are presented following
  the onset of a behaviour) on the frequency of future
  behaviour determines whether it is classified as a
  reinforcer or punisher. That is, reinforcers increases
  the probability of the behaviour reoccurring under
  similar environmental contingencies in the future
  and punishers decrease the probability of the
  behaviour reoccurring under similar environmental
  contingencies in the future.

Consequences
* Positive reinforcement (add + stimuli)
* Negative reinforcement (remove a - stimuli)
* Positive punishment (add - stimuli)
* Negative punishment (remove + stimuli)
* Can be given on a continuous or intermittent
schedule
* Can be unconditioned (basic needs which are not
learnt that make stimuli inherently + or -; food or
pain) or conditioned (learnt to be +/- and vary
across people; attention/praise/tokens/success or
reprimand).

Skinner found that reinforcement contingencies (schedules of reinforcement) can be manipulated to change animals’ behavioural response rates.

Question 14

What is Thorndikes’ law of effect?

Answer 14

• The Law of effect states that behaviour followed by
  a pleasant consequences is repeated and behaviour
  followed by an unpleasant stimulus stops.
• The law of exercise states that connections between
  actions and new outcomes are strengthened when
  repeated. Thus, with practice the antecedent elicits
  a quicker and stronger behavioural response.

Question 15

The three different levels of scientific investigation provide different types of information to researchers. What are the three levels of scientific investigation?

Answer 15

o Description
 A description of the observed events, factual,
objective, quantify events, and identify relationships
between variables)

o Prediction
 predicting when events will or will not occur based
on repeated observations in order to test
hypothesis; identifying correlations and
relationships between variables.

o Control
 Control is needed in experiments to draw firm
conclusions from our study. Includes removing
confounds. It produces higher quality
understandings of behavioural phenomena and
provides reproducible findings.

Question 16

The six scientific attitudes that guide the work of all scientists include:

Answer 16

o Determinism
 The assumption that things/events can be
predicted, that things act lawfully, and events occur
systematically (not at will).
 i.e., behaviour follows a predictable pattern (A-B-C)

o Empiricism
 Learning comes from experience and observations
(i.e., conducting experiments, making observations,
collecting evidence, and drawing conclusions)

o Experimentation
 A scientific strategy of collecting data on how an IV
effects the DV with a control group to test a
hypothesis about the relationship between these
variables.

o Replication
 Are the study’s results able to be replicated if the
same experiment was conducted with different
researchers under the same experimental
conditions? This is used to validate the relationship
between the IV and DV to draw firmer conclusions
and facilitate theory development.
 Higher quality evidence is reproducible.

o Parsimony
 Simple and logical conclusions are best.
 Be precise.
 Fit theories to findings and not findings to theories.

o Philosophic doubt
 Always question the “truth”
 Question the verifiability of your findings
 What is scientific knowledge?

Question 17

Science is…

Answer 17

o A systematic approach to the understanding of
natural phenomena…
o As evidenced by description, and control…
o That relies on determinism as its fundamental
assumption…
o Empiricism as its prime directive…
o Experimentation as its basic strategy…
o Replication as its necessary requirement for
believability…
o Parsimony as its conservative value…
o And philosophic doubt as its guiding conscience.

Question 18

What is a response?

Answer 18

o A specific behaviour that is observable and
measurable.

Question 19

What are stimuli?

Answer 19

o A detectable change in internal or external
environment that produces a response in the
organism.

Question 20

What are the four branches of Behaviour Analysis?

Answer 20

Behaviourism philosophy, basic experimental research on animals (EAB), applied behavioural research on humans (ABA), and professional practice.

Question 21

What are the main theories of behaviourism?

Answer 21

Operant conditioning (skinner and Thorndike’s law of effect), classical conditioning (Pavlov) and the belief that behaviour is learnt.

Question 22

The three-term contingency:

Answer 22

Developed by Skinner because S-R was insufficient to explain all behaviour. The three-term contingency claims that the stimulus EVOKES response, which PRODUCES stimulus.

Question 23

• Definition of ABA:

Answer 23

o The process of applying sometimes tentative
principles of behaviour to the improvement of
specific behaviours, and simultaneously evaluating
whether or not any changes noted are indeed
attributed to the process of application (Baer et al.,
1968)

Question 24

ABA Research Includes

Answer 24

• Description
  o Collecting facts about a behaviour (e.g., rates of
  teacher praise, when does child tantrum, when is
  student on-task).
  o Accurate description can lead to:
   Identifying strengths and areas that are
  problematic
   Classification of the problem
   Relating the problem to other known facts
• Prediction & Control
  o Determinism – human behaviour is lawful and can
  be related to environmental variables.
  o Empiricism – objective observation and
  measurement
  o Experimentation – controlled comparison
   IVs and DVs
   Functional analysis
   Behavioural analysis
• Understanding
• Improving Quality of Life (does the intervention
  make meaningful improvements in the individuals’
  QOL; social significance)

Question 25

(7) Characteristics/Dimensions of ABA (Baer et al., 1987)

Answer 25

Applied
* Applying ABA to solve social problems
* Solution includes individual and people around
them
* Are they actually problems and prioritizing them
* Solving problems can lead to more problems
occurring (knock on effects; behavioural cusps like
communication open up doors to improve
opportunities in their life)

Behavioural
* BA has different components/level of analysis
* Simplifying technical terms to make it digestible to
others
* Behaviour is contextual
* Precise definitions of behaviour

Analytic
* ABA is an analytical discipline that shows how to
systematically produce behaviour change that are
systematic and make conceptual sense.
* Being analytical makes it easier to understand why
behaviour change methods were effective.
* Being detailed about the systematic changes you
made to ensure your findings are replicable with
other people and/or places.
* How did they change the behaviour? What
specifically did they do? Be precise
* It helps develop theory
* Are the findings replicable?

Technological
* How procedures are carried out with researchers?
Does it need to be ridged? Or flexible?
* Enough information needs to be given to replicate
study by other researchers, understand why it
worked, and enough about the theory to know what
small changes can be made to suit new client
without influencing the effectiveness of the
intervention.
* Requires knowledge of ABA principles and
technology that is behind the science to allow for
interventions to be personalised to the client.

Conceptual
* Behaviour is explained using comprehensive
behavioural theories.
* Behaviour change strategies are informed and
explained by behavioural theories.

Effective
* Did the target behaviour change in the desired
direction
* Did it improve their social life (big enough)
* Did they like the intervention (social validity)
* Did people continue to use the skills post-
intervention
* Cost-benefit analysis (change worth the effort)

Generalized and Social Validity
* Social validity – if people do not like it they will not
use it, ask what is good, ask what is bad about it to
improve it.
* Generalisability – will changes generalise across
settings, conditions, times, or people to be
considered a socially valid change.

Question 26

Ethical Factors (progressive practices that evolves over time)

Answer 26

• Community Standards
• Laws
  o Does ABA abide by the law?
• Prevailing Philosophies
  o Does ABA fit within prevailing philosophies in
  research team and families?
• Individual Freedom
  o Does ABA infringe on the clients’ human agency,
  rights, or freedoms?
• Individual Responsibility
  o Does ABA teach people/clients to be independent
  and responsible of their own behaviour in order to
  ensure the target behaviour is maintained long
  term?
• Dignity
  o Does the intervention maintain the clients dignity?
• Social Validity/Acceptability
  o Social acceptability and benefits of ABA change
  overtime
• Cultural Perspective and Sensitivities
  o Does ABA apply the cultural lens of the client and
  do practitioners ensure they are not labelling
  acceptable cross-cultural behaviours as challenging.

Question 27

Why Have We Been Less Than Successful in Managing Challenging Behaviours in Classrooms?

Answer 27

• Often have difficulty identifying the true cause or
  function of the behaviour
• Interventions or strategies are often implemented
  inconsistently and there is no monitoring or
  evaluation of the implementation
• Consequences have been more punitive than
  positive

Question 28

Three types of information obtained from data collection?

Answer 28

• HYPOTHESIS ABOUT THE FUNCTION or purpose of
  behaviour (can have multiple functions)
• DESCRIPTION OF ANTECEDENT EVENTS that precede
  the problem behaviour and the antecedent events
  that do not precede the problem behaviour (under
  what conditions does the behaviour occur and not
  occur? Requires a strong operational definition)
• HYPOTHESES ABOUT CONSEQUENCES, the events
  which may increase the likelihood of a behaviour
  occurring or not occurring.

Question 29

Operational Definitions of Behaviour

Answer 29

• Having a precise operational definition of the
  behaviour you are collecting data on is key to
  reliabile data collection (observable, measurable,
  and agreed definition of behaviour upon among
  observers).
• Behaviours can be explained/defined in multiple
  ways. Thus, a definition is given to all researchers to
  ensure consistent and reliable data is collected.
• Behaviour is defined BEFORE data collection
  commences and helps us select the most
  appropriate form/system of data collection.
• Behaviour must be both observable and
  measurable.

Question 30

What does Pinpointing Behaviour mean?

Answer 30

• Educational psychologists will need to pinpoint
  behaviour from vague case reports and anecdotal
  data from people involved with the child.
• This includes distinguishing fact from
  opinion/inferences/bias/unwarranted
  generalisations/ and identifies cause and effect
  relationships ABC to formulate a valid conclusion
  from the case report.

Question 31

Benefits of Operational Definition

Answer 31

• Ensures that ALL teachers are collecting data on the
  same behavior and measuring it in the same way.
• You have reliable data that give accurate
  information.
• It enables teachers to verify that their intervention
  are working.
• Goals should are more precise.

Question 32

How do we select a data collection method?

Answer 32

When selecting a data collection method, we need to choose the one most appropriate to the target behaviour, the goal, and avoid inflating the frequency of the behaviour.

Question 33

Anecdotal Reports are?

Answer 33

 A written description of events that occur during a
specific time period. It describes the setting,
individuals, relationships, actions, and words
spoken within the environment.
 Useful for analysis, not evaluation of behaviour.
 Target behaviour is identified after recording
anecdotal report
 It is a good place to start but is not suitable for long-
term data collection because it is time-consuming

Question 34

What are the three categories of data collection systems?

Answer 34

Anecdotal Reports
Tangible Products
Observational Systems (event, interval, time sampling, duration, latency)

Question 35

What is Permanent Product Recording?

Answer 35

 Recording tangible items or environmental effects
that result from a behaviour (otherwise called
outcome recording).
 May be used to collect data for the following
behavioural dimensions:
o Rate
o Topography
o Force
 Permanent products need to be measured
consistently across time to gain enough data to see
behaviour change over time.

Question 36

Observational Recording Systems: Event Recording

Answer 36

 Event Recording – recording the number of times a
behaviour occurs (frequency).
o If we are interested in measuring the behavioural
response we use event recording, interval
recording, or time sampling.
 Used with discrete behaviours (clear beginning and
end; easy to start and stop; not humming)

 Behaviours for which event recording is not
appropriate:
o Behaviours that occur at a high frequency (e.g.,
number of steps taken during running)
o Behaviours for which one occurrence of the
behaviour can last for long periods of time (e.g.,
tantrum/crying)

 Advantages of Event Recording:
o Accurate
o Easy to implement data collection system

Question 37

Observational Recording Systems: Trial-Based Recording

Answer 37

 Trial Based Recording – records a discrete
occurrence of behaviour (recording the Stimulus –
Response – Stimulus data when a target behaviour
occurs)
o If we are interested in measuring the behavioural
response we use event recording, interval
recording, or time sampling.
 A variation of event recording uses a technique
called controlled presentation.
 In this method the instructor controls the number
of opportunities the student will have to perform
the targeted behaviour.
 A trial is a discrete occurrence because it has an
identifiable beginning and ending (S-R-S)

Question 38

Observational Recording Systems: Time Sampling

Answer 38

 Time Sampling– recording whether a behaviour
occurs during intervals or at specified moments of
time (whole or partial interval)
o If we are interested in measuring the behavioural
response we use event recording, interval
recording, or time sampling.

Question 39

Observational Recording Systems: Duration Recording

Answer 39

 Duration Recording – recording the length of a time
a behaviour occurs (for lengthy behaviours)
o Average duration – used when the behaviour occurs
regularly. Teacher measures length of the time
consumed in each occurrence and then finds the
average duration for that day.
o Total duration – measures how long a student
engages in a behaviour during a limited time period

Question 40

Observational Recording Systems: Latency Recording

Answer 40

 Latency Recording – recording the amount of time it
takes for a student to begin the targeted behaviour
(when a behaviour occurs after it has been
signalled; i.e., taking too long to follow instructions)
o If I am looking at what happens before a
behavioural response. That is, the antecedent we
use latency recording.

Question 41

Similarities and Differences Between Time Sampling and Interval Recording

Answer 41

o Both provide an approximation of how often the
behaviour occurs. (Neither as accurate as event
recording)
o Interval provides a closer approximation than time
sampling to actual occurrence of behaviours
because intervals in smaller units (e.g., seconds
versus minutes)
o Interval recording for short observation periods,
time sampling for longer observation periods
o Time sampling easier to manage while teaching
because intervals divided into longer units of time
o During interval recording the behaviour can be
noted and recorded during any point during the
interval. During time sampling occurrence of the
behaviour is observed and recorded only at the end
of the interval.
o For both, number of intervals in which the
behaviour was observed is reported not the
number of occurrences of the behaviour.

Question 42

Duration & Latency Recording both do what?

Answer 42

Both emphasize measures of time rather than instances of behaviour

Question 43

Benefits of Graphing

Answer 43

 Provides immediate feedback on a student’s
behaviour (Is what I’m doing effective? It provides
positive reinforcement for the teacher/therapist)
 Allows the practioner to examine trends in a
student’s behaviour. (i.e., patterns)
 Provides teachers with a visual representation of
the effectiveness of an intervention.
 Allows for others to independently judge the
effectiveness of an intervention. (IEP team, families,
or stakeholders)
 Important source of feedback to the student
regarding his/her behaviour. (positive
reinforcement)
 Helps us predict future behaviour.
 Graphs tell a story

Question 44

(3) types of graphs:

Answer 44

 Line Graph
 Cumulative Graph
 Bar Graph