Principles of ABA

Question 1

Positive Reinforcement

Answer 1

Occurs when a behavior is followed immediately by the presentation of stimuli that increases (or maintains) future frequency of the behavior in similar circumstances.
* Examples: Every time a Client requests a snack, he gets a cookie - the clients behavior will continue. Every time a Toddler cries, Mom gives him a hug - the clients behavior will continue. You are adding something to the environment

Question 2

Negative Reinforcement

Answer 2

Negative reinforcement is a method that can be used to help teach specific behaviors. With negative reinforcement, something uncomfortable or otherwise unpleasant is taken away in response to a stimulus. Over time, the target behavior should increase with expectation that the unpleasant thing will be taken away.

Question 3

Positive Punishment

Answer 3

Occurs when a behavior is immediately followed by the presentation of stimuli that decreases (or reduces) future frequency of behavior in similar circumstances.
* Examples: Jose hit Lisa because he wanted to play her. The teacher reprimands Jose and told him not hit her again. Jose then asked Lisa to play with him the next day. The teacher’s reprimand was an example of positive punishment (decreased future frequency of hitting behavior).

Question 4

Negative Punishment

Answer 4

The goal of punishment is to decrease unwanted behavior. In the case of negative punishment, it involves taking something good or desirable away to reduce the occurrence of a particular behavior

Question 5

Reinforcer

Answer 5

Reinforcers motivate children to learn new skills. Often times, children with autism are not readily motivated by social feedback or other natural consequences received from parents, teachers or peers. Insensitivity to social consequences and signals is a core aspect of the disorder.

Question 6

Punisher

Answer 6

An event that, when made contingent on a behavior, decreases the frequency of that behavior. A stimulus that, when presented immediately following a response, effects a reduction in the rate of the response.

Question 7

Conditioned Reinforcer

Answer 7

Conditioned reinforcers are reinforcers that serve as reinforcement because of a history of being paired with another reinforcer or reinforcers. In ABA, one of the most common conditioned reinforcers is a token in a token economy. In real life, money is probably the most widely used conditioned reinforcer. We use money (a conditioned reinforcer) to buy primary reinforcers such as food and shelter. Over time, we learn that money itself is reinforcing because of its ability to get us access to other reinforcers. Children are not born knowing that money is reinforcing. They learn this association over time.

Question 8

Unconditioned Reinforcer

Answer 8

Unconditioned reinforcer is also called a primary reinforcer. These are reinforcer that do not need to be learned, such as food, water, oxygen, warmth and sex. These are all primary drives that we have a basic survival and if they are deprived in any way, gaining access to these reinforcers is very motivating.

Question 9

Extinction

Answer 9

Extinction refers to the fading away and eventual elimination of undesirable behaviors. If a problem behavior no longer occurs, it’s said to be extinct, and the therapeutic process of accomplishing this is referred to as extinction

Question 10

Deprivation

Answer 10

Deprivation of the reinforcer - Deprivation occurs when clients have had limited access to their reinforcers. For example, when a client hasn’t had access to a preferred toy for a period of time, they will be more likely to want interact with that toy.

Question 11

Satiation

Answer 11

A decrease in the frequency of operant behavior presumed to be the result of continued contact with or consumption of a reinforcer that has followed the behavior; also refers to a procedure for reducing effectiveness of a reinforcer

Question 12

Contingency

Answer 12

A contingency can be either a reinforcement or punishment that occurs after a behavior has been expressed by an individual group. A naturally existing contingency, in layman’s terms, “natural consequence” happens without the manipulation of the behavioral analysts.

Question 13

Motivating Operations

Answer 13

Motivating operations are the motivations that encourage or discourage certain behaviors. Their purpose is to enhance or reduce the reinforcement value. It could impact the effectiveness of a certain event or stimulus in its role as reinforcer.

Question 14

Antecedent

Answer 14

Also known as the “setting event,” the antecedent refers to the action, event, or circumstance that led up to the behavior and encompasses anything that a teacher, the presence of another person or student, or even a change in the environment.

Question 15

Behavior

Answer 15

The behavior refers to what the student does in response to the antecedent and is sometimes referred to as “the behavior of interest” or “target behavior.” The behavior is either pivotal - meaning it leads to other undesirable behaviors - a problem behavior that creates danger for the student or others, or a distracting behavior that removes the child from the instructional setting or prevents other students from receiving instruction. Note: a given behavior must be described with an “operational definition” that clearly delineates the topography or shape of the behavior in a way that makes it possible for two different observers to identify the same behavior.

Question 16

Consequence

Answer 16

The consequence is an action or response that follows the behavior. A consequence, which a very similar to “reinforcement” in Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning, is not necessarily a punishment or disciplinary action, it can be. For example, if a child screams or throws a tantrum, the consequence may involve the adult (the parent or teacher) withdrawing from the area, such as being given a timeout.

Question 17

3-Term Contingency

Answer 17

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 consequences of behavior can effect its future occurrence. Three-term contingencies account for much of what scientists have discovered about the prediction and control of human behavior.

Question 18

Stimulus

Answer 18

An energy that affects an organism through its receptor skills. The environment is made up of tons of stimuli. Stimuli can be anything that one can use their five senses to experience; something you see, smell, hear, or feel

Question 19

Discriminative Stimulus

Answer 19

The discriminative stimulus describes something that is the trigger for a specific behavior. The discriminative stimulus comes first; then, the behavior follows as a direct discriminative stimulus signals the opportunity to respond.

Question 20

Stimulus Control

Answer 20

Stimulus control occurs when an operant (learned) behavior is emitted in the presence of certain appropriate antecedent stimuli and is not emitted when these stimuli are missing or other inappropriate stimuli are present. A child that says “dog” in the presence of a chihuahua but does not say “dog” when in the presence of a Maine Coon cat is demonstrating stimulus control

Question 21

Response

Answer 21

Response class: a group of responses of varying topography, all of which produce the same effect on the environment. Applied Behavior Analysis (2nd Edition) This means the responses physically look different even though they have the same effect on the environments