Behavior Analysis as a Science and Levels of Scientific Understanding
What is Applied Behavior Analysis?
A scientific approach for discovering environmental variables that reliably influence socially significant behavior and for developing technology of behavior change that is practical and applicable.
ABA is an evidence based applied science!
What is selectionism?
In Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), selectionism is the idea that behavior is shaped and maintained by its consequences over time.
It comes from the broader concept of selection by consequences, similar to how natural selection works in biology.
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A single instance of behavior
a measurable unit of analysis in the science of behavior
A Response
Abigail's dog jumps out of bed and starts barking. Abigail yells, 'ugh shut up.' After several occurrences, the dog’s barking decreases and the dog is less likely to bark when on the couch.
What is this?
Positive punishment
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A relationship between a behavior and the consequence that follows it.
Contingency
What is the purpose of Science?
To science the understanding of the phenomena under study.
In ABA this is socially important/significant behaviors
What is Determinism?
In Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), determinism is the assumption that behavior does not happen randomly. Instead, behavior is influenced by identifiable factors in a person’s environment and learning history.
Things have a cause and effect. It is orderly and predictable.
What is a behavior?
A larger set/class of responses that share physical dimensions or functions
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Removing something unpleasant after a behavior, which makes that behavior more likely to happen in the future.
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A stimulus that becomes reinforcing through learning or pairing with other reinforcers.
Conditioned reinforcer
AKA secondary reinforcer
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Two events that may regularly occur at the same time.
Prediction
AKA: correlation or covariation
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we rely on direct observation and objective, measurable evidence rather than opinions, assumptions, or guesses.
This is all based on the facts.
Empirisim
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a group of antecedent stimuli that has a common effect on an operant class.
These evoke of abate the same behavior or response class but may vary across physical dimensions.
Stimulus class
What is negative punishment?
negative punishment means removing somethingafter a behavior, which makes that behavior less likely to happen in the future.
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A contingency in which the consequence is produced by the behavior itself or occurs without another person's direct involvement.
Automatic contingency
What is Description?
Systematic observations that can be quantified and classified
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The simplest theory
All simple explanations must be ruled out before considering more complex explanations
Parsimony
What is a response class?
a group of behaviors that comprise of an operant (have the same function)
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A type of learning where behavior is influenced by what happens immediately after the behavior.
Operant conditioning
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A reinforcer that is naturally reinforcing and does not require prior learning.
Unconditioned reinforcer
AKA primary reinforcer
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Functional relation. The highest level of scientific understanding. Experimental demonstration of that maniplulating one event results in another event.
Control
AKA: causation
What is Pragmatism?
Pragmatism means focusing on whether an intervention actually works and produces meaningful results in real life.
What is a stimuli?
physical events that affect the behavior of an individual. May be internal or external.
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Learning that happens when a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a stimulus that naturally produces a response.
Respondent conditioning
AKA classical conditioning
What is a socially mediated contingency
A contingency in which another person's behavior provides, removes, or otherwise mediates the consequence.