An Introduction to Applied Behaviour Analysis

1
An Introduction to Applied Behaviour Analysis
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What is Behaviour?

• Basically, behaviour is anything a dead man cant
  do.
• This includes running, jumping, thinking,
  playingand living.

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Labels

• Broad categories
• Do not permit quantitative treatment
• Change or maintain our preconceptions
• Explanatory fiction

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Behaviour Analysis

• Behaviour is the focal point
• Application of scientific methods
• Percentage correct
• Follows concepts and principles
• Precise definitions
• Altering environmental stimuli
• Rejection of hypothetical processes

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Behaviour

• Topographical features
• Frequency
• Duration
• Latency

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Defining behaviour

• In order to properly understand a behaviour and
  its controlling variables it must be properly
  defined.
• John is aggressive.
• John hits his mother when he is asked to tidy his
  bedroom.

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The Basic Unit of Behaviour

• Antecedent a stimulus or event that precedes a
  behaviour.
• Behaviour
• Consequence a stimulus or event occurring
  immediately after a behaviour.

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Applied Behaviour Analysis

• ABA is the scientific study of behaviour. It
  focuses on developing adaptive repertoires of
  behaviour and reducing those behaviours that are
  problematic.

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ABA and Autism

• Autism is a biological disorder of brain
  development in which a child displays a number
  of marked deficits and excesses in several
  behavioural domains communication, imaginative
  activities, reciprocal social interaction, and
  interests and activities. (Green, 1996)

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Data Driven Decisions

• All decisions made in an ABA programme are based
  upon the data collected
• Scientific accountability versus anecdotal
  evidence

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Reinforcement

• The process in which the occurrence of a
  behaviour is followed by a consequence that
  results in an increase in the future probability
  of the behaviour.

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A Reinforcer

• A stimulus or event that will increase the future
  probability of a behaviour when it is delivered
  contingent upon the occurrence of a behaviour.

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Types of Reinforcers

• Material Reinforcers
• Activity Reinforcers
• Social Reinforcers
• Token Reinforcers
• Intrinsic Reinforcers

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Positive Reinforcement

• A type of reinforcement in which, contingent upon
  the behaviour occurring, a stimulus or event is
  presented and the probability of the behaviour
  increases in the future.

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Negative Reinforcement

• A type of reinforcement in which, contingent upon
  the behaviour occurring, an aversive stimulus or
  event is removed and the probability of the
  behaviour increases in the future.

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Points to remember about reinforcers

• What is reinforcing for one persons behaviour
  may not be reinforcing for anothers.
• What reinforces a persons behaviour changes over
  time.
• If the behaviour does not increase the stimulus
  is ineffective as a reinforcer
• Deprivation and Satiation
• Immediacy
• Response Energy

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Shaping

• The development of a new behaviour by the
  successive reinforcement of closer
  approximations and the extinguishing of preceding
  approximations of the behaviour.

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Three aspects of behaviour can be shaped

• Topography the physical form of a response
• Amount the frequency of a response
• Intensity the force of a response

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Choose a starting behaviour

• The starting point and target behaviour may be
  completely dissimilar
• Choose a behaviour that occurs regularly enough
  to be reinforced in early sessions

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Choose the shaping steps

• Outline the successive approximations through
  which the student will be moved in the steps to
  approximate the target behaviour

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Moving along at the correct pace

• Do not move forward too quickly. Only move
  forward when the previous approximation has been
  well established
• Proceed in sufficiently small steps
• If you lose a behaviour by moving too quickly
  return to an earlier approximation
• Do not proceed too slowly. Too much reinforcment
  will make the behaviour very strong

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The Pitfalls of Shaping

• People may be unaware of the strength of shaping
  and can inadvertently shape harmful behaviours or
  fail to take opportunities to shape appropriate
  behaviours

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Chaining

• A procedure used to teach a person to engage in a
  chain of behaviours

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• The stimulus response connections are the links
  that hold the chain together.
• As the saying goes a chain is only as strong as
  its weakest link

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Total Task Presentation

• The learner performs the whole task from start to
  finish
• Incorrect responses are corrected with verbal or
  physical prompts

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Forward Chaining

• The task is broken down into a series of steps.
• The initial step is learned first with subsequent
  steps following

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Backward Chaining

• The task is broken down into a series of steps.
• The last step is followed by the next-to-last
  step

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The Pitfalls of Chaining

• Undesirable chains of behaviour may be
  established through thoughtless administration.
• When an appropriate response following an
  inappropriate response is reinforced, the
  frequency of both behaviours may increase

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Extinction

• The principle of extinction states that
• if, in a given situation, an individual emits a
  previously reinforced response and that response
  is not followed by a reinforcing consequence,
  then
• that person is less likely to do the same thing
  again when he next encounters a similar
  situation.

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Types of Extinction

• Social Extinction ignoring a response
• Sensory Extinction sensory stimulus changes
  that reinforce a response are removed and as a
  result the response is less likely to occur

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The Extinction Burst

• When a behaviour is no longer reinforced, the
  behaviour will temporarily increase in frequency,
  duration, or intensity before it decreases.

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Extinction-Induced Aggression

• An increase in frequency or introduction of novel
  emotional behaviours in the form of aggression or
  annoyance

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Spontaneous Recovery

• When a behaviour has stopped following
  extinction, the behaviour may occur again in the
  future in circumstances in which it was
  previously reinforced

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Considerations

• Have you identified the reinforcer?
• Can you eliminate the reinforcer?
• Is extinction safe to use?
• Can an extinction burst be tolerated?
• Can consistency be maintained?

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Pitfalls of Extinction

• Just as it is possible to inadvertently reinforce
  inappropriate behaviour it is also possible to
  inadvertently extinguish appropriate behaviour.

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DRI

• Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible
  Behaviour refers to a procedure in which an
  incompatible or alternative behaviour is
  reinforced

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DRL

• Differential Reinforcement of Low Rates of
  Behaviour refers to the occurrence of a
  reinforcer contingent upon a low rate of
  responding
• Limited responding some behaviour is tolerable
  but less is better
• Spaced responding the response is desirable but
  only at a certain rate.

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DRO

• Differential Responding of Zero Behaviour is a
  procedure in which the reinforcer is delivered
  following intervals of time in which the problem
  behaviour does not occur