Applied Behavior Analysis Introduction

Applied Behavior Analysis is a method of teaching designed to change behaviors in a systematic way utilizing data to measure the results. Teaching usually targets specific behaviors and skills in various domains. ABA is the one of the most used methods to teach children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. This method consists of identifying specific skills and then teaching the skills in a highly structured environment. Various techniques are used to help children acquire new skills.

Learning is broken down into three major components; Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence. The Antecedent is any stimuli preceding a desired behavior. An antecedent could be a verbal direction, the presentation of a specific book, etc. The Behavior is a desired action. A behavior could be following a direction, responding to a question, etc. The Consequence is the action that occurs directly after the desired behavior. A consequence could be reinforcement or correction. Reinforcement is a strategy that is used to increase the likelihood of a specific behavior. Correction helps teach the desired behavior.

Some other techniques used in Applied Behavior Analysis are shaping, prompting, fading, and chaining.

Shaping is a strategy that is used when a child does not have a specific skill. The instructor will reinforce the closest response to the targeted skill until the new skill is attained.

Prompting is a strategy that is used to help children make correct responses. Prompting can be given at various times during teaching and in various ways. There are various types of prompts. They are verbal, modeling, physical, gestural, and positional cues.

Fading is a technique used to remove prompts and reinforcement. This slowly occurs to make learning more naturalistic and representational of everyday learning.

Task Analysis is a method of breaking goals and skills down into smaller parts and taught independently. Once one of the smaller skills is learned then another skill is chain to the learned skill until the entire goal or new skill is acquired.

Chaining   is the process of combining smaller learned skills to complete a more complex skill. There are two types of Chaining: Forward Chaining and Backward Chaining.

Forward Chaining begins by teaching the first step in the sequence and then prompting the rest of the sequence. Once the first step is mastered the second step is then taught and the rest of the sequence is prompted. This continues until the entire sequence is mastered and the child is able to accomplish complex skills.

Backward Chaining begins by prompting the first steps and teaching the last step first. When the last step is acquired the second to last step is then taught. This continues until the entire complex sequence of steps is acquired.

Resources:
Maurice, C., Green, G., & Luce , S.C. (Eds.). (1996). Behavioral Intervention for Young Children with Autism: A manual for parents and professionals. Austin , TX : Pro-Ed.