Applied Behaviour Analysis

Behaviour analysis is a scientific approach to understanding behaviour and how it is affected by the environment. “Behaviour” refers to all kinds of actions and skills (not just misbehaviour), and “environment” includes all sorts of physical and social events that might change or be changed by one's behaviour. The science of behaviour analysis focuses on principles (that is, general laws) about how behaviour works, or how learning takes place. For example, one principle of behaviour analysis is positive reinforcement: When a behaviour is followed by something that is valued (a “reward”), that behaviour is likely to be repeated. Through decades of research, the field of behaviour analysis has developed many techniques for increasing useful behaviours and reducing those that may be harmful or that interfere with learning. Applied behaviour analysis (ABA) is the use of those techniques and principles to address socially important problems, and to bring about meaningful behaviour change.

 

Intensive Behavioural Intervention

IBI is the application of the science of ABA in an intensive manner. Research shows us that a minimum of twenty hours per week is required to show progress. Read more »

 

Who Can Benefit from ABA?

ABA methods have been used successfully with many kinds of learners of all ages, with and without disabilities, in many different settings. In the early 1960s, behaviour analysts began working with young children with autism and related disorders. Those pioneers used techniques in which adults directed most of the instruction, as well as some in which children took the lead. Since that time, a wide variety of ABA techniques have been developed for building useful skills in learners with autism of all ages. Those techniques are used in both structured situations (such as formal instruction in classrooms) and in more “natural” everyday situations (such as during play or mealtime at home), and in one-to-one as well as group instruction. They are used to develop basic skills like looking, listening, and imitating, as well as complex skills like reading, conversing, and taking the perspective of others.

The use of ABA principles and techniques to help persons with autism live happy and productive lives has expanded rapidly in recent years. Today, ABA is widely recognized as a safe and effective treatment for autism. It has been endorsed by a number of worldwide agencies, including, but not limited to a number of Canadian Provincial Governments, U.S. state and federal agencies, the U. S. Surgeon General and the New York State Department of Health.

ABA based on Skinner's Anaysis of verbal behaviour

In 1957, Skinner published a book called 'Verbal Behaviour,' which has recently begun to have an incredible impact on the field of ABA. This book represents a completely behavioural treatment of human language. Skinner defines verbal behaviour as behaviour that achieves its effect on the world throug the mediation of someone else's behaviour. This means that reinforcement of verbal behaviour is indirect, as oppose to reinforcement of non-verbal behaviour. Skinner also identified several verbal units (mand, echoic, textual, intraverbal, and tact). Today, many prominent Behaviourists, including, Jack Michael, Mark Sundberg, Jim Partington, and Vince Carbone, have conducted and published research on verbal behaviour. This research can be found in The Analysis of Verbal Behavior journal. This body of research serves as the basic and applied foundation of teaching 'verbal behaviour.'

Source: Concepts and Principles of Behavior Analysis by Jack L. Michael

 

A comprehensive, state-of-the-art, ABA program for individuals with autism means that:

All teaching objectives are observable and measurable to ensure that behaviour change is occurring; that is, that children are actually learning skills and displaying more appropriate behaviour

Skills and treatment objectives are broken down into small components or teaching steps to facilitate behaviour

The impact of the environment, the way in which we teach, is continuously assessed to determine its influence on a child's behaviour and acquisition of new skills

While there is a basic framework outlining the treatment / teaching interactions, all facets of the program such as the selection of target objectives, the way instructions are delivered, the rewards or methods of encouragement given, and the type of assistance or prompting provided to correct errors are individualized to the needs and learning style to each individual child

Generalization of skills to more natural settings, with relevant caregivers is an explicit part of the program.