Intro to ABA 101: Operant Behaviors

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BF Skinner--Father of Operant ConditioningLast time, we talked about classical conditioning and respondent behaviors. Now we will discuss another category called operant behaviors, a principle that was coined by the behaviorist B.F. Skinner (right).

In order for us to better understand operant behavior we must first look at the components that control and maintain it. Contrast to respondent behaviors, which follow a two-term contingency of stimulus-response, operant behavior is broken down into three key parts in the following sequence:

Antecedent → Behavior → Consequence

We call this the three-term contingency (ABC):

  • Antecedent  (A): Events that occur before the behavior
  • Behavior (B): What the person does that can be observed, defined, and measured
  • Consequence (C): Events that occur immediately after the behavior

Operant behaviors are different from respondent behaviors in that operants are maintained by the consequences, whereas respondent behaviors are elicited by the events that come before them. In other words, individuals “operate” on the environment to produce the consequences. Let’s look at these examples of operant behaviors:

Antecedent

 →

Behavior

→

Consequence

Child is alone in bedroom

Child cries and yells “mommy”

Mother comes into room and picks up child

Kettle of boiling water whistling on stove

Man takes kettle off stove

Kettle stops whistling

Dog runs away from woman

Woman grabs dog’s collar

Dog bites woman

Brother and sister are watching T.V.

Brother pulls sister’s hair

Babysitter turns off T.V.

 

Next time: Intro to ABA 101: Operant Conditioning part 1—Reinforcement and Punishment

References

Catania, A. C. (1998). Learning (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2006). Applied Behavior Analysis (2nd ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Donahoe, J. W., & Palmer, D. C. (1994). Learning and complex behavior. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Skinner, B. F. (1938). The behavior of organisms. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Intro to ABA 101: Respondent Behavior and Classical Conditioning

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This entry will be the first in a series that provides a general overview of behavior analytic principles and will hopefully give you a basic understanding of behaviorism.

There are two categories of behaviors: respondent and operant. In this entry we will talk about the first kind, which are essentially reflexes that occur in response to stimuli in the environment. When you flinch at a loud noise or when you blink in response to a bright light, these are respondent behaviors. The relationship between stimulus and response is expressed in this sequence:

Stimulus (S) → Response (R)

Respondent conditioning (or also known as classical conditioning) is when something in the environment that does not originally elicit a response can be made to do so. This is done through stimulus pairing. The researcher who discovered this paradigm was Ivan Pavlov, who investigated digestion and salivation in dogs. Pavlov observed the dogs salivating even before they were presented with food, and seemingly to the sight of the researchers’ lab coats. He then began pairing what he called a neutral stimulus (sound of a bell) with the unconditioned stimulus (food) by presenting them at the same time. Over time, the sound of the bell by itself elicited salivating in the dogs.

1). Food elicited salivating in the dogs

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)–Food → Unconditioned Response (UCR)– Salivating


2). Sound of the bell did not elicit salivating in the dogs

Neutral Stimulus (NS)–Bell NO Unconditioned Response (UCR)– Salivating


3). Sound of bell paired with food

Neutral Stimulus (NS)–Bell → Unconditioned Response (UCR)– Salivating
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)–Food


4). Sound of bell conditioned to elicit salivating in the dogs

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)–Bell → Conditioned Response (CR)– Salivating



Next time: Intro to ABA 101: Operant Behaviors

References

Pavlov, I.P. (1927). Conditioned Reflexes: An Investigation of the Physiological Activity of the Cerebral Cortex (translated by G.V. Anrep). London: Oxford University Press.

Skinner, B. F. (1938). The behavior of organisms. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

ABA Providers for Autism

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Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released an estimate that now 1 in 88 children in the United States has been diagnosed with a form of autism, which is an increase of nearly 80 percent over the last decade. There is some controversy as to whether this dramatic rise in prevalence is due to an actual increase in the number of children with Autism or may actually be attributed to greater awareness and better screening tools. Nonetheless, this increase in autism diagnoses means even more demand for effective services for these children.

Tactics and instructional protocols based on applied behavior analysis (ABA) have been shown to be successful in teaching new skills to children with autism. But to be effective and to maximize the best outcomes, the ABA programs must be implemented by a qualified professional.

How do I find a qualified professional to implement ABA programs for my child?

First you need to make sure the person developing and supervising your child’s ABA program is a board certified behavior analyst (BCBA). A BCBA has completed the minimum standards for education and experience specific to behavior analysis. This person will have acquired a minimum of a master’s degree in behavior analysis or related field, completed 225 classroom hours of graduate level instruction in the specified content areas established by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB®) and accumulated 1,500 hours of supervised experience under someone who holds a BCBA. He or she has also been approved by review of the BACB® and passed a standardized examination.

A list of board certified behavior analysts can be found at the BACB® website under consumer information. Certificants can be searched by last name or location.

Fortunately, having a BCBA is becoming recognized as a requirement to practicing ABA-based interventions on individuals with developmental disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder. Most insurance companies provide funding only for services supervised by a BCBA. However, behavior analysis as a discipline is not exclusive to autism intervention. There are a variety of populations for whom behavior analysts provide services, so if someone has a BCBA it does not automatically mean he or she has experience in developing programs for individuals with autism. In order to help families find ABA providers who can serve individuals with autism, the Autism Special Interest Group of the Association for Behavior Analysis International developed the Consumer Guidelines for Indentifying, Selecting and Evaluating Behavior Analysts Working with Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Do not be afraid to ask questions about the background and credentials of your providers; there are some highly unqualified providers out there touting autism behavioral treatment for families.

References

Baio, Jon. (2008). Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders — Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 14 Sites, United States, 2008. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Surveillance. 1-19

Baron-Cohen S, Scott FJ, Allison C, et al. Prevalence of autism-spectrum conditions: UK school-based population study. Br J Psychiatry 2009;194:500–9.

Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies – www.behavior.org

Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2006). Applied Behavior Analysis (2nd ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Rice C.E., Baio J., Van Naarden Braun K., Doernberg N., Meaney F.J., Kirby R.S., for the ADDM Network. A public health collaboration for the surveillance of autism spectrum disorders. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol 2007;21:179–90.

Behavior analyst? You made that up, right?

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Whenever I tell people I’m a behavior analyst, they usually respond with, “Hah! That sounds made up! That can’t be a real thing.” I’m not really surprised at this reaction. After all, behavior analysis is still a relatively new, however rapidly expanding, discipline. According to the BACB (the corporation responsible for certifying behavior analyst practitioners), at the time of this writing, there are a little over 10,000 board certified behavior analysts (BCBA) and board certified assistant behavior analysts (BCaBA) worldwide. This may sound like a large amount, but compare this to the number of psychologists (over 85,000 as of 2004) there are in the United States alone.

Below is a graphic by Richard B. Graff, Ph.D., BCBA-D of the New England Center for Children on the per capita number of BCBAs by state in the US. As you can see, there are states that really don’t have that many BCBAs at all.

BCBAs in the US

If I were a punk rocker, astronaut, comedian, acrobat or any other profession that has long been present in the public consciousness, I would never be faced with the task of explaining what I do. How many of us as a child, when asked what we wanted to be when we grew up, said, “I want to apply empirically validated interventions to improve socially significant behaviors! Or draw cartoons!” (Being a cartoonist was my childhood dream job)?

So behavior, eh? That’s so complex! Surely you can’t analyze it? You mean people do this for a living?

Yes, people do this! Behavior analysts observe environmental causes of behavior and attempt to understand, describe and predict behavior. In the applied setting we use this information to increase desirable behaviors, decrease undesirable behaviors and teach new behaviors to our clients.

Behavior analysts use the science of behavior called applied behavior analysis (ABA) to develop language programs for non-verbal children, teach functional living skills to adults in residential facilities, train teachers in classroom management, and help managers solve organizational problems in companies. Do you need someone to create a program for you to develop better exercise habits or perhaps help you quit smoking? There are behavior analysts out there who can do that as well.

There are also many behavior analysts who specialize in developing programs for people diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Over 500 studies published in various scientific journals show the effectiveness of applied behavior analysis on promoting social skills and language development as well as reducing behaviors that interfere with learning for individuals with autism.

Now when someone tells you he or she is a behavior analyst, you can say, “Oh, I’ve heard of that” instead of, “You’re a what?”

Next time: How to make sure your clinician is a qualified behavior analyst.

References

Baer, D.M., Wolf, M.M., & Risley, T.R. (1968). Some current dimensions of applied behavior analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1, 91-97.

Baer, D. M., Wolf, M. M., & Risley, T. R. (1987). Some still-current dimensions of applied behavior analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 20, 313-327

Cooper J.O, Heron T.E, Heward W.L. Applied behavior analysis (2nd ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson; 2007.

Martin, N. & Shook, G. L. (2011).  The Behavior Analyst Certification Board and international credentialing for behaviour analysts.  European Journal of Behavior Analysis.  12(1), 41-47.

Shook, G. L., Rosales, S. A., & Glenn, S. (2002). Certification and training of behavior analyst professionals. Behavior Modification, 26(1), 27-48.

Skinner, B. F. (1936). The verbal summator and a method for the study of latent speech. Journal of Psychology, 2, 71-107.

 

Welcome to the IBC blog!

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My goal here is to help you understand behavior and how we can use behavior analytic principles to improve our lives and the lives of others. This will also be a forum for discussion on research in applied behavior analysis (ABA) and articles in the media.

Do you have a question about applied behavior analysis? Are you seeking resources?

Send your questions to blog@interactbehavior.com or you can use the form in the ASK A BEHAVIOR ANALYST section.

To reach the main company site go to www.interactbehavior.com.

Thank you and welcome!