{{Short description|Application of respondent and operant conditioning to change behavior}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}} {{cs1 config|name-list-style=vanc|display-authors=6}} {{Psychology sidebar|applied}} '''Applied behavior analysis''' ('''ABA'''), also referred to as '''behavioral engineering''',<ref name=behavioranalysislearning>{{cite book| vauthors= Pierce WD, Cheney CD| date= June 16, 2017| orig-date= 1995| title= Behavior Analysis and Learning: A Biobehavioral Approach| url= https://www.routledge.com/Behavior-Analysis-and-Learning-A-Biobehavioral-Approach-Sixth-Edition/Pierce-Cheney/p/book/9781138898585| edition= 6| location= New York| publisher= Routledge| pages= 1–622| isbn= 978-1-138-89858-5| access-date= 1 December 2018| archive-date= 3 June 2021| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210603031001/https://www.routledge.com/Behavior-Analysis-and-Learning-A-Biobehavioral-Approach-Sixth-Edition/Pierce-Cheney/p/book/9781138898585}}</ref><ref name=behavioralpsychiatricnurse/> is a psychological discipline that uses respondent and operant conditioning to change human and animal behavior. ABA is the applied form of behavior analysis; the other two are: radical behaviorism (or the philosophy of the science) and experimental analysis of behavior, which focuses on basic experimental research.<ref name="Baer_1968">{{cite journal | vauthors = Baer DM, Wolf MM, Risley TR | title = Some current dimensions of applied behavior analysis | journal = Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis | volume = 1 | issue = 1 | pages = 91–97 | date = 1968 | pmid = 16795165 | pmc = 1310980 | doi = 10.1901/jaba.1968.1-91 }}</ref>
The term ''applied behavior analysis'' has replaced behavior modification because the latter approach suggested changing behavior without clarifying the relevant behavior-environment interactions.<ref name="JEAB"/><ref name=Mace1994>{{cite journal|author=Mace, FC|title=The significance and future of functional analysis methodologies|journal=Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis|volume=27|issue=2|pages=385–392|date=1994|pmid=16795830|pmc=1297814|doi=10.1901/jaba.1994.27-385}}</ref><ref name=PeliosEtAl1999>{{cite journal|author=Pelios, L, Morren, J, Tesch, D, Axelrod, S|title=The impact of functional analysis methodology on treatment choice for self-injurious and aggressive behavior|journal=Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis|volume=32|issue=2|pages=185–195|date=1999|pmid=10396771|pmc=1284177|doi=10.1901/jaba.1999.32-185}}</ref> In contrast, ABA changes behavior by first assessing the functional relationship between a targeted behavior and the environment, a process known as a functional behavior assessment. Further, the approach seeks to develop socially acceptable alternatives for maladaptive behaviors, often through implementing differential reinforcement contingencies.<ref name="JEAB"/><ref name=Mace1994/><ref name=PeliosEtAl1999/>
Although ABA is most commonly associated with autism intervention, it has been used in a range of other areas, including applied animal behavior, substance abuse, organizational behavior management, behavior management in classrooms, and acceptance and commitment therapy.<ref name="APA_Handbook_Behavior_Analysis"/><ref name="AP_Clinical_and_Organizational_Applications_of_ABA"/><ref name=APA_Behavior_Analysis_Division_25>{{cite journal|url=https://www.apadivisions.org/division-25/about|title=Division 25 - About Behavior analysis|journal=American Psychological Association|access-date=August 12, 2024}}</ref> ABA is controversial and rejected by the autistic rights movement due to a perception that it emphasizes normalization instead of acceptance, as well as a history of – in some forms of ABA and its predecessors – the use of aversives, such as electric shocks.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Ne'Eman A |date=2021 |title=When Disability is Defined by Behavior, Outcome Measures Should Not Promote 'Passing' |journal=AMA Journal of Ethics |volume=23 |issue=7 |pages=E569–E575 |doi=10.1001/amajethics.2021.569 |pmc=8957386 |pmid=34351268}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Schuck RK, Tagavi DM, Baiden KM, Dwyer P, Williams ZJ, Osuna A, Ferguson EF, Jimenez Muñoz M, Poyser SK, Johnson JF, Vernon TW |date=2022 |title=Neurodiversity and Autism Intervention: Reconciling Perspectives Through a Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention Framework |url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10803-021-05316-x.pdf |journal=Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders |volume=52 |issue=10 |pages=4625–4645 |doi=10.1007/s10803-021-05316-x |pmc=9508016 |pmid=34643863}}</ref>
==Definition== ABA is an applied science devoted to developing procedures that will produce meaningful changes in behavior.<ref name="Baer_1968" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=JO |last2=Heron |first2=TE |last3=Heward |first3=WL |title=Applied Behavior Analysis |year=2019 |publisher=Pearson Education (US) |isbn=978-0-13-475255-6 |page=19 |edition=3rd }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Johnston JM, Pennypacker HS |year=1993a |title=Strategies and tactics of behavioral research |location=Hillsdale, NJ |publisher=Erlbaum Associates |page=23 |isbn=978-0-8058-0905-3}}</ref> It is to be distinguished from the experimental analysis of behavior, which focuses on basic research,<ref name=As-in-ABA>{{cite journal | vauthors = Dillenburger K, Keenan M | title = None of the As in ABA stand for autism: dispelling the myths | journal = Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability | volume = 34 | issue = 2 | pages = 193–195 | date = June 2009 | pmid = 19404840 | doi = 10.1080/13668250902845244 | s2cid = 1818966 }}</ref> but it uses principles developed by such research, in particular operant conditioning and classical conditioning. Both branches of behavior analysis adopt the viewpoint of radical behaviorism, treating thoughts, emotions, and other covert activity as behavior that is subject to the same responses as overt behavior.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Baum |first1=WM |title=What is Radical Behaviorism? A Review of Jay Moore's Conceptual Foundations of Radical Behaviorism |journal=Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior |date=2011 |volume=95 |issue=1 |pages=119–126 |doi=10.1901/jeab.2011.95-119|pmc=3014776 }}</ref> This represents a shift away from methodological behaviorism, which restricts behavior-change procedures to behaviors that are overt, and was the conceptual underpinning of behavior modification. Behavior analysts emphasize that the science of behavior must be a natural science as opposed to a social science. As such, behavior analysts focus on the observable relationship of behavior with the environment, including antecedents and consequences, without resort to "hypothetical constructs".<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1037/h0054367 | title=Are theories of learning necessary? | date=1950 | last1=Skinner | first1=B. F. | journal=Psychological Review | volume=57 | issue=4 | pages=193–216 | pmid=15440996 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Marr M |title=The natural selection: behavior analysis as a natural science |journal=European Journal of Behavior Analysis |date=2009 |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=103–118 |url=http://www.ejoba.org/PDF/2009_2/Marr_2009.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129034739/http://www.ejoba.org/PDF/2009_2/Marr_2009.pdf |archive-date=29 November 2014 |doi=10.1080/15021149.2009.11434313 |s2cid=218768283 }}</ref>
==History==
The field of behaviorism originated in 1913 by John B. Watson with his seminal work "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views it".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=JO |last2=Heron |first2=TE |last3=Heward |first3=WL |title=Applied Behavior Analysis |year=2019 |publisher=Pearson Education (US) |isbn=978-0-13-475255-6 |page=11 |edition=3rd }}</ref> In the article, Watson argued against the field of psychology's focus on consciousness and proposed that the field instead focus on observable behaviors, a concept referred to as methodological behaviorism.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Watson |first1=JB |title=Psychology as the behaviorist views it. |journal=Psychological Review |date=1913 |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=158–177 |doi=10.1037/h0074428|hdl=21.11116/0000-0001-9182-7 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> In the 1930s, B. F. Skinner established the concept of radical behaviorism which extended Watson's theory to encompass private events that are unobservable to others, such as thoughts and emotions.<ref name="A study in the founding of applied">{{cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=EK |last2=Altus |first2=DE |last3=Smith |first3=NG |title=A study in the founding of applied behavior analysis through its publications |journal=The Behavior Analyst |date=2013 |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=73–107 |doi=10.1007/BF03392293 |pmid=25729133|pmc=3640891 }}</ref> The initial experiments studying the effectiveness of behavior analysis on human subjects were published in the 1940s and '50s, including Paul Fuller's "Operant conditioning of a vegetative human organism" (1949). In 1957, the Society for Experimental Analysis of Behavior (SEAB) was founded by a group of behavioral psychologists, including Skinner and Charles Ferster, to publish a journal that focused on operant conditioning, and the following year, the first edition of the ''Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior'' was published.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Laties |first1=Victor G. |title=''THE'' JOURNAL OF THE EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIOR ''AT FIFTY'' |journal=Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior |date=January 2008 |volume=89 |issue=1 |pages=95–109 |doi=10.1901/jeab.2008.89-95 |pmid=18338677 |pmc=2211445 }}</ref>
Teodoro Ayllon and Jack Michael's study "The psychiatric nurse as a behavioral engineer" in 1959 was the first to employ the seven dimensions of ABA, which demonstrated how effective a token economy was in altering the aberrant behavior of hospitalized patients with schizophrenia and intellectual disability.<ref name="A study in the founding of applied" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=JO |last2=Heron |first2=TE |last3=Heward |first3=WL |title=Applied Behavior Analysis |year=2019 |publisher=Pearson Education (US) |isbn=978-0-13-475255-6 |pages=11–14 |edition=3rd }}</ref><ref name="behavioralpsychiatricnurse">{{cite journal | vauthors = Ayllon T, Michael J | title = The psychiatric nurse as a behavioral engineer | journal = Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior | volume = 2 | issue = 4 | pages = 323–334 | date = October 1959 | pmid = 13795356 | pmc = 1403907 | doi = 10.1901/jeab.1959.2-323 }} </ref> The successful results from this study led researchers at the University of Kansas to start the ''Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis'' (JABA) in 1968.<ref name="lovaas">{{cite journal | vauthors = Eikeseth S, Smith T, Jahr E, Eldevik S | title = Outcome for children with autism who began intensive behavioral treatment between ages 4 and 7: a comparison controlled study | journal = Behavior Modification | volume = 31 | issue = 3 | pages = 264–278 | date = May 2007 | pmid = 17438342 | pmc = 3089401 | doi = 10.1007/BF03392239 }} </ref><ref name="CooperHeron2007" /> A group of researchers at the University of Washington, including Donald Baer, Sidney W. Bijou, Bill Hopkins, Jay Birnbrauer, Todd Risley, and Montrose Wolf,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Lovitt TC | title = A brief history of applied behavior analysis at the University of Washington | journal = Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis | volume = 26 | issue = 4 | pages = 563–567 | date = 1993 | pmid = 16795814 | pmc = 1297893 | doi = 10.1901/jaba.1993.26-563 }}</ref><ref name="apba">{{cite web|url=http://www.apbahome.net/resource/collection/1FDDBDD2-5CAF-4B2A-AB3F-DAE5E72111BF/APBAwhitepaperABAinterventions.pdf|title=Identifying applied behavior analysis interventions|work= Association of Professional Behavior Analysts |date=July 25, 2016|access-date=December 3, 2018}}</ref> applied the principles of behavior analysis to treat autism, manage the behavior of children and adolescents in juvenile detention centers, and organize employees who required proper structure and management in businesses. In 1968, Baer, Bijou, Risley, Birnbrauer, Wolf, and James Sherman joined the Department of Human Development and Family Life at the University of Kansas, where they founded the ''Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis''.<ref name="HistoryofJABAResearchFaculty">{{cite journal | vauthors = Baer DM | title = A brief, selective history of the Department of Human Development and Family Life at the University of Kansas: The early years | journal = Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis | volume = 26 | issue = 4 | pages = 569–572 | date = 1993 | pmid = 16795815 | pmc = 1297894 | doi = 10.1901/jaba.1993.26-569 }}</ref>
From 1960 through 1997, Ivar Lovaas researched the efficacy of ABA techniques on autistic children. While Lovaas is often considered a pioneer in the field of ABA,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Tristram |last2=Eikeseth |first2=Svein |date=March 2011 |title=O. Ivar lovaas: pioneer of applied behavior analysis and intervention for children with autism |journal=Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=375–378 |doi=10.1007/s10803-010-1162-0 |issn=1573-3432 |pmid=21153872}}</ref>{{Independent source inline|date=January 2026|reason=Both authors of the currently cited paper worked closely with Ivar Lovaas on his ABA research.}} and his work was instrumental in establishing it as an effective treatment for autism,{{Independent source inline|date=January 2026|reason=Both authors of the currently cited paper declared that they worked for The Lovaas Institute, which means they were employees of Ivar Lovaas.}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Larsson |first1=EV |last2=Wright |first2=S |title=O. Ivar Lovaas (1927-2010) |journal=The Behavior Analyst |date=2011 |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=111, 114 |doi=10.1007/BF03392239 |pmc=3089401}}</ref> his early use of aversives (including slapping and electric shocks) has raised considerable ethical concerns. In 2022, a major ABA trade group, the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI), issued a policy statement unconditionally condemning electric-shock aversives.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Association for Behavior Analysis International |title=Position Statement on the Use of CESS - 2022 |publisher=Association for Behavior Analysis International |url=https://www.abainternational.org/about-us/policies-and-positions/position-statement-on-the-use-of-cess-2022.aspx}}</ref> In 2023, the task force ABAI formed to assess the use of electric-shock aversives authored a paper in which they claimed such methods were not inherently unethical and that patients and caregivers should be permitted to opt into them to treat "severe, life-threatening behavior".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Perone |first=Michael |last2=Lerman |first2=Dorothea C. |last3=Peterson |first3=Stephanie M. |last4=Williams |first4=Dean C. |date=2023-06-01 |title=Report of the ABAI Task Force on Contingent Electric Skin Shock |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s40614-023-00379-w |journal=Perspectives on Behavior Science |language=en |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=261–304 |doi=10.1007/s40614-023-00379-w |issn=2520-8977 |pmc=10323060 |pmid=37425985}}</ref> ABAI has historically been criticized by members of the autistic community, including by the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) and its leadership, for routinely platforming staff from the Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC) at its annual conferences.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ne'eman |first=Ari |date=2016-01-21 |title=The errors — and revelations — in two major new books about autism |url=https://www.vox.com/2016/1/21/10801846/autism-in-a-different-key |access-date=2026-01-22 |website=Vox |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-05-22 |title=ASAN Statement On JRC At Association for Behavior Analysis International Conference |url=https://autisticadvocacy.org/2015/05/asan-statement-on-jrc-at-association-for-behavior-analysis-international-conference/ |access-date=2026-01-22 |website=Autistic Self Advocacy Network}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-05-23 |title=Association for Behavior Analysis International Endorses Torture |url=https://autisticadvocacy.org/2019/05/association-for-behavior-analysis-international-endorses-torture/ |access-date=2026-01-22 |website=Autistic Self Advocacy Network}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |date=2022-11-16 |title=ABAI Finally Opposes the Use of Electric Shocks at the JRC |url=https://autisticadvocacy.org/2022/11/abai-finally-opposes-the-use-of-electric-shocks-at-the-jrc/ |access-date=2026-01-22 |website=Autistic Self Advocacy Network}}</ref> The JRC is the only known facility in the United States whose ABA practitioners still use electric shocks to punish autistic people in their care, a practice labeled torture by the United Nations special rapporteur on torture.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mitchell |first=Corey |date=2021-07-30 |title=The U.N. says it's torture. Judges ruled this school can use shock therapy anyway. |url=https://publicintegrity.org/inside-publici/newsletters/watchdog-newsletter/when-a-school-turns-to-shock-therapy/ |access-date=2026-01-22 |website=Center for Public Integrity |language=en-US}}</ref> After ABAI released its 2022 policy statement, ASAN called on ABAI to stop platforming JRC staff members and lobby for a federal ban on electric-shock aversives.<ref name=":5" />
During the 1960s and 1970s, researchers began experimenting on the use of ABA techniques in the form of gay conversion therapy. These methodologies often involved the use of punishment procedures.<ref name="auto">{{cite journal |last1=Conine |first1=Daniel E. |last2=Campau |first2=Sarah C. |last3=Petronelli |first3=Abigail K. |title=LGBTQ + conversion therapy and applied behavior analysis: A call to action |journal=Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis |date=February 2022 |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=6–18 |doi=10.1002/jaba.876|pmid=34407211 }}</ref> Lovaas and his doctoral student George Rekers co-authored a paper titled "Behavioral treatment of deviant sex-role behaviors in a male child" in 1974.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rekers |first1=George A. |last2=Lovaas |first2=O. Ivar |date=June 1974 |title=Behavioral Treatment of Deviant Sex-Role Behaviors in a Male Child1 |journal=Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=173–190 |doi=10.1901/jaba.1974.7-173 |pmc=1311956 |pmid=4436165}}{{Expression of Concern|doi=10.1002/jaba.781|pmid=33084123|http://retractionwatch.com/2020/10/22/journal-flags-but-does-not-retract-decades-old-paper-on-correcting-gender-identity/ ''Retraction Watch''|intentional=yes}}</ref> Several of Lovaas's contemporaries released criticisms of the paper shortly after its publication, and conversion therapy was formally condemned by ABAI in 2021.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=John O. |last2=Heron |first2=Timothy E. |last3=Heward |first3=William L. |title=Applied behavior analysis |date=2019 |publisher=Pearson |location=Hoboken, New Jersey |isbn=978-0-13-475255-6 |page=8 |edition=Third}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Policy Statement on Conversion Therapy and Practices, 2021 - Association for Behavior Analysis International |url=https://www.abainternational.org/about-us/policies-and-positions/policy-statement-on-conversion-therapy-and-practices,-2021.aspx |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=www.abainternational.org}},</ref> In 2020, JABA added an expression of concern and an editor's note to the 1974 paper, which it had originally published. The documents acknowledged the harm done by the study to its 4-year-old subject and the LGBTQ+ community at large, while also claiming the study did not violate the ethical standards of its time and could not be causally linked to the subject's suicide as an adult.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2020-10-20 |title=Expression of Concern |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jaba.781 |journal=Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis |language=en |volume=53 |issue=4 |page=1837 |doi=10.1002/jaba.781 |pmid=33084123 |issn=1938-3703|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=2020-10-20 |title=Editor's Note: Societal changes and expression of concern about Rekers and Lovaas' (1974) Behavioral Treatment of Deviant Sex-Role Behaviors in a Male Child |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jaba.768 |journal=Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis |language=en |volume=53 |issue=4 |pages=1830–1836 |doi=10.1002/jaba.768 |issn=1938-3703}}</ref> Some members of academia, including Arthur Caplan (of the New York University Grossman School of Medicine) and Austin Johnson (of the University of California, Riverside's Graduate School of Education), criticized the journal for claiming the study was conducted ethically for its time and refusing to retract the paper outright.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-10-22 |title=Journal flags — but does not retract — decades-old paper on "correcting" gender identity |url=https://retractionwatch.com/2020/10/22/journal-flags-but-does-not-retract-decades-old-paper-on-correcting-gender-identity/ |access-date=2026-01-20 |website=Retraction Watch |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-01-27 |last=Johnson |first=Austin |title=Child abuse doesn't belong in science {{!}} School of Education |url=https://education.ucr.edu/news/2021/01/27/child-abuse-doesnt-belong-science |access-date=2026-01-20 |website=UC Riverside School of Education |language=en}}</ref>
Over the years, "behavior analysis" gradually superseded "behavior modification". Instead of simply attempting to alter maladaptive behavior, behavior analysts sought to understand the function of that behavior, what reinforcement histories (i.e., attention seeking, escape, automatic (sensory stimulation), access to preferred items or activities) promote and maintain it, and how it can be replaced by an alternative, more appropriate behavior.<ref name=Mace1994/><ref name=PeliosEtAl1999/><ref name="JEAB">{{cite journal | vauthors = Mace FC, Critchfield TS | title = Translational research in behavior analysis: historical traditions and imperative for the future | journal = Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior | volume = 93 | issue = 3 | pages = 293–312 | date = May 2010 | pmid = 21119847| pmc = 2861871 | doi = 10.1901/jeab.2010.93-293 }}</ref>
==Characteristics== thumb|upright=1.5|7 Characteristics of ABA (also known as 7 dimensions of ABA) Baer, Wolf, and Risley's 1968 article<ref>{{Cite book |title=Applied Behavior Analysis |vauthors= Cooper JO, Heron TE |publisher=Pearson Education |year=2019 |isbn=978-0-13-475255-6 |edition=3rd |page=19 }}</ref> is still used as the standard description of ABA.<ref name=CooperHeron2007>{{cite book |vauthors=Cooper JO, Heron TE, Heward WL |title=Applied Behavior Analysis |url=http://wps.prenhall.com/chet_cooper_appliedbeh_2 |edition=2nd |year=2007 |publisher=Prentice Hall |isbn=978-0-13-142113-4 |access-date=5 August 2017 |archive-date=9 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209115909/https://wps.prenhall.com/chet_cooper_appliedbeh_2/ }}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Cooper|Heron|Heward|1987|p=16}}</ref> It lists the following seven characteristics of ABA. Another resource for the characteristics of applied behavior analysis is the textbook ''Behavior Modification: Principles and Procedures''.<ref>{{Cite book | vauthors = Miltenberger R, Virues-Ortega J |date=2020-05-01 |title=Modificación de conducta: Principios y Procedimientos | edition = 6th |doi=10.26741/2020/miltenberger6e|s2cid=218936697 }}</ref> * '''Applied''': ABA focuses on the social significance of the behavior studied and works to improve the lives of those receiving ABA services. * '''Behavioral''': ABA focuses on behavior, which is defined as the observable and measurable movements of an organism. Definitions of behavior should be written unambiguously so they can be clearly understood by a third party. * '''Analytic''': Behavior analysis is successful when the analyst understands and can manipulate the events that control a target behavior. This may be relatively easy to do in the lab, where a researcher is able to arrange the relevant events, but it is not always easy, or ethical, in an applied situation.<ref name="Baer_1968" /> In order to consider something to fall under the spectrum of analytic, it must demonstrate a functional relationship and it must be provable. Baer et al. outline two methods that may be used in applied settings to demonstrate control while maintaining ethical standards. These are the reversal design and the multiple baseline design. In the reversal design, the experimenter first measures the behavior of choice, introduces an intervention, and then measures the behavior again. Then, the intervention is removed, or reduced, and the behavior is measured yet again. The intervention is effective to the extent that the behavior changes and then changes back in response to these manipulations. The multiple baseline method may be used for behaviors that seem irreversible. Here, several behaviors are measured and then the intervention is applied to each in turn. The effectiveness of the intervention is revealed by changes in just the behavior to which the intervention is being applied. * '''Technological''': The description of analytic research must be clear and detailed so that any competent researcher can repeat it accurately.<ref name="Baer_1968" /> * '''Conceptually Systematic''': Behavior analysis should not simply produce a list of effective interventions; rather, intervention protocols should focus on including technological descriptions as well as theoretically meaningful terms, such as "secondary reinforcement" or "errorless discrimination", to help the reader understand how the concepts could be used in similar protocols. * '''Effective''': Interventions must produce behavioral changes that have a large enough effect to make meaningful, positive changes in the client's life. * '''Generality:''' ABA intervention should focus on selecting and teaching new behaviors so the client can transfer those skills into new environments and stimuli outside of what was directly taught. Behavior analysts should incorporate plans for generalization when creating programs.
===Other proposed characteristics===
In 2005, Heward et al. suggested the addition of the following five characteristics:<ref name="Heward_2005">{{cite book | veditors = Heward WL, Heron TE, Neef NA, Peterson SM, Sainato DM, Cartlege GY, Cardner III R, Peterson LD, Hersch SB, Dardig JC |year=2005 |title=Focus on behavior analysis in education: Achievements, challenges, and opportunities |location=Upper Saddle River, NJ | publisher = Prentice Hall/Merrill |isbn=978-0-13-111339-8 }}</ref> * '''Accountable''': ABA must be able to demonstrate that its methods are effective. This requires repeatedly measuring the effect of interventions (success, failure or no effect at all), and, if necessary, making changes that improve their effectiveness. * '''Public''': The methods, results, and theoretical analyses of ABA must be published and open to scrutiny. There are no hidden treatments or mystical, metaphysical explanations. * '''Doable''': To be generally useful, interventions should be available to a variety of individuals, who might be teachers, parents, therapists, or even those who wish to modify their own behavior. With proper planning and training, many interventions can be applied by almost anyone willing to invest the effort.<ref name="Heward_2005" />{{rp|205}} * '''Empowering''': ABA provides tools that give the practitioner feedback on the results of interventions. These allow clinicians to assess their skill level and build confidence in their effectiveness.<ref>{{harvnb|Cooper|Heron|Heward|1987|p=19}}</ref> * '''Optimistic''': Behavior analysts have cause to be optimistic that their efforts are socially worthwhile, for the following reasons: ** The behaviors impacted by behavior analysis are largely determined by learning and controlled by manipulable aspects of the environment. ** Practitioners can improve performance by direct and continuous measurements. ** As a practitioner uses behavioral techniques with positive outcomes, they become more confident of future success. ** The literature provides many examples of success in teaching individuals considered previously unteachable.
==Basic principles==
=== Operant conditioning and three-term contingency === {{Main|Operant conditioning|Three-term contingency}} Operant behavior is voluntary behavior that is sensitive to, or controlled by, its consequences. Specifically, ''operant conditioning'' refers to the three-term contingency that uses stimulus control. In the three-term contingency, a discriminative stimulus (sD) is an antecedent stimulus that first signals to the subject that reinforcement (or, less commonly, punishment) is available. Then, the subject performs a behavior. After performing a behavior, a consequence will occur that either adds (positive) or removes (negative) something that will make the behavior either occur more (reinforcement) or less (punishment) frequently in the future.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Leeder |first1=Thomas M. |title=Behaviorism, Skinner, and Operant Conditioning: Considerations for Sport Coaching Practice |journal=Strategies |date=4 May 2022 |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=27–32 |doi=10.1080/08924562.2022.2052776 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
;Reinforcement {{Main|Reinforcement}}
Reinforcement occurs when the consequence of a behavior makes it more likely for that behavior to occur in the future. Reinforcing consequences can be either positive, where something preferred is added, or negative, where something aversive is removed.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=JO |last2=Heron |first2=TE |last3=Heward |first3=WL |title=Applied behavior analysis |year=2019 |publisher=Pearson Education (US) |isbn=978-0-13-475255-6 |page=36 |edition=3rd }}</ref> Reinforcement is the key element in operant conditioning and most behavior change programs.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Flora SR |title=The Power of Reinforcement |date=2004 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-5916-4 }}{{page needed|date=June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Northup J, Vollmer TR, Serrett K | title = Publication trends in 25 years of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis | journal = Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis | volume = 26 | issue = 4 | pages = 527–537 | year = 1993 | pmid = 16795803 | pmc = 1297882 | doi = 10.1901/jaba.1993.26-527 }}</ref> There are multiple schedules of reinforcement that affect the future probability of behavior.
;Punishment {{Main|Punishment (psychology)}}
Punishment occurs when the consequences of a behavior make the behavior less likely to occur in the future. As with reinforcement, a stimulus can be added (positive punishment) or removed (negative punishment). Broadly, there are three types of punishment: presentation of aversive stimuli (e.g., pain), response cost (removal of desirable stimuli such as monetary fines), and restriction of freedom (as in a 'time out').<ref>{{harvnb|Cooper|Heron|Heward|1987|p=355}}</ref> Punishment in practice can often result in unwanted side effects, such as an increase in aggressive behaviors.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=John O. |title=Applied behavior analysis |last2=Heron |first2=Timothy E. |last3=Heward |first3=William L. |date=2019 |publisher=Pearson |isbn=978-0-13-475255-6 |edition=Third |location=Hoboken, New Jersey |page=336}}</ref> Some other potential unwanted effects include resentment over being punished, attempts to escape the punishment, expression of pain and negative emotions associated with it, and recognition by the punished individual between the punishment and the person delivering it. Furthermore, because the termination of a problem behavior may serve as a negative reinforcement for the individual delivering punishment, careful monitoring must be implemented to ensure that over-punishment and behavioral drift are not occurring. Because of the risks and ethical considerations associated with punishment procedures, the Behavior Analysts Certification Board's code of ethics prohibits behavior analysts from utilizing punishment procedures unless less intrusive methods have been unsuccessful or "the risk of harm to the client outweighs the risk associated with the behavior-change intervention."<ref>{{cite web |title=Ethics code for behavior analysts |url=https://bacb.com/wp-content/ethics-code-for-behavior-analysts/ |publisher=Behavior Analyst Certification Board. |access-date=10 May 2025}}</ref>
;Extinction {{Main|Extinction (psychology)#Operant conditioning}}
Extinction is a procedure of withholding/discontinuing reinforcement for a previously reinforced behavior, resulting in the decrease of that behavior.<ref name = "Miltenberger_2008">{{cite book | vauthors = Miltenberger RG | title = Behavior modification: Principles and procedures. | publisher = Thomson/Wadsworth | date = 2008 | edition = 4th | isbn = 978-0-495-09153-0 }}</ref>{{rp|102}} The behavior is then set to be extinguished (Cooper et al.). Although extinction is less restrictive than punishment procedures, clients may exhibit extinction bursts when a previously reinforced behavior is no longer being reinforced. An extinction burst is the temporary increase in the frequency, intensity, and/or duration of the behavior targeted for extinction.<ref name = "Miltenberger_2008" />{{rp|104}} Novel problem behaviors may also emerge during an extinction burst.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fisher |first1=Wayne W. |last2=Greer |first2=Brian D. |last3=Shahan |first3=Timothy A. |last4=Norris |first4=Halle M. |title=Basic and applied research on extinction bursts |journal=Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis |date=2023 |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=4–28 |doi=10.1002/jaba.954 |pmid=36193974 |pmc=9868065 }}</ref> The practicality of an extinction procedure must be carefully considered before being implemented as the inconsistent application of extinction may result in accidentally placing more severe forms of the behavior on a variable schedule of reinforcement, thus worsening the behavior and making it more resistant to intervention in the future.
;Motivating operations {{Main|Motivating operation}}
Motivating operations are variables that alter the effectiveness of a reinforcer. Variables that increase the effectiveness are establishing operations (EO), whereas variables that decrease the effectiveness of a reinforcer are abolishing operations (AO).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Laraway |first1=Sean |last2=Snycerski |first2=Susan |last3=Michael |first3=Jack |last4=Poling |first4=Alan |title=Motivating operations and terms to describe them: Some further refinements |journal=Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis |date=2003 |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=407–414 |doi=10.1901/jaba.2003.36-407 |pmid=14596584 |pmc=1284457 }}</ref> Conditioned motivating operations (CMOs) are a type of motivating operation that is dependent on the individual's learning history and include transitive (CMO-T), surrogate (CMO-S), and reflexive (CMO-R) conditioned motivating operations.
===Respondent (classical) conditioning=== {{Main|Classical conditioning}}
Respondent (classical) conditioning is based on involuntary reflexes. In respondent conditioning, an unconditioned response occurs in the presence of an unconditioned stimulus. When a neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus, the response will begin occurring in the presence of the previously neutral stimulus; thus, the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned response become a conditioned stimulus and conditioned response, respectively.<ref name="Rehman">{{cite book |last1=Rehman |first1=Ibraheem |last2=Mahabadi |first2=Navid |last3=Sanvictores |first3=Terrence |last4=Rehman |first4=Chaudhry I. |title=Classical Conditioning |publisher=StatPearls Publishing |date=2025|pmid=29262194 }}</ref> In his experiments with dogs, Ivan Pavlov presented dogs with food (unconditioned stimulus) and observed that the dogs began salivating (unconditioned response). Before running the experiment, the dogs did not salivate when Pavlov rang a bell (neutral stimulus). During the experiment, Pavlov rang a bell whenever he presented the dogs with food. After pairing the bell with the food, Pavlov stopped presenting the food with the bell, but the dogs continued to salivate when hearing the bell alone; thus, the bell became the conditioned stimulus, and salivating at the sound of the bell became a conditioned response. Unlike operant conditioning, the response does not ''produce'' a reinforcer or punisher (e.g., the dog does not get food ''because'' it salivates) in respondent conditioning.
==Measurement of behavior== In behavior analysis, behavior is defined as any movement of an organism that changes the environment; thus, behavior includes both voluntary (operant) and involuntary (respondent) behavior. Ogden Lindsley developed the Dead Man's Test to assist behaviorists in differentiating between behaviors and passive states of being. In it, the behaviorist must determine if the target is something a dead person could do; if it is, the target is not a behavior.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Critchfield |first1=Thomas S. |last2=Shue |first2=Elva Z. H. |title=The Dead Man Test: a Preliminary Experimental Analysis |journal=Behavior Analysis in Practice |date=31 December 2018 |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=381–384 |doi=10.1007/s40617-018-0239-7 |pmid=30538911 |pmc=6269387 }}</ref> According to Johnston and Pennypacker, behavior has three dimensions that can be measured: repeatability, temporal extent, and temporal locus.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Johnston JM, Pennypacker HA |title=Readings for Strategies and tactics of behavioral research |year=1993 |edition=2nd |location=Hillsdale, HF |publisher=Erlbaum |isbn=978-0-8058-0906-0}}</ref>
===Repeatability===
Response classes occur repeatedly throughout time—i.e., how many times the behavior occurs. * Frequency/Count is the number of occurrences in behavior. * Rate is the number of instances of behavior per unit of time. * Celeration is the measure of how the rate changes over time.
===Temporal extent=== The temporal extent refers to the duration of the response, which is the measure of time from the start to the end of the response. The duration of a response is either the duration of each response or the duration of all responses during a specific timeframe, which is then recorded as a percentage.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Applied Behavior Analysis |vauthors= Cooper JO, Heron TE |publisher=Pearson Education |year=2019 |isbn=978-0-13-475255-6 |edition=3rd |page=78 }}</ref>
===Temporal locus=== Latency specifically measures the time that elapses between the event of a stimulus and the behavior that follows. This is important in behavioral research because it quantifies how quickly an individual may respond to external stimuli, providing insights into their perceptual and cognitive processing rates.<ref name=":6">{{cite book | vauthors = Dowdy A, Nepo K, Miodus S, Quigley S, Sevon M | chapter = Operational Definitions, Observation, and Behavioral Recording in Applied Behavior Analysis |date=2023 | title = Handbook of Applied Behavior Analysis for Children with Autism: Clinical Guide to Assessment and Treatment | series = Autism and Child Psychopathology Series |pages=107–129 | veditors = Matson JL |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-27587-6_6 |isbn=978-3-031-27587-6 }}</ref> There are two measurements that are able to define temporal locus, they are response latency and interresponse time. * Response latency measures the time between the presentation of a stimulus, such as an instruction, and the first response.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thomason-Sassi |first1=Jessica L. |last2=Iwata |first2=Brian A. |last3=Neidert |first3=Pamela L. |last4=Roscoe |first4=Eileen M. |title=Response Latency As An Index Of Response Strength During Functional Analyses Of Problem Behavior |journal=Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis |date=March 2011 |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=51–67 |doi=10.1901/jaba.2011.44-51 |pmid=21541141 |pmc=3050468 }}</ref> * Interresponse time refers to the duration of time that occurs between two instances of behavior, and it helps in understanding patterns and frequency of a certain behavior on a period of time.<ref name=":6" />
===Derivative measures===
Derivative measures are additional metrics derived from primary data, often by combining or transforming dimensional quantities to offer deeper insights into a phenomenon. Despite not being directly tied to specific dimensions, these measures provide valuable supplemental information. In applied behavior analysis (ABA), for example, percentage is a derivative measure that quantifies the ratio of specific responses to total responses, offering a nuanced understanding of behavior and assisting in evaluating progress and [https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/fba/cresource/q4/p12/ intervention effectiveness]. Trials-to-criterion, another ABA derivative measure, tracks the number of response opportunities needed to achieve a set level of performance. This metric aids behavior analysts in assessing skill acquisition and mastery, influencing decisions on program adjustments and [https://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC1285958&blobtype=pdf teaching methods]. Applied behavior analysis relies on meticulous measurement and impartial evaluation of observable behavior as a foundational principle. Without accurate data collection and analysis, behavior analysts lack the essential information to assess intervention effectiveness and make informed decisions about [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1310980/ program modifications]. Therefore, precise measurement and assessment play a pivotal role in ABA practice, guiding practitioners to enhance behavioral outcomes and drive significant change.
==Methods developed through ABA research== ===Task analysis===
Task analysis is the process of breaking down a multi-step instruction into its component parts.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Phillips |first1=Cara L. |last2=Vollmer |first2=Timothy R. |title=Generalized Instruction Following with Pictorial Prompts |journal=Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis |date=March 2012 |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=37–54 |doi=10.1901/jaba.2012.45-37|pmid=22403448 |pmc=3297352 }}</ref> The student is then taught to complete a task analysis through chaining. For example, a task analysis of washing hands might include the following steps: Turn on the sink, put hands in the water, put soap on hands, scrub hands, rinse hands, turn off water. Task analysis has been used in organizational behavior management, a behavior analytic approach to changing the behaviors of members of an organization (e.g., factories, offices, or hospitals).<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Crowell CR, Anderson DC, Abel DM, Sergio JP | title = Task clarification, performance feedback, and social praise: Procedures for improving the customer service of bank tellers | journal = Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis | volume = 21 | issue = 1 | pages = 65–71 | year = 1988 | pmid = 16795713 | pmc = 1286094 | doi = 10.1901/jaba.1988.21-65 }}</ref> Behavioral scripts often emerge from a task analysis.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = MacDuff GS, Krantz PJ, McClannahan LE | title = Teaching children with autism to use photographic activity schedules: maintenance and generalization of complex response chains | journal = Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis | volume = 26 | issue = 1 | pages = 89–97 | year = 1993 | pmid = 8473261 | pmc = 1297722 | doi = 10.1901/jaba.1993.26-89 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Krantz PJ, McClannahan LE | title = Teaching children with autism to initiate to peers: effects of a script-fading procedure | journal = Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis | volume = 26 | issue = 1 | pages = 121–132 | year = 1993 | pmid = 8473251 | pmc = 1297725 | doi = 10.1901/jaba.1993.26-121 }}</ref> Bergan conducted a task analysis of the behavioral consultation relationship<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Bergan JR |year=1977 |title=Behavioral Consultation |publisher=Merrill |isbn=978-0-675-08488-8}}</ref> and Thomas Kratochwill developed a training program based on teaching Bergan's skills.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kratochwill TR, Van Someren KR, Sheridan SM |year=1989 |title=Training behavioral consultants: a competency-based model to teach interview skills |journal=Professional School Psychology |volume=4 |pages=41–58 |doi=10.1037/h0090570}}</ref> A similar approach was used for the development of microskills training for counselors.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Ivey AE, Normington CJ, Miller CD, Morrill WH, Haase RF |year=1968 |title=Microcounseling and attending behavior: an approach to prepracticum counselor training |journal=J Couns Psychol |volume=15 |issue=5, pt. 2 |pages=1–12 |doi=10.1037/h0026129}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Ivey AE, Ivey MB |year=1998 |title=Intentional Interviewing and Counseling: Facilitating Client Development in a Multicultural Society |edition=4th |publisher=Brooks/Cole |isbn=978-0-534-35756-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/intentionalinter00ivey_0 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Iwata BA, Wong SE, Riordan MM, Dorsey MF, Lau MM | title = Assessment and training of clinical interviewing skills: analogue analysis and field replication | journal = Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis | volume = 15 | issue = 2 | pages = 191–203 | year = 1982 | pmid = 7118753 | pmc = 1308264 | doi = 10.1901/jaba.1982.15-191 }}</ref> Ivey would later call this "behaviorist" phase a very productive one<ref>{{cite journal |journal=J Couns Dev |year=2001 |volume=79 |issue=1 |pages=105–18 |title=Allen E. Ivey: transforming counseling theory and practice | vauthors = Littrell JM |url=http://bahai-library.com/newspapers/2001/010101-1.html |access-date=4 January 2008 |doi=10.1002/j.1556-6676.2001.tb01949.x}}</ref> and the skills-based approach came to dominate counselor training during 1970–90.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = McLennan J |year = 1994 |title=The skills-based model of counselling training: a review of the evidence |journal=Aust Psychol |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=79–88 |doi=10.1080/00050069408257328}}</ref> Task analysis was also used in determining the skills needed to access a career.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Krumboltz JD, Mitchell AM, Jones GB |year=1980 |chapter=A social learning theory of career selection |pages=259–82 | veditors = Wentling TL |title=Annual Review of Research in Vocational Education | volume = 1 |publisher=Office of Vocational Education Research, University of Illinois |chapter-url=http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED221682}}</ref> In education, Englemann (1968) used task analysis as part of the methods to design the direct instruction curriculum.<ref name="Englemann">{{cite journal | vauthors = Englemann S |year=1968 |title=Relating operant techniques to programming and teaching |journal=J Sch Psychol |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=89–96 |doi=10.1016/0022-4405(68)90002-2}}</ref>
===Chaining=== {{Main|Chaining}}
Chaining is the process of teaching the steps of a task analysis. The two methods of chaining, forward chaining and backward chaining, differ based on what step a learner is taught to complete first. In forward chaining, the ABA practitioner teaches the learner to independently complete the first step and prompts the learner for all subsequent steps. In backward chaining, the practitioner prompts all steps except the last step. As the learner begins to respond independently, the practitioner systematically removes the prompts and teaches the next step in the task analysis.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Principles of Behavior | vauthors = Malott RW, Kohler KT |year=2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Weiss KM | title = A comparison of forward and backward procedures for the acquisition of response chains in humans | journal = Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior | volume = 29 | issue = 2 | pages = 255–259 | date = March 1978 | pmid = 16812053 | pmc = 1332753 | doi = 10.1901/jeab.1978.29-255 }}</ref> Total task presentation is a variation of forward chaining where the practitioner asks the learner to perform the entire task analysis and provides prompting only when the learner is unable to complete a step independently.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=JO |last2=Heron |first2=TE |last3=Heward |first3=WL |title=Applied Behavior Analysis |year=2019 |publisher=Pearson Education (US) |isbn=978-0-13-475255-6 |pages=563–569 |edition=3rd }}</ref>
===Prompting===
A prompt is a cue that encourages a desired response from an individual.<ref>{{cite book |author=Ontario Ministry of Education |year=2007 |title=Effective Educational Practices for Students with ASD |publisher=Queen's Printer for Ontario}}</ref> Prompts fall into one of two categories: stimulus prompts and response prompts. Stimulus prompts alter the environment in a way that makes the correct response more salient. Different types of stimulus prompts include positional, redundancy, and gestural prompts. Response prompts are cues directed toward the learner that include verbal, model, and physical prompts.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=John O. |last2=Heron |first2=Timothy E. |last3=Heward |first3=William L. |title=Applied behavior analysis |date=2020 |publisher=Pearson |location=Hoboken, NJ |isbn=978-0-13-475255-6 |page=404 |edition=Third}}</ref> Prompts are often categorized into a prompt hierarchy from most intrusive to least intrusive, although there is some controversy about what is considered most intrusive, those that are physically intrusive or those that are hardest prompt to fade (e.g., verbal).<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Barnett D, Bauer A, Bell S, Elliott N, Haski H, Barkley E, Baker D, Mackiewicz K |year=2006 |title=Preschool Intervention Scripts: Lessons from 20 years of Research and Practice |journal=Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Applied Behavior Analysis |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=158–81 |doi=10.1037/h0100216 |doi-access=free }}</ref> When using a most-to-least prompting strategy, the instructor begins prompting the learner using the most intrusive prompt in the heiarchy and systematically fading the prompts after multiple correct responses.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Chesnut M, Williamson PN, Morrow JE |year=2003 |title=The use of visual cues to teach receptive skills to children with severe auditory discrimination deficits |journal=Behav Analyst Today |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=212–24 |doi=10.1037/h0100120|doi-access=free }}</ref>
In contrast, when using a least-to-most prompting strategy, the instructor will first prompt the learner using the least intrusive prompt. If the learner does not respond correctly, the instructor will gradually increase the intrusiveness of the prompt until the learner emits a correct response.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Libby |first1=Myrna E. |last2=Weiss |first2=Julie S. |last3=Bancroft |first3=Stacie |last4=Ahearn |first4=William H. |title=A Comparison of Most-to-Least and Least-to-Most Prompting on the Acquisition of Solitary Play Skills |journal=Behavior Analysis in Practice |date=June 2008 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=37–43 |doi=10.1007/BF03391719|pmid=22477678 |pmc=2846579 }}</ref> Other prompting strategies include no-no and errorless (or simultaneous) prompting. Errorless prompting involves providing a prompt that will result in a correct response immediately after presenting the instruction in order to minimize errors. Alternatively, when utilizing a no-no prompt, the learner is given an errorless prompt only after they have emitted two incorrect responses.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Leaf |first1=Justin B. |last2=Sheldon |first2=Jan B. |last3=Sherman |first3=James A. |title=Comparison of Simultaneous Prompting and No-No Prompting in Two-Choice Discrimination Learning with Children with Autism |journal=Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis |date=June 2010 |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=215–228 |doi=10.1901/jaba.2010.43-215|pmid=21119896 |pmc=2884346 }}</ref>
===Fading===
The overall goal is for an individual to eventually not need prompts. As an individual gains mastery of a skill at a particular prompt level, the prompt is faded to a less intrusive prompt. This ensures that the individual does not become overly dependent on a particular prompt when learning a new behavior or skill. An organized prompt fading procedure should be used. For example, when fading physical guidance, support might be gradually reduced from holding the learner's wrists, to lightly touching their hands, to touching the forearm or elbow, and finally to no physical contact. This ensures the learner does not become dependent on prompts while acquiring new skills.<ref name="Prince_2013">{{cite web | vauthors = Prince K | work = Behavioral Consulting of Tampa Bay, Inc. | title = The importance of measuring behavior | date = 13 March 2013 | url = https://bcotb.com/the-importance-of-measuring-behavior/ | access-date = 3 July 2022 | archive-date = 9 February 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230209115907/https://bcotb.com/the-importance-of-measuring-behavior/ }}</ref>
===Functional behavior assessment===
According to behavior analysts, all behavior serves at least one of four primary functions: sensory (automatic), access to tangible items or activities, escape or avoidance, and attention. A functional behavior assessment (FBA) is the systematic process of identifying the environmental variables and reinforcement contingencies that maintain a target behavior. This process often includes data collection, direct observation, and analysis of contextual factors. FBAs that rely primarily on direct observation and measurement of behavior, rather than indirect methods such as interviews or rating scales, are also known as descriptive behavior assessments.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=John O. |title=Applied Behavior Analysis |last2=Heron |first2=Timothy E. |last3=Heward |first3=William L. |date=2019 |publisher=Pearson |isbn=978-0-13-475255-6 |edition=Third |location=Hoboken, New Jersey |pages=630–631}}</ref>
====Functional analysis==== Functional analysis is a process of experimentally controlling the environment in order to determine the function of a target behavior.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Iwata |first1=Brian A. |last2=Dorsey |first2=Michael F. |last3=Slifer |first3=Keith J. |last4=Bauman |first4=Kenneth E. |last5=Richman |first5=Gina S. |title=Toward a Functional Analysis of Self-Injury |journal=Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis |date=June 1994 |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=197–209 |doi=10.1901/jaba.1994.27-197|pmid=8063622 |pmc=1297798 }}</ref>
===Thinning a reinforcement schedule===
Thinning is often confused with fading. ''Fading'' refers to a prompt being removed, where ''thinning'' refers to an increase in the time or number of responses required between reinforcements.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = LeBlanc LA, Hagoplan LP, Maglieri KA, Poling A |year=2002 |title=Decreasing the intensity of reinforcement-based interventions for reducing behavior: conceptual issues and a proposed model for clinical practice |journal=Behav Analyst Today |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=289–300 |doi=10.1037/h0099991|doi-access=free }}</ref> Periodic thinning that produces a 30% decrease in reinforcement has been suggested as an efficient way to thin.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Cautilli J |year=2005 |title=Brief report: application of proposed model of decreasing reinforcement intensity |journal=Int J Behav Consult Ther |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=21–36 |doi=10.1037/h0100731|doi-access=free }}</ref> Schedule thinning is often an important and neglected issue in contingency management and token economy systems, especially when these are developed by unqualified practitioners (professional practice of behavior analysis).<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.4324/9781315669212 |title=Ethics for Behavior Analysts |date=2016 | vauthors = Bailey J, Burch M |isbn=978-1-317-36344-6 }}</ref>
===Generalization===
Generalization is the expansion of a student's performance ability beyond the initial conditions set for acquisition of a skill.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Alberto P, Troutman AC |title=Applied Behavior Analysis for Teachers |date=2006 |publisher=Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall |isbn=978-0-13-117994-3 }}{{page needed|date=June 2024}}</ref> Generalization can occur across people, places, and materials used for teaching. For example, once a skill is learned in one setting, with a particular instructor, and with specific materials, the skill is taught in more general settings with more variation from the initial acquisition phase. For example, if a student has successfully mastered learning colors at the table, the teacher may take the student around the house or school and ''generalize'' the skill in these more natural environments with other materials. Behavior analysts have spent a considerable amount of time studying factors that lead to generalization.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Osnes PG, Lieblein T |year=2003 |title=An explicit technology of generalization |journal=Behav Analyst Today |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=364–74 |doi=10.1037/h0099994|doi-access=free }}</ref>
===Shaping=== {{Main|Shaping (psychology)}}
Shaping involves modifying a single existing behavior into the target behavior by differentially reinforcing successive approximations of the target behavior. When the learner emits a response that is closer to the target behavior than previous responses, the new response is reinforced, and any instances of the old response are no longer reinforced. For example, if the target behavior were for the learner to say the word ''bubbles'', a practitioner may initially blow bubbles in response to every vocal utterance made by the learner. Once the learner started emitting a ''bu-'' sound, the practitioner would only blow bubbles when the learner made this response. Eventually, the practitioner would only blow bubbles when the learner said ''bubbles''.<ref>{{Cite web | vauthors = Gilmore H | title = Shaping, chaining, & task analysis with an example from everyday life |date=20 February 2020 | url = https://psychcentral.com/pro/child-therapist/2020/02/shaping-chaining-task-analysis-with-an-example-from-everyday-life }}</ref>
===Verbal behavior=== {{Main|Verbal Behavior}}
B. F. Skinner's classification system of human language in behavior analysis has been applied to treatment of a host of communication disorders.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Peterson P | date = 2007 | title = Promoting generalization and maintenance of skills learned via natural language teaching. | journal = The Journal of Speech and Language Pathology – Applied Behavior Analysis | volume = 4 | issue = 1 | pages = 90–131 | doi = 10.1037/h0100252 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Skinner's system includes: * Tact – a verbal response evoked by a non-verbal antecedent and maintained by generalized conditioned reinforcement (e.g., identifying items, people, or nonhuman animals). * Mand – behavior under control of motivating operations maintained by a characteristic reinforcer (e.g., direct reinforcement for a self-initiated request). * Intraverbals – verbal behavior for which the relevant antecedent stimulus was other verbal behavior, but which does not share the response topography of that prior verbal stimulus (e.g., responding to another speaker's question). * Echoic – vocal imitation under control of verbal stimuli (e.g., repeating what is said). * Autoclitic – secondary verbal behavior which alters the effect of primary verbal behavior on the listener. Examples involve quantification, grammar, and qualifying statements (e.g., the differential effects of "I think..." vs. "I know...")
==Applications==
===Autism intervention===
Although there are many applications of ABA outside of autism intervention, a large majority of ABA practitioners specialize in autism, and ABA itself is often mistakenly considered synonymous with therapy for autism.<ref name="bacb cert">{{Cite web |title=BACB CERTIFICANT DATA |url=https://www.bacb.com/bacb-certificant-data/ |access-date=2022-05-14 |website=Behavior Analyst Certification Board |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="As-in-ABA" /> Practitioners often use ABA-based techniques to teach adaptive behaviors to, or diminish challenging behaviors presented by, autistic individuals.<ref name="Treating adaptive living skills of persons with autism using applied behavior analysis: A review">{{cite journal | vauthors = Matson JL, Hattier MA, Belva B |title=Treating adaptive living skills of persons with autism using applied behavior analysis: A review |journal=Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders |date=January–March 2012 |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=271–276 |doi=10.1016/j.rasd.2011.05.008 }}</ref><ref name=Pediatrics>{{cite journal | vauthors = Myers SM, Johnson CP | title = Management of children with autism spectrum disorders | journal = Pediatrics | volume = 120 | issue = 5 | pages = 1162–1182 | date = November 2007 | pmid = 17967921 | doi = 10.1542/peds.2007-2362 | doi-access = free }}</ref> ABA methodologies such as differential reinforcement, extinction, and task analysis, are among the most well-researched evidence-based practices for autism intervention.<ref name="Wong_2015">{{cite journal | vauthors = Wong C, Odom S, Hume K, Cox A, Fettig A, Kucharczyk S, Schultz T | title = Evidence-based practices for children, youth, and young adults with autism spectrum disorder: A comprehensive review. | journal = Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders | volume = 45 | issue = 7 | pages = 1951–1966| date = 2015 | doi = 10.1007/s10803-014-2351-z | pmid = 25578338 }}</ref> In North America, ABA therapy is primarily provided by behavior technicians who deliver direct intervention under the supervision of Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs), who conduct assessments and write treatment plans for clients.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Luiselli |first=James K. |title=Applied Behavior Analysis Advanced Guidebook: A Manual for Professional Practice |date=2023 |publisher=Elsevier Science & Technology |isbn=978-0-323-99595-5 |edition=2nd |location=San Diego |page=138}}</ref>
====Discrete trial training==== {{Further|Discrete trial training}} In 1965, early development of discrete trial training techniques, which was also known as the Lovaas method, involved the use of electric shocks, scolding, and the withholding of food.<ref name="Kirkham 107–126">{{Cite journal| vauthors = Kirkham P |date=2017-04-01|title='The line between intervention and abuse' – autism and applied behaviour analysis|journal=History of the Human Sciences |volume=30|issue=2|pages=107–126|doi=10.1177/0952695117702571|s2cid=152017417 }}</ref><ref name=Pediatrics2>{{cite journal|url=https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/133/3/364|vauthors=Bowman RA, Baker JP|title=Screams, slaps, and love: The strange birth of applied behavior analysis|journal=Pediatrics|volume=133|issue=3|pages=364–66|date=March 2014|doi=10.1542/peds.2013-2583|pmid=24534411|s2cid=28137037|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Ivar Lovaas published a series of articles that described a pioneering investigation of the antecedents and consequences that maintained a problem behavior,<ref name="Lovaas">{{cite journal | vauthors = Smith T, Eikeseth S | title = O. Ivar lovaas: pioneer of applied behavior analysis and intervention for children with autism | journal = Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders | volume = 41 | issue = 3 | pages = 375–378 | date = March 2011 | pmid = 21153872 | doi = 10.1007/s10803-010-1162-0 | s2cid = 207159059 }}</ref> including aversives, such as slapping and electric shocks, to suppress stereotypic body movements and emotional outbursts.<ref name="Lovaas, Schaeffer, and Simmons">{{cite journal | vauthors = Lovaas OI, Schaeffer B, Simmons JQ | title = Building social behavior in autistic children by use of electric shock | journal = Journal of Experimental Research in Personality | volume = 1 | issue = 2 | pages = 99–109 | date = 1965 | url=https://neurodiversity.net/library_lovaas_1965.pdf}}</ref> Lovaas described how to use social (secondary) reinforcers, teach children to imitate, and what interventions may be used to reduce aggression and life-threatening self-injury. He also relied on the methods of errorless learning, which was initially introduced by Charles Ferster to teach nonverbal children to speak.<ref name="Lovaas"/><ref>{{Cite journal | vauthors = Chance P | date = January 1974 | journal = Psychology Today | pages = 76–84 | title = After you hit a child, you can't just get up and leave him; you are hooked to that kid interview with Ole Ivar Lovaas |url=http://neurodiversity.com/library_chance_1974.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060506191549/http://neurodiversity.com/library_chance_1974.pdf |archive-date=6 May 2006 |access-date=3 March 2022 | via = Neurodiversity}} (excerpt from Psychology Today)</ref>
In 1987, Lovaas published the study, "Behavioral treatment and normal educational and intellectual functioning in young autistic children".<ref name=lovaas/> The experimental group in this study received an average of 40 hours per week in a 1:1 teaching setting at a table using errorless discrete trial training with a trained therapist.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Lovaas OI | title = Behavioral treatment and normal educational and intellectual functioning in young autistic children | journal = Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology | volume = 55 | issue = 1 | pages = 3–9 | date = February 1987 | pmid = 3571656 | doi = 10.1037/0022-006x.55.1.3 }}</ref> The treatment was implemented in the child's home. A heavy emphasis was placed on teaching eye contact, fine and gross motor imitation, academics, receptive and expressive language, and oral motor imitation. Each new skill is taught through prompting, modeling, and shaping.<ref name=lovaas/> The outcome of this study indicated 47% of the experimental group (9/19) went on to lose their autism diagnosis and were described as indistinguishable from their typically developing adolescent peers. This included passing general education without assistance and forming and maintaining friendships. These gains were maintained as reported in the 1993 study, "Long-term outcome for children with autism who received early intensive behavioral treatment". Lovaas' work was recognized by the US Surgeon General and New York State Department of Health in 1999, and his research was replicated in university and private settings.<ref name=AJMR>{{cite journal | vauthors = Sallows GO, Graupner TD | title = Intensive behavioral treatment for children with autism: four-year outcome and predictors | journal = American Journal of Mental Retardation | volume = 110 | issue = 6 | pages = 417–438 | date = November 2005 | pmid = 16212446 | doi = 10.1352/0895-8017(2005)110[417:IBTFCW]2.0.CO;2 | s2cid = 12305283 }}</ref><ref name=JDBP>{{cite journal | vauthors = Cohen H, Amerine-Dickens M, Smith T | title = Early intensive behavioral treatment: replication of the UCLA model in a community setting | journal = Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics | volume = 27 | issue = 2 Suppl | pages = S145–S155 | date = April 2006 | pmid = 16685181 | doi = 10.1097/00004703-200604002-00013 | s2cid = 15927226 }}</ref> The "Lovaas Method" went on to become known as early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI).
<!--this paragraph is on the autism page--> In 2018, a Cochrane meta-analysis database concluded that preliminary research suggests that there are two different ABA teaching approaches to gaining spoken language: children with higher receptive language skills respond to 2.5 – 20 hours per week of the naturalistic approach, whereas children with lower receptive language skills acquire words from 25 hours per week of discrete trial training – the structured and intensive form of ABA.<ref name="Cochrane">{{cite journal | vauthors = Brignell A, Chenausky KV, Song H, Zhu J, Suo C, Morgan AT | title = Communication interventions for autism spectrum disorder in minimally verbal children | journal = The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews | volume = 2018 | issue = 11 | article-number = CD012324 | date = November 2018 | pmid = 30395694 | pmc = 6516977 | doi = 10.1002/14651858.CD012324.pub2 }}</ref> A 2023 multi-site randomized control trial study of 164 participants showed similar findings, with larger gains in the lower receptive language skilled group who obtained DTT.<ref name=AutismResearch2023Study>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kasari C, Shire S, Shih W, Landa R, Levato L, Smith T | title = Spoken language outcomes in limited language preschoolers with autism and global developmental delay: RCT of early intervention approaches | journal = Autism Research | volume = 16 | issue = 6 | pages = 1236–1246 | date = June 2023 | pmid = 37070270 | pmc = 10460274 | doi = 10.1002/aur.2932 }}</ref>
====Pivotal response treatment==== {{Further|Pivotal response treatment}} Pivotal response treatment (PRT) is a naturalistic ABA-based intervention which targets skills that, when mastered, "can elicit more widespread positive clinical gains in the child's other domains of functioning."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lei |first1=Jiedi |last2=Ventola |first2=Pamela |title=Pivotal response treatment for autism spectrum disorder: current perspectives |journal=Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment |date=June 2017 |volume=13 |pages=1613–1626 |doi=10.2147/NDT.S120710|doi-access=free |pmid=28790824 |pmc=5488784 }}</ref> PRT's primary focus is increasing the learner's motivation by self-initiated requesting and to engage them socially through play within a behavioral framework. PRT recognizes that learners may be unmotivated to communicate due to natural causes, like genetic influences, and how learned helplessness from previously unsuccessful communication attempts can discourage future communication attempts.<ref name="Koegel_PRT">{{cite book |last1=Koegel |first1=Robert L. |last2=Koegel |first2=Lynn Kern |title=Pivotal response treatment for autism spectrum disorders |date=2019 |publisher=Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co |location=Baltimore |isbn=978-1-68125-298-8 |edition=Second |url=https://brookespublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Koegel-PRT-pocket-guide-intro.pdf |access-date=29 November 2024}}</ref>
===Human applications outside of autism intervention===
While ABA is often associated with autism intervention, it is also used in a variety of other fields,<ref name="AP_Clinical_and_Organizational_Applications_of_ABA"/> such as classroom instruction with typically developing students, pediatric feeding therapy,<ref name="APA_Handbook_Behavior_Analysis">{{cite book | veditors = Madden G | title=APA Handbook of Behavior Analysis | publisher=American Psychological Association | publication-place=Washington, DC | year=2013 | isbn=978-1-4338-1111-1 | oclc=771425225 | series=APA Handbooks in Psychology Series; APA Reference Books Collection | url=http://www.apa.org/pubs/books/4311509.aspx | access-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref><ref name="AP_Clinical_and_Organizational_Applications_of_ABA"/><ref>{{Cite web |date=April 3, 2021 |title=Pediatric Feeding Therapy & ABA: General Info & Systematic Review |url=https://nevadaautism.com/pediatric-feeding-therapy-aba-general-info-systematic-review |access-date=July 3, 2022 |website=Nevada Autism Center, 7730 West Sahara Avenue #115, Las Vegas, NV 89117, (702) 660–2005 |language=En-US}}</ref> and substance use disorders.<ref name="APA_Handbook_Behavior_Analysis"/><ref name="AP_Clinical_and_Organizational_Applications_of_ABA"/> Other human applications of ABA include consumer behavior analysis, forensic behavior analysis, behavioral medicine, behavioral neuroscience, clinical behavior analysis,<ref name="APA_Handbook_Behavior_Analysis"/><ref name="AP_Clinical_and_Organizational_Applications_of_ABA">{{cite book | vauthors = Roane HS, Ringdahl JE, Falcomata TS |title=Clinical and Organizational Applications of Applied Behavior Analysis |date=2015 |publisher=Elsevier Science |isbn=978-0-12-420249-8 }}{{page needed|date=June 2024}}</ref> organizational behavior management,<ref name="APA_Handbook_Behavior_Analysis"/><ref name="AP_Clinical_and_Organizational_Applications_of_ABA"/> schoolwide positive behavior support,<ref name="APA_Handbook_Behavior_Analysis"/><ref name=PBSExpansion>{{cite journal | vauthors = Anderson CM, Freeman KA | title = Positive behavior support: Expanding the application of applied behavior analysis | journal = The Behavior Analyst | volume = 23 | issue = 1 | pages = 85–94 | date = Spring 2000 | pmid = 22478340 | pmc = 2731369 | doi = 10.1007/BF03392001 }}</ref><ref name=abapbsschoolviolence>{{cite journal | vauthors = Anderson CM, Kincaid D | title = Applying behavior analysis to school violence and discipline problems: Schoolwide positive behavior support | journal = The Behavior Analyst | volume = 28 | issue = 1 | pages = 49–63 | year = 2005 | pmid = 22478439 | pmc = 2755344 | doi = 10.1007/BF03392103 }}</ref><ref name=SWPBIS>{{cite journal | vauthors = Waasdorp TE, Bradshaw CP, Leaf PJ | title = The impact of schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports on bullying and peer rejection: a randomized controlled effectiveness trial | journal = Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine | volume = 166 | issue = 2 | pages = 149–156 | date = February 2012 | pmid = 22312173 | doi = 10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.755 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name=centeronpbis>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbis.org|title=What is PBIS? |date= |access-date=September 26, 2024}}</ref> and contact desensitization for phobias.
====Acceptance and commitment therapy==== {{Further|Acceptance and commitment therapy}} Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a clinical approach which has its philosophical base in clinical behavior analysis and functional contextualism, and is guided by the theoretical framework of relational frame theory.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hayes |first1=Steven C. |last2=Pierson |first2=Heather |chapter=Acceptance and Commitment Therapy |title=Encyclopedia of Cognitive Behavior Therapy |year=2005 |pages=1–2 |doi=10.1007/0-306-48581-8_1 |isbn=0-306-48580-X }}</ref> The primary goal of ACT is to help the client acknowledge negative or unwanted private events, such as thoughts and feelings, and shift their self-identity from one based on psychological phenomenon to one based in self-as-context. Among the techniques the therapy uses include mindfulness and shaping.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kelly |first1=Amanda D. |last2=Kelly |first2=Michelle E. |title=Acceptance and commitment training in applied behavior analysis: Where have you been all my life? |journal=Behavior Analysis in Practice |date=March 2022 |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=43–54 |doi=10.1007/s40617-021-00587-3|pmid=34341679 |pmc=8320414 }}</ref>
===Applied animal behavior and nonhuman animal welfare=== ABA has been successfully applied to other species, such as in applied animal behavior. One example of a similar to ABA treatment was Pavlovs dog in which the stimulus (of a bell ringing) would cause a response (salivation), a comparison can be made to the stimulus causing a behavior which causes the consequence. While Board Certified Behavior Analysts work with humans, certified applied animal behaviorists are credentialed to deliver services to nonhuman animals in shelters and other community settings.<ref name=appliedanimalbehaviorists>{{cite journal|title=Evaluating the work of applied animal behaviorists as applied behavior analysis|author=Gray, JM, Diller, JW|journal=Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice|volume=17|issue=1|pages=33–41|date=2017|doi=10.1037/bar0000041|doi-access=free}}</ref>
In 1992, Forthman and Ogden published an article describing ways that ABA could be used to promote the health and well-being of animals in zoos, such as compliance with veterinary care and encouraging species-specific behaviors.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Forthman |first1=Debra L. |last2=Ogden |first2=Jacqueline J. |title=The role of applied behavior analysis in zoo management: Today and tomorrow |journal=Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis |date=September 1992 |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=647–652 |doi=10.1901/jaba.1992.25-647|pmid=16795790 |pmc=1279745 }}</ref> Pfaller-Sadovsky et al. (2019) conducted a functional analysis to determine the function of companion dogs jumping on their owners. The researchers successfully identified a function for the behavior for all five participants, and all five owners successfully reduced the frequency of the behavior by implementing a schedule of non-contingent reinforcement.<ref name=ABACanines>{{cite journal|title=Using principles from applied behavior analysis to address an undesired behavior: Functional analysis and treatment of jumping up in companion dogs|author1=Pfaller-Sadovsky N|author2=Arnott G|author3=Hurtado-Parrado C|journal=Animals|volume=9|issue=12|page=1091|date=December 6, 2019|doi=10.3390/ani9121091|doi-access=free |pmid=31817670|pmc=6940775}}</ref> The same year, Morris and Slocum successfully utilized functional analysis and non-contingent attention to reduce self-injurious feather-plucking in a black vulture.<ref name="morris">{{cite journal |vauthors=Morris KL, Slocum SK |date=October 2019 |title=Functional analysis and treatment of self-injurious feather plucking in a black vulture (Coragyps atratus) |journal=Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis |volume=52 |issue=4 |pages=918–927 |doi=10.1002/jaba.639 |pmid=31523815 |s2cid=54842798 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Behavioral Biology of Laboratory Animals |vauthors=Gottlieb D, Pomerantz O |date=2021 |isbn=978-0-429-01951-7 |pages=51–64 |chapter=Utilizing Behavior to Assess Welfare |doi=10.1201/9780429019517-5}}</ref>
== Criticisms == {{Criticism section|date=July 2025}}
=== Neurodiversity movement ===
{{see also|Autism rights movement}}Some neurodiversity advocates, including autistic people who have experienced ABA interventions, criticize that ABA attempts to eliminate, suppress or reduce autistic behaviors and reinforces autistic people to mask their true characteristics, imitate non-autistic behaviors (e.g. eye contact, body language) and conform to an overly narrow conception of normal behavior.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nymag.com/news/features/47225/index4.html|title=The Autism Rights Movement| vauthors = Soloman A |website=New York Magazine|date=23 May 2008 |access-date=8 March 2016}}</ref><ref name="fortune.com">{{Cite web | vauthors = Cernius Y | date = 13 May 2022 |title=Commentary: The autistic community is having a reckoning with ABA therapy. We should listen |url=https://fortune.com/2022/05/13/autistic-community-reckoning-aba-therapy-rights-autism-insurance-private-equity-ariana-cernius/ |access-date=2022-05-15 |website=Fortune |language=en}}</ref> Masking is generally associated with suicidality and poor long-term mental health.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Cassidy S, Bradley L, Shaw R, Baron-Cohen S | title = Risk markers for suicidality in autistic adults | journal = Molecular Autism | volume = 9 | article-number = 42 | date = 2018 | pmid = 30083306 | pmc = 6069847 | doi = 10.1186/s13229-018-0226-4 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Cook J, Hull L, Crane L, Mandy W | title = Camouflaging in autism: A systematic review | journal = Clinical Psychology Review | volume = 89 | article-number = 102080 | date = November 2021 | pmid = 34563942 | doi = 10.1016/j.cpr.2021.102080 | s2cid = 237942158 | url = https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10134806/ }}</ref> Instead, these critics advocate for increased social acceptance of harmless and sometimes adaptive autistic traits and interventions focused on improving well-being and quality of life.<ref name="DeVita 2016">{{multiref2|1={{cite web|url=https://www.spectrumnews.org/features/deep-dive/controversy-autisms-common-therapy/|title=The controversy over autism's most common therapy| vauthors = DeVita-Raeburn E |author-link=Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn|date=2016-08-10|website=Spectrum|access-date=2019-04-07}}; republished in ''The Atlantic'' as:|2={{cite magazine| vauthors = DeVita-Raeburn E |date=August 11, 2016|title=Is the Most Common Therapy for Autism Cruel? |magazine=The Atlantic |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/08/aba-autism-controversy/495272/}}}}</ref> ASAN campaigns against the use of ABA as an autism therapy.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |date=2021-06-12 |title=For Whose Benefit? Evidence, Ethics, and Effectiveness of Autism Interventions |url=https://autisticadvocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/ACES-Ethics-of-Intervention.pdf |access-date=2024-05-22 |website=Autistic Self Advocacy Network}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2016-08-11 |title=Is the Most Common Therapy for Autism Cruel? |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/08/aba-autism-controversy/495272/ |website=The Atlantic |vauthors=DeVita-Raeburn E}}</ref> The European Council of Autistic People (EUCAP) published a 2024 position statement expressing deep concern about the harm caused by ABA. They emphasize that most surveyed autistic individuals view ABA as harmful, abusive, and counterproductive to their well-being. EUCAP advocates for a variety of support methods and the inclusion of autistic individuals in decision-making processes regarding their care.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |date=2024-04-02 |title=EUCAP Position Statement on ABA |url=https://eucap.eu/2024/04/02/aba-statement/ |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=EUCAP |language=en-GB}}</ref>
A 2020 study examined perspectives of autistic adults that received ABA as children and found that the overwhelming majority reported that "behaviorist methods create painful lived experiences", that ABA led to the "erosion of the true actualizing self", and that they felt they had a "lack of self-agency within interpersonal experiences".<ref name=":0" /> Another study published in 2023 in ''Autism'' found similar results, with evidence of increased masking and causing mental health challenges for some autistic people.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613221118216 | doi=10.1177/13623613221118216 | title=Autistic experiences of applied behavior analysis | date=2023 | journal=Autism | volume=27 | issue=3 | pages=737–750 | pmid=35999706 | vauthors = Anderson LK | url-access=subscription }}</ref> Quantitative evidence regarding likely widespread adverse effects of ABA interventions including mental health worsening, masking, and trauma, is also emerging, but currently limited with methodological limitations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jonkman |first1=Kim M. |last2=den Hartog |first2=Charlotte |last3=Sloot |first3=Bart |last4=Begeer |first4=Sander |last5=Back |first5=Elisa |last6=Scheeren |first6=Anke M. |date=2025-07-18 |title=Experiences of Autistic Individuals, Caregivers and Healthcare Providers with ABA-Derived Therapies: a Sequential Exploratory Mixed Methods Study |journal=Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders |language=en |doi=10.1007/s10803-025-06958-x |pmid=40679749 |issn=0162-3257|doi-access=free |hdl=1871.1/546be8ac-3892-40d2-9d7d-4cfc753ffb08 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kupferstein |first=Henny |date=2018-01-02 |title=Evidence of increased PTSD symptoms in autistics exposed to applied behavior analysis |journal=Advances in Autism |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=19–29 |doi=10.1108/AIA-08-2017-0016 |issn=2056-3868}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last1=Meyer Stabler |first1=Nicole |title=Predictors of Satisfaction with Aba Services from the Autistic Community |date=2024 |url=https://www.ssrn.com/abstract=5060229 |access-date=2025-08-18 |publisher=Elsevier BV |doi=10.2139/ssrn.5060229 |last2=Kavner |first2=Alyssa |last3=Nwi-Mozu |first3=Isaac |last4=Pompa-Craven |first4=Paula |last5=Lotfizadeh |first5=Amin Duff}}</ref>
===Research validity===
Conflicts of interest, methodological concerns, and a high risk of bias pervade most ABA studies.<ref name=":1">{{cite journal | vauthors = Bottema-Beutel K, Crowley S | title = Pervasive Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest in Applied Behavior Analysis Autism Literature | journal = Frontiers in Psychology | volume = 12 | article-number = 676303 | date = 2021 | pmid = 34025538 | pmc = 8131529 | doi = 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.676303 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name="Reichow2018">{{cite journal | vauthors = Reichow B, Hume K, Barton EE, Boyd BA | title = Early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) for young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) | journal = The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews | volume = 5 | issue = 5 | article-number = CD009260 | date = May 2018 | pmid = 29742275 | pmc = 6494600 | doi = 10.1002/14651858.CD009260.pub3 }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2011-09-28 |title=How we made the decision {{!}} Evidence {{!}} Autism spectrum disorder in under 19s: recognition, referral and diagnosis {{!}} Guidance {{!}} NICE |url=https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg128/resources/surveillance-report-2016-autism-spectrum-disorder-in-under-19s-recognition-referral-and-diagnosis-2011-nice-guideline-cg128-and-autism-spectrum-disorder-in-under-19s-support-and-management-2013-nice--2660567437/chapter/How-we-made-the-decision?tab=evidence |access-date=2025-06-04 |website=www.nice.org.uk |quote=...high quality evidence was not found for ABA during guideline development or surveillance review. Most of the evidence for ABA comes from single-case experimental designs which have limitations like the restriction of generalisation to wider population and the high risk of publication bias.}}</ref> A 2019 meta-analysis noted that "methodological rigor remains a pressing concern" in research into ABA's use as therapy for autism; while the authors found some evidence in favour of behavioral interventions, the effects disappeared when they limited the scope of their review to randomized controlled trial designs and outcomes for which there was no risk of detection bias.<ref name="auto1">{{cite journal | vauthors = Sandbank M, Bottema-Beutel K, Crowley S, Cassidy M, Dunham K, Feldman JI, Crank J, Albarran SA, Raj S, Mahbub P, Woynaroski TG| title = Project AIM: Autism intervention meta-analysis for studies of young children | journal = Psychological Bulletin | volume = 146 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–29 | date = January 2020 | pmid = 31763860 | pmc = 8783568 | doi = 10.1037/bul0000215 }}</ref>
==== Conflicts of interest in research ====
One study revealed extensive undisclosed conflicts of interest (COI) in published ABA studies. 84% of studies published in top behavioral journals over a period of one year had at least one author with a COI involving their employment, either as an ABA clinical provider or a training consultant to ABA clinical providers. However, only 2% of these studies disclosed the COI.<ref name=":1" />
A five-year follow-up by the same research team, published in 2026, found that disclosure practices had worsened. The update reported that 93% of studies had at least one author with a clinical or consultancy COI, 78% of authors held such conflicts, only 8% of studies disclosed any conflicts, and 93% of statements claiming no conflicts of interest were false.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bottema-Beutel |first1=Kristen |last2=Hinson-Williams |first2=Jessica |last3=Shen |first3=Yueyang |last4=Guo |first4=Ruoxi |last5=Brayton |first5=Samantha |last6=Alicea |first6=Jacqueline |last7=LaPoint |first7=Shannon |title=A 5-Year Update of Conflicts of Interest in Autism Intervention Research in Applied Behavior Analysis Journals |journal=Autism |date=April 2026 |pmid=41956104 |doi=10.1177/13623613261433165}}</ref>
==== Quality of evidence ==== Low-quality evidence is likewise a concern in some research reporting on the potential harms of ABA on autistic children.<ref name="Davis2022">{{cite book |doi=10.1002/9781119679028.ch39 |chapter=Helping Autistic Children |title=The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Childhood Social Development |date=2022 | vauthors = Davis R, Den Houting J, Nordahl-Hansen A, Fletcher-Watson S |pages=729–746 |isbn=978-1-119-67898-4 |url=https://osf.io/zrfyp/ }}</ref><ref name=":2" /> Another concern is that ABA research only measures cognition or behavior as a means of success, which has led to a lack of qualitative research about autistic experiences of ABA, a lack of research examining the internal effects (e.g. mental health, well-being, emotions) of ABA and a lack of research for autistic children who are non-speaking or have co-occurring intellectual disabilities.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |vauthors=McGill O, Robinson A |date=October 2020 |title='Recalling hidden harms': autistic experiences of childhood applied behavioural analysis (ABA) |url=https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/73753/1/McGill_Robinson_AA_2020_autistic_experiences_of_childhood_Applied_Behavioural_Analysis.pdf |journal=Advances in Autism |language=en |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=269–282 |doi=10.1108/AIA-04-2020-0025 |s2cid=225282499}}</ref><ref name="Sandoval-Norton_2021">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Sandoval-Norton AH, Shkedy G, Shkedy D |date=June 2021 |title=Long-term ABA Therapy Is Abusive: A Response to Gorycki, Ruppel, and Zane |journal=Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders |language=en |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=126–134 |doi=10.1007/s41252-021-00201-1 |s2cid=234848417 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Schreck-2000">{{cite journal | vauthors = Shreck KA, Metz B, Mulick JA, Smith A |year=2000 |title=Making it fit: A Provocative Look at Models of Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention for Children with Autism |journal=The Behavior Analyst Today |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=27–32|doi=10.1037/h0099886 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Weiss-2006">{{cite journal | vauthors = Weiss MJ, Delmolino L |year=2006 |title=The Relationship Between Early Learning Rates and Treatment Outcome For Children With Autism Receiving Intensive Home-Based Applied Behavior Analysis |journal=The Behavior Analyst Today |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=96–105 |doi=10.1037/h0100140|doi-access=free }}</ref> Research is also lacking about whether ABA is effective long-term and very little longitudinal outcomes have been studied.<ref name="Sandoval-Norton_2021" />
===Ethical concerns===
Opponents of ABA have denounced the ABA ethical code as too lenient, citing its failure to restrict or clarify the use of aversives, the absence of an autism or child development education requirement for ABA therapists, and its emphasis on parental consent rather than the consent of the person receiving services.<ref name="Sandoval-Norton_2021" /><ref name="Wilkenfeld-2020">{{cite journal | vauthors = Wilkenfeld DA, McCarthy AM | title = Ethical Concerns with Applied Behavior Analysis for Autism Spectrum "Disorder" | journal = Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal | volume = 30 | issue = 1 | pages = 31–69 | date = 2020 | pmid = 32336692 | doi = 10.1353/ken.2020.0000 | s2cid = 216557299 }}</ref> Numerous researchers have argued that some forms of ABA interventions can be abusive and can increase symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in people undergoing the intervention.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Sandoval-Norton_2021" /><ref name="Wilkenfeld-2020" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Kupferstein H |date=2018-01-02 |title=Evidence of increased PTSD symptoms in autistics exposed to applied behavior analysis |journal=Advances in Autism |language=en |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=19–29 |doi=10.1108/AIA-08-2017-0016 |s2cid=4638346}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Sandoval-Norton AH, Shkedy G, Shkedy D |date=2019-01-01 |title=How much compliance is too much compliance: Is long-term ABA therapy abuse? |journal=Cogent Psychology |volume=6 |issue=1 |article-number=1641258 |doi=10.1080/23311908.2019.1641258 |s2cid=199041640 |doi-access=free |veditors=Rushby JA}}</ref> Some bioethicists argue that employing ABA violates the principles of justice and nonmaleficence and infringes on the autonomy of both autistic children and their parents.<ref name="Wilkenfeld-2020" />
=== Use of aversives === Lovaas incorporated aversives into some of the ABA practices he developed, including employing electric shocks, slapping, and shouting to modify undesirable behavior. Although the use of aversives in ABA became less common over time, and in 2012 their use was described as inconsistent with contemporary practice,<ref name="Spreat">{{cite book |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511978616.011 |chapter=Behavioral treatments for children with ASDs |title=The Autism Spectrum |date=2012 | vauthors = Spreat S |pages=239–257 |isbn=978-0-521-11687-9 }}</ref> aversives persisted in some ABA programs. In comments made in 2014 to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a clinician previously employed by the JRC claimed that "all textbooks used for thorough training of applied behavior analysts include an overview of the principles of punishment, including the use of electrical stimulation."<ref name="FDACOMMENT">{{cite report |url=http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AdvisoryCommittees/CommitteesMeetingMaterials/MedicalDevices/MedicalDevicesAdvisoryCommittee/NeurologicalDevicesPanel/UCM395024.pdf |title=Aversive comments – part 1 |date=14 April 2014 |publisher=United States Food and Drug Administration |page=4 |docket=FDA-2014-N-0238 |access-date=10 October 2020 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/7993/20170114045650/http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AdvisoryCommittees/CommitteesMeetingMaterials/MedicalDevices/MedicalDevicesAdvisoryCommittee/NeurologicalDevicesPanel/UCM395024.pdf |archive-date=2017-01-14 |vauthors=Cameron M}}</ref>
=== Linguistic Rigor === Skinner's verbal operants were critiqued by the linguist Noam Chomsky who argued that Skinner's view of language as behavior did not explain the complexity of human language.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Chomsky | first =A. Noam | title =A Review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior | journal =Language | volume =35 | issue =1 | pages =26–58 | date =1959 | url =http://www.chomsky.info/articles/1967----.htm | jstor =411334 | doi = 10.2307/411334 | access-date = 2014-08-26| url-access =subscription }}, Repr. in {{cite book | editor-last =Jakobovits | editor-first =Leon A. | editor2-last =Miron | editor2-first =Murray S. | title =Readings in the Psychology of Language | publisher =Prentice-Hall | location =New York | pages =142–143 }}</ref>
===Response to criticisms===
Justin B. Leaf and others examined and responded to several of these criticisms of ABA in three papers published in 2018,<ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Leaf JB, Ross RK, Cihon JH, Weiss MJ |date=4 October 2018 |title=Evaluating Kupferstein's claims of the relationship of behavioral intervention to PTSS for individuals with autism |journal=Advances in Autism |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=122–129 |doi=10.1108/AIA-02-2018-0007|doi-access=free }}</ref> 2019,<ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Leaf JB, Townley-Chochran D, Cihon JH, Mitchell E, Leaf R, Taubman M, Mceachin J |date=June 2019 |title=Descriptive Analysis of the Use of Punishment-Based Techniques with Children Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder |journal=Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities |volume=54 |issue=2 |pages=107–118 |jstor=26663970 }}</ref> and 2022,<ref name="Leaf_2022">{{cite journal | vauthors = Leaf JB, Cihon JH, Leaf R, McEachin J, Liu N, Russell N, Unumb L, Shapiro S, Khosrowshahi D| title = Concerns About ABA-Based Intervention: An Evaluation and Recommendations | journal = Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders | volume = 52 | issue = 6 | pages = 2838–2853 | date = June 2022 | pmid = 34132968 | pmc = 9114057 | doi = 10.1007/s10803-021-05137-y | s2cid = 235449575 }}</ref> in which they questioned the evidence for such criticisms, concluding that the claim that all ABA is abusive has no basis in the published literature. Others have published similar responses.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Gorycki KA, Ruppel PR, Zane T |title=Is long-term ABA therapy abusive: A response to Sandoval-Norton and Shkedy |journal=Cogent Psychology |date=31 December 2020 |volume=7 |issue=1 |article-number=1823615 |doi=10.1080/23311908.2020.1823615 |hdl=1808/31691 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> In addition, some forms of ABA interventions have been reforming to address these criticisms and mitigate the potential risks of harm, informed by neurodiversity approaches, related findings, and lived experiences of autistic people.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10803-021-05316-x.pdf | doi=10.1007/s10803-021-05316-x | title=Neurodiversity and Autism Intervention: Reconciling Perspectives Through a Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention Framework | date=2022 | journal=Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders | volume=52 | issue=10 | pages=4625–4645 | pmid=34643863 | vauthors = Schuck RK, Tagavi DM, Baiden KM, Dwyer P, Williams ZJ, Osuna A, Ferguson EF, Jimenez Muñoz M, Poyser SK, Johnson JF, Vernon TW | pmc=9508016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/27546330241266718 | doi=10.1177/27546330241266718 | title=A qualitative investigation into autistic adults' perspectives on intervention goals for autistic children | date=2024 | journal=Neurodiversity | volume=2 | vauthors = Schuck RK, Geng A, Doss Y, Lin F, Crousore H, Baiden KM, Dwyer P, Williams ZJ, Wang M | article-number=27546330241266718 | url-access=subscription | doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/articlepdf/2794074/jamapediatrics_dawson_2022_vp_220009_1661357595.41144.pdf | doi=10.1001/jamapediatrics.2022.2299 | title=At a Crossroads—Reconsidering the Goals of Autism Early Behavioral Intervention from a Neurodiversity Perspective | date=2022 | journal=JAMA Pediatrics | volume=176 | issue=9 | pages=839–840 | pmid=35816341 | pmc=10069446 | vauthors = Dawson G, Franz L, Brandsen S }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s40617-024-00907-3.pdf | doi=10.1007/s40617-024-00907-3 | title=Affirming Neurodiversity within Applied Behavior Analysis | date=2024 | journal=Behavior Analysis in Practice | volume=17 | issue=2 | pages=471–485 | vauthors = Mathur SK, Renz E, Tarbox J | pmid=38966275 | pmc=11219658 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s40617-024-00918-0.pdf | doi=10.1007/s40617-024-00918-0 | title=Neurodiversity-Affirming Applied Behavior Analysis | date=2024 | journal=Behavior Analysis in Practice | vauthors = Allen LL, Mellon LS, Syed N, Johnson JF, Bernal AJ }}</ref>
== See also == {{Portal|Education|Medicine|Psychology}} * Association for Behavior Analysis International * Autism in psychoanalysis * Behavior analysis of child development * Behavior therapy * Behavioral activation * Educational psychology * Parent management training * Professional practice of behavior analysis
== References == {{Reflist}}
===Sources=== * {{cite book | vauthors = Cooper JO, Heron TE, Heward WL |title=Applied Behavior Analysis |date=1987 |publisher=Merrill Publishing Company |isbn=978-0-675-20223-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PVB9AAAAMAAJ |language=en}}
== Further reading == {{refbegin}} * {{cite book | vauthors = Wheeler JJ, Richey DD |title=Behavior Management: Principles and Practices of Positive Behavior Supports|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9TeQMQEACAAJ|year=2013|publisher=Pearson Education, Limited|isbn=978-0-13-285169-5}} * {{cite journal |journal= Psychology in the Schools|year=2007 |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=91–99 |title=Applied behavior analysis: beyond discrete trial teaching | vauthors = Steege MW, Mace FC, Perry L, Longenecker H |doi=10.1002/pits.20208}} * {{cite book | vauthors = Mayer GR, Sulzer-Azaroff B, Wallace M |title=Behavior Analysis for Lasting Change |publisher=Sloan |edition=2/E |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-59738-032-4 }} * {{cite book|author-link1=A. Charles Catania | vauthors = Catania AC |title=Learning |publisher=Sloan |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-59738-007-2 }} {{refend}}
== External links == {{Library resources box|by=no|onlinebooks=no|about=yes|wikititle=applied behavior analysis}} * [http://www.kennedykrieger.org/patient-care/patient-care-programs/inpatient-programs/neurobehavioral-unit-nbu/applied-behavior-analysis Applied Behavior Analysis: Overview and Summary of Scientific Support] * [https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/fba/#content Functional Behavioral Assessment, The IRIS Center – U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs Grant and Vanderbilt University]
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