QABA ABAT key terms

A science that applies principles of learning to improve socially significant behavior, using objective measurement and analysis to identify the environmental variables responsible for behavior change.

Anything a person observably does, including actions, verbalizations, and physical responses, described precisely enough that two observers could independently detect and record it.

Behavior whose future frequency is shaped by the consequences it produces, so what happens afterward determines whether the response occurs again.

A reflexive or elicited response controlled by a preceding stimulus rather than by its consequences, as when a loud noise produces a startle.

A consequence delivered contingent on a response that increases the likelihood of that response occurring again under similar circumstances.

A procedure in which a stimulus is added immediately after a behavior, resulting in an increase in the future frequency of that behavior.

A procedure in which an aversive stimulus is removed or avoided immediately after a behavior, increasing the future occurrence of that behavior.

A consequence contingent on a behavior that decreases its future frequency, either by adding an aversive event or by removing a preferred one.

Withholding the reinforcer that previously maintained a behavior; responding often increases and becomes variable before it gradually decreases.

An antecedent stimulus that signals reinforcement is available for a particular response, because that response has been reinforced in its presence and not in its absence.

An environmental condition that changes how valuable a consequence is at a given moment and, in turn, changes the momentary frequency of behavior that has produced that consequence.

The arrangement of an antecedent stimulus, a behavior, and the consequence that follows it; the basic unit for describing how the environment controls operant responding.

A written description of a target behavior using observable, measurable, and objective terms so that different observers agree on what counts as an occurrence.

Repeated measurement of the target behavior under existing conditions before an intervention begins, used as the standard against which later change is judged.

The number of responses counted divided by the time in which they occurred, such as responses per minute, allowing comparison across sessions of different lengths.

The length of time from when a behavior begins until it ends, recorded when how long a response lasts is the dimension of interest.

A time-sampling method that scores an interval if the behavior occurs at any point within it; it tends to overestimate how much behavior actually occurred.

A time-sampling method that records whether the behavior is occurring exactly at the moment each interval ends, rather than across the whole interval.

A measure of how closely two observers' independent records of the same behavior, taken during the same observation period, agree with one another.

A direct observation method that documents the antecedent, the behavior, and the consequence for each instance of a behavior, revealing patterns that suggest its function.

A systematic process of gathering information through interviews, observation, and sometimes experimental analysis to identify what reinforces and maintains a problem behavior.

Breaking a complex or multi-step skill into smaller component responses that can be taught, sequenced, and measured one at a time.

Teaching a task analysis by linking its steps into one sequence, starting with the first step and adding forward, or starting with the last step and adding backward.

Reinforcing successive approximations of a target response, beginning with what the learner already does and gradually requiring closer versions until the goal is reached.

An extra cue, model, gesture, or physical guidance provided along with an instruction to make a correct response more likely.

The gradual removal or reduction of prompts across trials so that the response eventually occurs under the natural instruction alone rather than on the prompt.

A procedure in which a short pause is inserted between an instruction and any prompt, giving the learner an opportunity to respond independently first.

Teaching a learner to respond to one stimulus and not another by reinforcing responses in the presence of one and withholding them in the presence of the other.

The occurrence of a learned response in settings, with people, or with materials that differ from those present during training.

The continued performance of a learned skill after teaching has ended or after the behavior has been established for some time.

A structured format in which a brief instruction, a learner response, and a programmed consequence repeat across many short trials, usually with a short pause between them.

Reinforcing a specified appropriate response while withholding the reinforcer for the problem behavior, so the alternative response gradually replaces it.

A form of differential reinforcement in which the learner is taught a communicative response, such as requesting or signing, that produces the same outcome the problem behavior produced.

Structured procedures, such as offering choices among items or observing free play, used to identify stimuli that are likely to work as reinforcers.

A written plan based on functional assessment data that names target behaviors, replacement skills, and the antecedent and consequence strategies staff will use.

Voluntary agreement to assessment or treatment given after the person or guardian receives an explanation of procedures, risks, benefits, alternatives, and the right to refuse.

The obligation to protect client records and information from unauthorized access, sharing them only with people who need them to deliver services or as authorized by consent or law.

The range of practice a behavior technician is qualified to deliver based on training and supervised experience; work outside that range should be referred or declined.

Oversight provided by a qualified behavior analyst, including direct observation, feedback, modeling, and written documentation of the trainee's performance with clients.

A second, nonprofessional connection with a client or family, such as a friendship or business arrangement, that risks impairing objectivity or exploiting the relationship.