Learning & Motivation: Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA)

Continuing from the last post (Behavioural Therapy for Children with Autism) in this series, let us now look into a learning methodology evolved from behavioural therapy, Appled Behavioural Analysis, commonly known as ABA.

What is ABA?

Borrowing the concept from Operant Behavioural Conditioning, ABA claims that behaviours can be taught or modified through a system of reinforcements, punishments and consequences. As it is a form of behavioural therapy, ABA functionally assesses the relationship between a targeted behaviour and the environment in order to modify a behaviour or to teach it.

As reinforcements and responses to these reinforcements are components of ABA, Classical Conditioning is also considered as one of the concepts in ABA other than operant conditioning.

Lovaas, a psychologist, first applied ABA to autism at the Psychology Department at UCLA in 1987. He suggested that social and behavioural skills could be taught, to children with autism, through the ABA method.

Read Understanding Applied Behavior Analysis: An Introduction to ABA for Parents, Teachers and Other Professionals by Albert J Kearney for a clear, precise introduction on ABA.


How does ABA work?

One of the main components in ABA is the discrete trials therapy.  A discrete trials session uses repeated presentations with each trial having a clear, specific instructions and distinctly identifiable results. In discrete trial teaching, a very small amount of information is given and the student’s response is immediately reinforced or not reinforced. 

Every trials have 3 parts to them. There are the ABC - Antecedent, Behaviour and consequence. The antecedent is the instruction (also known as Sd - (Discriminant) Stimulus, because the instruction helps the child to discriminate the purpose of the stimuli presented) that leads to a response which is the behaviour and the consequence is the response to the behaviour that resulted from the instruction. For example, "Pour juice" is the antecedent, the child proceeds to pour juice into a glass is the behaviour and the child being praised by you for pouring the juice is the consequence. (ABC is also used in other components of ABA such as the assessment of undesirable behaviour in order to mofidy it. This is known as Functional Behavioural Analysis. We will look more into it in a future post in this series.)

Reinforcement, in this case, like classical conditioning, plays a very crucial role. Timimg and frequency of delivering of the reinforcements are important in the effectiveness of discrete trial training. Differential Therefore, reinforcement techniques are employed in ABA to combine the frequencies of reinforcements with the effectiveness of the discrete trials. For example, when a child first learns a new concept, reinforcements should be immediately after every correct response so that the child can effectively pair the reward with his most recent behaviour. However, the frequency of delivering the reinforcement may decrease to encourage higher steady rate of responding when the child is motivated by receiving a reward but has no idea when it will be given. We will explore more about reindorcement schedules in future posts in this series.

Read A Work In Progress by Ron Leaf and John McEachin for a more detailed and comprehensive explanation of discrete trials.

The video below may also better help you understand more about what discrete trial training is and how it is being carried out.

Of course, discrete trials training is only one of the many components of ABA. However discrete trials training remains the most crucial element of ABA to date. In upcoming post of the series, we will look further into the various elements of ABA such as Verbal Behaviour, Functional Behaviour Analysis and Reinforcement Schedules.

As ABA is wide ranging in topics and its approach, here are some suggested readings that will help you understand it better -

Let Me Hear Your Voice: A Family's Triumph over Autism by Catherine Maurice is a mother's illuminating account of how one family overcomed the difficulties of autism through ABA. It is an absolutely unforgettable book, as beautifully written as it is informative.

Behaviorspeak: A Glossary of Terms in Applied Behavior Analysis (Volume 1) by Bobby Newman is an invaluable resource for parents, giving its readers the tools necessary to understand articles in professional journals, presentations, and books. Deliberately written in a humorous and easily understood style, this book will prove to be of great help to you in understanding ABA in greater depth.

Behaviorask: Straight Answers to Your ABA Programming Questions by Bobby Newman is a collection of answers to over 100 of the most common ABA programming questions, discussed in rich detail. The authors are Board Certified Behavior Analysts with many years of experience providing ABA-based programs in schools, homes, and private clinics.

Applied Behaviour Analysis and Autism by Mickey Keenan and his colleagues gives detailed guidance on how to develop a tailored ABA programme that includes the key features of ABA. The well laid out information is mixed with inspirational stories of success, making this book a holistic reference guide to ABA therapy.

If you have any further questions or suggestions, I look forward to corresponding with you via email at davensim@triumphantkids.com.

You can also find me on Facebook!

Till the next post, I wish you a very wonderful week ahead.

With regards,
Daven :)

www.triumphantkids.com

Learning and Motivation: Behavioural Therapy for Children with Autism

An Introduction.

While behavioural therapy has been regarded as one of the effective therapies for children with autism, there are many people who are still unsure of what it actually is or does. In this post, we will explain more about behavioural therapy. We will look into what behavioural therapy is and what are the main principles behind the methodology.

What is Behavioural Therapy?
Behavioural therapy refers to the changes and modification of behaviours that are observable. Behaviourists argue that all behaviours are observable and it is through the observation of external factors that undesirable and challenging behaviours can be modified through behavioural interventions. Internal factors such as thought processes and introspection are not taken into consideration when designing and implementing behavioural interventions as behaviourism argues that all  behaviours are results of responses to external stimuli (environment). Thus no introspection (elaborate thought processes) is involved in the reaction to stimuli presented. Internal thought processes are also excluded from the theory of behaviourism because they are regarded as immeasurable. External factors on the other hand are measurable due to them being observable. For example, the number of times a child throws his book on the floor is measurable.

The Science of Behavioural Therapy.
Behavioural therapy is based on the principles of classical conditioning by Ivan Pavlov and of Operant conditioning by B.F Skinner.

Classical Conditioning
It is learning process that occurs through the association between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occuring stimulus. For example, A naturally occurring stimulus (food) is paired with a response (running towards the kitchen). Then, a previously neutral stimulus (bell) is paired with the naturally occurring stimulus (food. In this case, when the bell rings, food is being brought out). Eventually, the previously neutral stimulus comes to evoke the response without the presence of the naturally occurring stimulus (Whenever the bell rings, the subject will come running to the kitchen without having to see the food).

Another Example of Classical Conditioning:
Jane likes chocolates. Whenever she sees chocolates, she would laugh and clap her hands with joy. Her teacher always keeps the chocolates he distributes to his students in a green colour recyclable bag. Once every week, Jane sees her teacher takes out her favourite snack from the green bag. One day, Jane sees her teacher takes out the exact same green bag and immediately laughs and claps her hand in anticipation of receiving some chocolates without even seeing the sweets in the first place or being informed that there will be chocolates to be given out that afternoon.

The laughing and clapping is the unconditioned response. It is a response that comes naturally to the person displaying it in reaction to the natural stimulus (chocolate) presented.

The anticipation is the condition response. It is a response that is conditioned (learned) after being exposed to the previously neutral stimulus (green bag) which is associated with the image of the chocolates.


Operant Conditioning:
Operant conditioning is a learning method through rewards and punishments for behaviours. For example, when a child gets rewarded for washing the dishes after meal, he is more likely to carry out the responsibility again next time because he anticipates being rewarded.

While operant conditioning can be used to increase desirable behaviour, it is also used to decrease undesired behaviours. For example, a child when warned that her television previleges will be taken from her if she doesn't complete her homework on time in the future may result in decrease of tardiness.

There are mainly two components of Operant Conditioning. They are reinforcements and punishments.

Reinforcements
Reinforcements increase behaviours. There are two types of reinforcements, namely positive reinforcements and negative reinforcements.

Positive reinforcements - Favourable outcomes presented after the a behaviour. For example, as above, a child being rewarded for doing the household chore. It is positive because a behaviour is reinforced by the addition of something (reward).

Negative reinforcements - Removal of unfavourable outcomes after the display of undesirable behaviour. A A response is strengthed by the removal of something unpleasant. For example,in order to not get bad grades, a student studies hard. Thus the behaviour to work hard is strengthened a bad grades are removed.

Punishments
Punishments on the other hand decrease or weaken behaviours. Just as reinforcements, punishments have two components - positive punishment and negative punishment.

Positive punishments - Presentation of an unfavourable outcome to decrease an undesirable behaviour. For example, if a child touches a heated kettle and scalded his hand, he will be less likely to touch a hot kettle next time.

Negative punishments - A pleasant and desired outcome is taken away to decrease an undesirable behaviour. As above, when a child doen't complete her homework on time, she may get her television watching previleges taken away from her. This results in decrease of her tardiness.

So far, we have learned about the two main principles of behavioural therapy. Understanding the basics, we are then able to get into more in depth study of behavioural therapy and its role in providing interventions to children on the autism spectrum. Thus, our next post in the Learning and Motivation series will dig deeper into the workings of behavioural therapy and how it relates to special education.

Till then, if you have any concerns or suggestions, please do not hesitate to email me at davensim@triumphantkids.com.

www.triumphantkids.com