Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is a treatment that spotlights on enhancing particular behaviors, for example, social abilities, interpersonal skills, reading, and scholastics and versatile learning abilities, for example, fine motor dexterity, cleanliness, prepping, household capacities, timeliness, and occupation fitness. It is predominantly noticeable in the management of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). ABA is explained by applying the principles of learning theory in a systematic way to modify behavior. It is used for both humans and animals.
The name “applied behavioral analysis” has ousted “behavior modification in light of the fact that the last approach suggested trying to change behavior without elucidating the important factors such as the interaction between behavior and environment. Conversely, “ABA tries to change behavior by first evaluating the useful connection between a targeted behavior and the environment” (Mace, 1994). Further, the approach frequently looks to grow socially adequate practices that depose abnormal behaviors.
ABA adopts an investigation strategy to treatment in light of demonstrated speculations of learning and behavior. Specialists who utilize ABA see how human behaviors are learned and how they can be changed after some time. The advisor assesses a client’s conduct and creates specific treatment plans to help enhance the communication and behavior skills that are vital for achievement in their own and professional lives. ABA specialists can likewise give training to guardians and teachers and educate them about the issues (Dillenburger, 2009). For the best outcomes, ABA requires substantial checking and nonstop assessment. Advisors and other professionals work inside settings, for example, schools, homes, and as well as community centers to assess and change treatment as it advances.
“THE ABC MODEL: THE BASIS OF APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS”
The initial phase of Applied Behavior Analysis is to dissect the behavior. This is completed by utilizing the ABC display:
A – Antecedent: A trigger, something that comes before the behavior
These are the occasions or the conduct that goes before the Target Behavior. Otherwise called the “Setting Event,” the antecedent is anything that may add to the conduct. It might be a demand from a teacher; it may be the presence of someone else or a student, or any sort of the change in the environment for that matter (Miltenberger 2008; Reid &Parsons, 2007).
B – Behavior: Anything a person does
This is now and again alluded to as the target behavior. The behavior you are concentrating on, that is either pivotal or a problem behavior that makes a threat to the person or others, or a distracting behavior which expels the kid from the school setting or keeps different students from accepting instructions. Behavior should be portrayed or characterized in a way that is viewed as an “operational definition” that depicts the state of behavior in a way that two dissimilar spectators can distinguish a similar behavior.
C – Consequence: Anything that follows the behavior is known as a consequence. These can include actions and responses.
The ABC Chart is utilized to sort out data from more than a few therapy sessions by recording the kinds of practices watched and the occasions that go before and take after the behavior. Watching and recording ABC information helps the group in shaping a hypothesis statement and get together proof that the function of keeping up a problem behavior has been distinguished ( Alberto, 1999).
Procedures USED IN APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS
Task Analysis
Task examination is a procedure in which an assignment is broken down into its segment parts with the goal that those parts can be taught using chaining which includes “forward chaining, backward chaining and total presentation of the task”.
Chaining
“The ability to be educated is separated into the littlest units for simple learning. For instance, a child figuring out “how to brush teeth independently” may begin with figuring out “how to unscrew the toothpaste top”. Once the youngster has taken in this, the subsequent stage might press the tube, etc.”
Prompting
“The parent or specialist gives help to energize the coveted reaction from the youngster. The point is to utilize the slightest officious prompt conceivable that will, in any case, prompt the desired response”.
Fading
“The general objective is for a youngster to in the end not require prompts. This is the reason the slightest intrusive prompts are utilized, so the child does not turn out to be excessively subject to them when taking in another behavior or aptitude. Prompts are step by step grown dim as then new behavior is found. Figuring out how to unscrew the toothpaste cover may begin with physically controlling the child’s hands, to pointing at the toothpaste, then just a verbal demand”
Shaping
“Shaping includes continuously adjusting the current conduct of a kid into the coveted conduct. A case here is a young man who just “draws in with the pet dog by hitting it”. In spite of the fact that tedious, the guardians mediate each time he tries to play with the puppy, get his hand and transform the hit into a stroking movement. This is matched with encouraging feedback “It’s extraordinary when you are delicate with Pooch!” and completing a most loved action quickly a short time later as a reward.”
Differential fortification
Fortification gives a reaction to a child’s conduct that will in all likelihood increment that conduct. It is “differential” on the grounds that the level of fortification fluctuates relying upon the kid’s reaction. Difficult tasks might be strengthened intensely while simple assignments might be fortified less vigorously. We should deliberately change our support so the child in the long run will react suitably under natural schedules of fortification (periodic) with regular kinds of reinforcement (social).
Generalization
Once expertise is found out in a measured situation (typically table-time), the aptitude is instructed in more broad settings. Maybe the expertise will be educated in the regular habitat. On the off chance that the student has effectively aced learning hues at the table, the instructor may take the student around the house or school and after that re-instruct the aptitude in the more common habitats. Behavioral experts have invested impressive measures of energy in examining factors that prompt generalization (Kerr, M.M., Nelson & C.M., 2010).
Video modeling
One teaching method observed to be powerful with a few understudies, especially youngsters, is the utilization of video demonstration (the utilization of taped groupings as models of behavior). Moreover, it can be utilized by advisors to aid the obtaining of both “verbal and motor responses”, at times for long chains of behavior.
SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION
Created by Joseph Wolpe (1958), systematic desensitization was intended to treat patients who showed extreme anxiety or dread toward particular occasions, objects or individuals. It is a type of behavior therapy that has its roots in the principles of classical conditioning. This treatment intends to eliminate the fear response of a phobia and in that place, substitute a relaxation response. Utilizing this technique, the individual is occupied with some sort of relaxation exercise and continuously presented with an anxiety-producing stimulus. There are three stages to the treatment.
- Establish anxiety stimulus hierarchy
- Learn coping mechanisms or incompatible response
- Connect the stimulus
The individual should first distinguish the things that are causing him uneasiness or making him fearful. Everything that causes nervousness is given a subjective positioning on the seriousness of anxiety. In the event that the individual is encountering extraordinary fear to a wide range of triggers, everything is managed independently. For each trigger or boost, a rundown is made to rank the occasions from minimum fear-inducing to maximum fear-inducing.
Meditation is the best kind of copy strategy. This is one of the reasons why Wolpe showed his patient’s relaxation responses since it isn’t conceivable to be both anxious and relaxed at the same time. In this technique, patients work on straining and relaxing different parts of the body until the point that the patient achieves a condition of serenity. This is essential since it furnishes the patient with methods for controlling their fear, instead of giving it a chance to increment to heinous levels. Just a couple of sessions are required for a patient to learn proper ways of dealing with stress. Extra coping procedures incorporate anti-anxiety drugs and breathing activities. Another case of relaxing is imagery. The therapist may urge patients to look at what they envision happening when presented with the fear-inducing stimulus and after that take into consideration the client to displace the envisioned dreadful situation with any of the envisioned positive results.
In the last step, the client completely relaxes and is then shown the least fear-inducing item on the list. At the point when the patient has achieved a condition of relaxation again in the wake of being given the primary stimulus, the second stimulus that should display a more elevated amount of anxiety is introduced. This will enable the patient to defeat their fear. This action is finished until the point that every one of the things of the pecking order of anxiety is finished without actuating any tension in the client whatsoever. On the off chance that whenever amid the activity the ways of dealing with stress fizzle or turned into a disappointment, or the patient neglects to finish the method for dealing with stress because of the serious tension, the activity is then halted. At the point when the individual is quiet, the last stimulus that is displayed without instigating uneasiness is introduced again and the activity is then kept relying upon the patient outcomes (McGlynn, Smitherman & Gothard, 2004)
Another example:
ASSERTIVENESS TRAINING
Assertiveness Training (AT) was presented by Andrew Salter (1961) and advanced by Joseph Wolpe. Moreover, Wolpe’s conviction was that a man couldn’t be both assertive and also anxious in the meantime, and along these lines being emphatic would repress uneasiness. Assertiveness training is a useful type of behavioral therapy. The objectives of assertiveness training include:
- Expanded consciousness of individual rights
- The separation between non-assertiveness and assertiveness
- Separation between passive–aggressiveness and aggressiveness
- Learning both verbal and non-verbal confidence aptitudes.
As a communication style and technique, assertiveness is along these lines recognized from both hostility and coldness. How individuals manage individual limits, their own particulars and those of other individuals recognize these three ideas. Uninvolved communicators don’t guard their very own limits and along these lines enable aggressive individuals to manhandle or control them through fear. Passive communicators are likewise regularly not prone to hazards attempting to impact any other person. Forceful individuals don’t regard the individual limits of others and subsequently are at risk to hurt others while endeavoring to impact them. A man imparts self-assuredly by conquering the fear of talking his or her brain or attempting to impact others, however doing as such in a way that regards the individual limits of others. Assertive individuals are additionally eager to protect themselves against aggressive individuals (Rich Pfeiffer, 2010)
Assertiveness training normally starts with a data gathering exercise in which members are gotten some information about and list the regions throughout their life in which they experience issues standing up for themselves. Regularly they will see particular circumstances or themes of conduct that they need to center around amid the course. The following stage in assertiveness training is generally role-plays intended to enable members to hone clearer and more straightforward types of speaking with others. The role-plays take into consideration practice and reiteration of the new methods, helping every individual learn confident reactions by following up on them. Criticism is given to enhance the reaction, and the role-play is rehashed. Inevitably, every individual is requested to hone decisive methods in regular daily existence, outside the preparation setting. The role-plays generally fuse particular issues for singular members, for example, trouble talking up to a domineering supervisor; setting cutoff points to intrusive companions; or expressing an unmistakable inclination about dinner to one’s spouse. Role-plays frequently incorporate cases of forceful and uninvolved reactions, notwithstanding the confident reactions, to enable members to recognize these extremes as they take in another arrangement of practices.
Assertiveness training advances the utilization of “I” statements as an approach to enable people to express their emotions and responses to others. A usually utilized model of an “I” proclamation is “the point at which you _________, I feel ___________”, to enable the member to portray what they see the other individual as doing, and how they feel about that activity. “I” sentences are regularly diverged from “you” articulations, which are normally not gotten well by others. For instance, “When you are two hours late returning home from work, I feel both on edge and irate,” is a less blaming correspondence than “You are an egotistical and impolite jolt for not revealing to me you would be two hours late.” Prompts are frequently used to enable members to learn new correspondence styles. This approach enables members to learn better approaches for communicating and in addition how it feels to be confident.
Learning particular methods and points of view, for example, self-perception abilities, familiarity with individual inclinations, and accepting individual accountability are imperative segments of the assertive training method. Role-play and practice help with self-perception, while influencing records can be a useful method for investigating individual inclinations of individuals who might not have their very own needs and wants. Members might be requested to list anything from their ten most loved motion pictures or bits of music to their most loved sustenances, places they might want to visit, subjects that intrigue them, etc.
BEHAVIORAL ACTIVATION
Behavioral activation is third-generation formal therapy for depression that has its roots in learning theory and contextual functionalism. It is different from cognitive therapy in a way that it does not emphasize scheduling pleasant events. Moreover, it does not talk about cognitions, thoughts, or inner conflicts. The emphasis of behavioral activation is on the behavior itself and the variables which affect the manifestation of unhelpful responses. Hence, this is more of a pragmatic approach that considers the reinforcers that predict and maintain an unhelpful response. It is used in the treatment of depression
The purpose of the study is explained in the first sessions to the patient. A positive explanation of the patient’s symptoms is given by the therapist on how some of the factors are helping maintain the current problems. An example could be someone suffering from depression because he lost a dear one. A therapist will tell that person that his symptoms are understandable with respect to the context. The patient is made aware of his mood fluctuation. He/She writes down his activities and rates depression on a scale of 0 to 10. The patient is supposed to do this activity for a week or two.
As treatment advances, patients are instructed how to examine the unintended outcomes of their ways of reacting, including inactivity and ruminating e.g. endeavoring to discover purposes behind the past or endeavoring to tackle insoluble issues. They are demonstrated that the impact of their ways of adapting is that they wind up pulled back and maintain a distance from both their daily activities and social interactions. This can lead to more depression, more rumination, and giving up a great opportunity for encounters in life that ordinarily bring joy. Moreover, the way they act influences their condition and other individuals in a way that can irritate the sadness.
The core of behavioral activation is step by step to distinguish exercises and issues that the individual stays away from and to set up valued directions to be taken after. These are set out on arranged timetables (movement plans). People are urged to schedule their activities with current objectives and to regard their timetables as a progression of meetings with themselves. A noteworthy blunder is for a patient to endeavor to handle everything without a moment’s delay. The point is to present little changes, developing the level of action steadily towards long-haul objectives (Martell, 2001). Days ought not to be filled with activity for the sake of completing the activity. The exercises picked must identify with what the individual has been maintaining a strategic distance from and help them to act as per their valued directions. People are urged to incorporate exercises that are relieving and pleasurable, as prizes
The diagram above features the different optional adapting procedures that keep up the experience of being discouraged. These show up in the circles encompassing the central region, shaded region, much as petals on a flower. Behavioral activation intends to sever each of these ‘petals’, to help the person to utilize moving toward as opposed to maintaining a strategic distance from practices and to become active in spite of their hostile sentiments or absence of motivation (Ferster, 1973).
Behavioral activation is intended to build your contact with positively rewarding exercises. In behavioral initiation, you distinguish particular objectives for the week and work toward meeting those objectives.
These objectives appear as pleasurable exercises that are reliable with the life you need to live. For instance, on the off chance that you need to carry on with the life of a caring individual, you may pick objectives concentrated on volunteering, helping friends and families out, or giving to philanthropy. Especially when you see yourself feeling on edge or discouraged, you should plan an activity and work on it. This shows you that your behavior can influence your mood.
References
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Dillenburger, K.; Keenan, M. (2009). “None of the As in ABA stand for autism: dispelling the myths”. J Intellect Dev Disabil. 34 (2): 193–95.
Alberto, P. C., & Troutman, A. C. (1999). Applied behavior analysis for
teachers (5th ed.). Columbus, OH: Merrill.
Miltenberger, R.G. (2008). Behavior Modification: Principles and Procedure, 4th edition. Belmont, CA:
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Kerr, M. M., & Nelson, C. M. (2010). Strategies for addressing behavior problems in the classroom (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
McGlynn, F., Smitherman, T., Gothard, K.. 2004 “Comment on the Status of Systematic Desensitization”. Behavior Modification, 28: 2, pp. 194–20
Wolpe, J. (1958) Psychotherapy by Reciprocal Inhibition, (California: Stanford University Press, 1958), 53–62
Martell, C.R.; Addis, M.E. & Jacobson, N.S. (2001). Depression in context: Strategies for guided action. New York: W. W. Norton.
Ferster, C.B. (1973). “A functional analysis of depression”. American Psychologist. 28 (10): 857–870. doi:10.1037/h0035605. PMID 4753644.
Rich Pfeiffer, Relationships: Assertiveness Skills (2010) p. 28
