Applied Behavior Analysis

Applied

The applied in ABA signifies the field’s focus on changing behaviors that improve people’s quality of life. Learning to read, to interact effectively with peers, and to play a musical instrument are obvious examples of behavior changes that meet the applied criterion.

An intervention that turns a noncompliant, acting-out student into a quiet and passive one would fall short of the applied standard because reducing talk-outs and other kinds of disruptions, albeit important, is insufficient. A more meaningful—and thus more applied—intervention would also increase the frequency with which the student emits desirable, alternative behaviors such as asking questions during lessons and contributing to class discussions.

[Page 29]Applied also means that the methods used to change behavior are practical and acceptable to the practitioners and satisfactory to the participants and significant others affected by them.

Behavioral

That ABA must be behavioral would seem self-evident, but this dimension entails three important criteria. First, an actual behavior must be targeted for change. Behavior is the interaction between an individual and his or her environment. Targeting the absence of responding such as not hitting others does not meet this criterion. Ogden Lindsley proposed the dead man test to check if an objective is truly behavioral. Any goal a dead person could achieve fails the test. A dead man could “not hit others.” A more meaningful behavior would be “interact with others by sharing materials.”

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