data collected on the antecedent,

behavior, and consequences that

take place in order to understand
the context in which a behavior
abc data occurs

also known as the three-term

contingency

a type of motivating operation that

abolishing operations decreases the value of a reinforcer

one of the functions of behavior

access to tangible engaging in a behavior results in
access to an item or activity

a problem behavior that involves

physically or vocally harming
agression another person
(agg) topography, magnitude, and
operational definitions can vary
across learners
 the events, actions, or circumstances
antecedent that occur before a behavior takes
place

social and/or environmental

changes made prior to an event to
antecedent modification lessen the likelihood of a problem
behavior occurring

a scientific approach to
understanding behavior
applied behavior analysis
(aba) most often used to as therapy for
asd children to help teach skills and
lessen problem behaviors

when a learner agrees to participate in

their treatment

assent does not need to be verbal agreement

and can be shown through body
language, facial expressions, and
other vocalizations
 when a learner no longer agrees to
participate in their treatment

assent can be withdrawn at any time

assent withdrawal
withdrawal can be shown through a
variety of verbal and nonverbal
behaviors

an assessment used primarily on 2 -

assessment of basic language 6 year olds to measure language,
and learning skills communication, social, academic,
motor, and self-help skills
(ablls-r)
pronounced “ables”

one of the functions of behavior

attention engaging in a behavior results in

positive or negative attention of
another person

one of the functions of behavior

automatic/sensory engaging in a behavior results in a

physical sensation or the relief of a
physical sensation
 stimulus that is painful or unpleasant
aversive stimulus to an individual

teaching a chained task beginning

with the last step

once the last step can be completed

backward chaining independently, move to the last two
steps, then the last three, until the
entire task can be completed
independently

a phase of the teaching cycle that

takes place prior to intervention,
and is used to inform practitioners
baseline about where the learner is starting

no reinforcement or prompting is
used

anything a person says or does

behavior includes both observable actions

and things that aren’t seen (such as
feelings, emotions, remembering,
and thinking)
 a written improvement plan for
behavior intervention plan reducing problem behaviors

(bip) usually only a part of the overall

treatment plan

when praising a learner, identifying

behavior specific praise the behavior that you want to
increase

engaging a learner in several easy

tasks prior to a difficult task,
behavioral momentum increasing the likelihood of the
learner engaging in the difficult task

when used as a prompt, blocking

block incorrect stimuli in order to get the
learner to choose the correct
response
 an undergraduate-level certification
board certified assistant
in behavior analysis
behavior analyst
(bcaba) bcaba's work under the supervision
of a bcba

a doctoral or postdoctoral-level
board certified behavior certification in behavior analyst
analyst - doctoral
(bcba-d) bcba-d's operate in the same
capacity as a bcba

a graduate-level certification in
board certified behavior behavior analysis
analyst (bcba)
bcba's act as independent
practitioners

breaking a large task into smaller,

chaining sequential steps
 when a learner displays compliant
compliance behavior when given instructions,
rules, safety commands, etc

reinforcers that are not innately

reinforcing (neutral stimulus) to the
learner, so they are paired with a
conditioned reinforcement primary reinforcer until the
conditioned reinforcer itself becomes
reinforcing

consequence the actions or responses that follow

a behavior

describes the relationship between a

behavior and its consequences, both
positive and negative
contingencies of
reinforcement the four contingencies are positive
reinforcement, negative
reinforcement, positive punishment,
and negative punishment
 measuring every occurrence of a
behavior

the most accurate data collection

continuous measurement method, but also the most difficult to
use

includes frequency, rate, duration,

latency, and interresponse time

continuous schedule of giving reinforcement for every

reinforcement (crf) correct response

measurements and other statistical

data information used to make decisions
regarding learner treatment

a way to determine whether

something is a behavior
dead man test
if a dead man can do it, it is not a
behavior
 withholding a specific reinforcer so
that when it is reintroduced, the
deprivation value of the reinforcer will have
increased

reinforcing a specific type of

behavior while withholding
differential reinforcement reinforcement for other types of
behavior

differential reinforcement of only reinforcing a behavior that

serves as a viable alternative to the
alternative behavior (dra) problem behavior

reinforcing higher levels of a

differential reinforcement of behavior
high rates (drh) used to increase the frequency of a
behavior
differential reinforcement of only reinforcing behaviors that are
incompatible with the problem
incompatible behavior (dri) behavior

reinforcing lower levels of a

behavior
differential reinforcement of
low rates (drl) used to reduce the frequency of a
behavior, while not completely
eliminating it

differential reinforcement of only reinforcing when the problem

other behavior (dro) behavior is not occurring

an assessment in which a
practitioner directly observes a
direct functional assessment learner in their natural environment

also known as observational

functional assessments
 measuring only a sample of behavior that
occurs

the easier data collection method to use,

discontinuous measurement but less accurate

includes partial interval, whole interval,

and momentary time sampling

an intervention strategy that breaks

down specific targeted skills into
small steps
discrete trial training
(dtt) delivered in short, quick intervals of
learning that include an sd, prompt
(if needed), feedback, and a pause

teaching a learner to tell the

discrimination training difference between two or more
stimuli

discriminative stimulus a stimulus that signals the

(sd) availability of reinforcement
 running trials of mastered skills after
a learner errors to allow them to
distractor trial contact reinforcement and keep
motivation high

measuring how long a behavior

lasts from beginning to end
duration
a form of continuous measurement

a learning technique most often used

early start denver model with learners 12 - 48 months old
(esdm) and utilizes play to build cognitive,
social, and language skills

a type of verbal operant in which a

echoic vocal imitation is given in response
to a model
 the repetition of vocalizations made
echolalia by another person

presenting instructions in way that is

more likely for a learner to follow
effective instruction delivery
includes being direct, being within
(eid) close proximity of the learner, and
giving clear and specific instructions
one at a time

when a learner moves away from a

elopement supervising adult or an activity
without instruction or permission

a strategy that minimizes opportunities

for error and increases frequency of a
learner receiving reinforcement
errorless learning
reduces likelihood of learner engaging
problem behaviors or developing an
incorrect behavior chain
 one of the functions of behavior
escape engaging in a behavior results in the
end or avoidance of a stimulus

establishing operations a type of motivating operation that

(eo) increases the value of a reinforcer

expressive language a type of motivating operation that

increases the value of a reinforcer

no longer providing reinforcement

for a behavior
extinction usually decreases the likelihood of
the learner engaging in the behavior
in the future
 when a previously reinforced
behavior no longer receives
reinforcement
extinction burst
the behavior can increase in
frequency, duration, or intensity
before going extinct

how much stimuli is presented in an

field size array

fine motor skills movements that require the usage of

small muscles to achieve

fixed interval a schedule of reinforcement where

reinforcement is given after a
(fi) consistent period of time
 a schedule of reinforcement where
fixed ratio reinforcement is given after a
(fr) constant number of correct
responses

a problem behavior often defined as

flopping a learner’s body going limp and
them falling to the floor

teaching a chained task beginning

with the first step

forward chaining once the first step can be completed

independently, move to the first two
steps, then the first three, until the
entire task can be completed
independently

an assessment in which the learner

is able to explore items in the
free operant preference environment (natural or pre-
assessment arranged) and data is taken on the
total duration of time the learner
engages with a chosen item
 counting every time a behavior
occurs
frequency
a form of continuous measurement

an assessment used to determine the

function of behaviors by testing
functional analysis different factors to determine what
impacts the occurrence of a
behavior

an assessment used to determine the

functional behavior assessment function of behaviors by reviewing
data, interviewing caregivers,
(fba) observing the behavior, and
functional analysis

functional communication training teaching meaningful and functional

(fct) communication in a natural way
 the reason that a behavior occurs

functions of behavior the four functions are: escape,

attention, access to tangibles, and
automatic/sensory

a part of the teaching cycle that occurs

when the learned behavior happens
outside of the learning environment, in
response to different stimuli, and/or
generalization responses occur in a different manner

generalization programs are ran less

often and may or may not include
prompting and reinforcement

a way of learning in which the

gestalt learning learner understands things as a
whole, rather than as individual
parts

a prompt that involves pointing,

gestural prompt reaching, or nodding to assist the
learner in gaining the correct
response
 a type of prompt that uses the least
amount of physical interaction as the
learner needs to gain the correct
graduated guidance response and then gradually
reducing the amount of physical
interaction

movements that require large

gross motor skill muscles and groups of muscles to
achieve

health insurance portability & regulations regarding physical and

accountability act electronic confidentiality that impact
(hipaa) providers

the response to stimuli is heightened,

hypersensitivity sometimes to the extent of being
uncomfortable
 the response to stimuli is abnormally
hyposensitivity low, often leading to sensory-
seeking behavior

modeling skills and reinforcing the

learner’s imitation of the skill
imitation training
a building block to learning life skills
through watching others

a teaching strategy that takes place

in a learners everyday environment
and uses naturally occurring
incidental teaching situations to teach skills

motivation comes from the natural

consequences

an assessment in which a
indirect functional practitioner interviews a learner’s
caregivers, teachers, and other
assessment adults that know them well
 a plan that lays out a learner’s
individualized education program required supports, education
(iep) instructions, and services needed in
school.

when a paired and cooperative

relationship has been established
instructional control with a learner, the learner is
motivated to listen and follow
placed demands

intermittent schedule of giving reinforcement to some

reinforcement instances of a behavior

the agreement between two or more

interobserver agreement observers reporting on the same
(ioa) event
 measuring the time between
behaviors/responses
interresponse time
a form of continuous measurement

a phase of the teaching cycle in

which teaching is occurring
intervention
both prompting and reinforcement
are given during intervention

intraverbal a type of verbal operant in which an

answer or reply is given

measuring the time between the sd

latency and the behavior/response

a form of continuous measurement

 starting with the least intrusive
prompt and moving up the prompt
hierarchy as needed
least-to-most prompting
effective for learners that have
necessary pre-requisite skills

the intensity or severity of a

magnitude behavior in objective terms

mand a type of verbal operant in which a

request for a want or need is made

criterion set by the practitioner to

mastery criteria determine when a skill has been
mastered
 a type of prompt in which the
model correct response is demonstrated to
the learner

at the end of each time interval, recording

whether or not the target behavior is
occurring at the time of data being taken

momentary time sampling does not over or underestimate behavior,

but is still less accurate than continuous
measurement methods

a form of discontinuous measurement

starting with the most intrusive

prompt and fading to less intrusive
most-to-least prompting prompts

effective for learners that lack the

pre-requisite skill to complete a task

motivating operations the internal processes of an

individual that change the value of a
(mo) stimulus
 a commonly taught skill that involves
motor imitation a learners ability to attend to others
and imitate actions

the insertion of inedible objects in a

mouthing learner's mouth for the purpose of
sensory stimulation

an assessment in which items are presented

in arrays of 3 or more at a time

the learner chooses an item from the set and

multiple stimulus with replacement after engaging with the item, it is put back
preference assessment into the array and the array is represented

data is taken on how many times each item is

chosen, with the item chosen the most often
deemed the highest reinforcer

an assessment in which items are presented

in arrays of 3 or more at a time

the learner chooses an item from the set and

multiple stimulus without after engaging with the item, the array is
replacement preference assessment represented without the first chosen item

data is taken on what order the items are

chosen in, with the first chosen item deemed
the highest reinforcer and the last chosen item
deemed the lowest
 consequences that happen naturally,
natural consequence without adult intervention

a teaching strategy that takes place

natural environment teaching in a learner’s everyday environment
(net) in which skill acquisition is contrived
during naturally occurring situations

the removal of a stimulus or event

after a behavior leads to the
negative punishment behavior being less likely to occur in
the future

the removal of a stimulus or event

after a behavior leads to the
negative reinforcement behavior being more likely to occur
in the future
 a problem behavior that can
involves refusal to follow instructions
non-compliance topography, magnitude, and
operational definitions can vary
across learners

delivering reinforcement at a high

non-contingent frequency to decrease motivation to
reinforcement engage in problem behaviors prior
to the behavior taking place

the ability to complete verbally

received instruction
one-step instruction
a building block skill to following
complex directions

operant conditioning using reinforcement and punishment

to modify behavior
 defines a behavior in a way that is
observable and measurable so that
operational definition others can read the definition and
be able to identify the behavior

requiring a learner (after engaging

in a problem behavior) to return the
overcorrection environment to its original state and
then make it “better” than it was
before

an assessment in which two items are

presented simultaneously and the client
makes a choice of one of the two items
paired stimulus preference
individual items are paired with every
assessment other item and presented randomly

data is taken on how many times a single

item is chosen, and preference is ranked

intentionally building rapport with a

learner by allowing the learner to
pairing engage in reinforcement on a non-
contingent basis and keeping
demands low
 providing training in behavior
parent implemented intervention intervention to caregivers so that skill
(pii) development and problem behavior
reduction can take place at home

at the end of each time interval,

recording whether or not the target
behavior occurred at any point during
the interval
partial interval
known to overestimate the occurrences
of a behavior

a form of discontinuous measurement

the tangible and measurable

product that is left after a behavior
has taken place
permanent product
an observer does not need to be
present during a behavior to see the
permanent product

phase change moving to a different phase in the

teaching cycle
 a prompt that requires physical
physical prompt assistance for the learner to gain the
correct response

the compulsive eating of non-food

items
pica
pica is common in asd children

picture exchange
a way of communication that uses
communication system images to express wants and needs
(pecs)

a naturalistic treatment model that

takes place in the learner’s everyday
pivotal response training environment, includes participation
of caregivers, and uses the learner’s
(prt) naturally occurring motivation which
increases the social validity of the
skills
 giving no attention to problem
behaviors in order to decrease the
planned ignoring likelihood of the behavior
happening in the future

a prompt that involves moving the

positional prompt correct response closer to the
learner

the addition of a stimulus or event

positive punishment after a behavior leads to the
behavior being less likely to occur in
the future

the addition of a stimulus or event

after a behavior leads to the
positive reinforcement behavior being more likely to occur
in the future
 an assessment used to determine a
preference assessment hierarchy of reinforcers to be used
to increase behaviors

making a higher probability

behavior contingent on the
premack principle engagement of a lower probability
behavior

also known as first, then

preparing a learner for upcoming

priming expectations by informing them prior
to the event taking place

measuring a learners skill level

probe during an intervention without prior
guidance or reinforcement
 a behavior that can be harmful,
disruptive, or otherwise socially
unacceptable that has been targeted
problem behavior for reduction

also known as maladaptive

behavior

promoting the emergence of an assessment tool designed to

advanced knowledge teach language and skills using a
relational training approach
(peak)

when a learner relies on being told

prompt dependency the correct response or for a task to
be done for them

the process of systematically

prompt fading reducing and removing prompts,
allowing the learner to respond
independently
 a hierarchy of prompts that ranks
prompts by how intrusive they are
prompt hierarchy most commonly used are most-to-
least and least-to-most

additional cues given before or after

prompting an sd that help the learner get to the
correct response

a problem behavior that can

involves causing damage to the
property destruction environment
(pd) topography, magnitude, and
operational definitions can vary
across learners

when the consequence following a

punishment behavior reduces the likelihood of
the behavior occurring in the future
 counting every time a behavior
occurs and dividing it by the time
rate observed

a form of continuous measurement

the ability to respond to spoken

receptive identification language
(rec id)
also known as listener responding

the input of language—being able

receptive language to understand and comprehend
spoken or written language

a technique of redirecting a learner

redirection from a problem behavior to a more
appropriate behavior or activity
registered behavior a paraprofessional that works under
technician the supervision of a bcba (and
sometimes bcaba)
(rbt)

when the consequence following a

reinforcement behavior increases the likelihood of
the behavior occurring in the future

physically blocking a learners

response blocking attempt to engage in a problem
behavior, removing access to
reinforcement

response cost a punishment in which reinforcers

are removed
 when a learner has been exposed to
satiation a reinforcer so often that it loses its
motivating factor

when a learner gives multiple (often

learned) responses in response to an
sd
scrolling
the correct response is often
included in the scroll

a problem behavior that can

involves inflicting pain on oneself

self-injurious behavior can negatively impact health and

quality of life
(sib)
topography, magnitude, and
operational definitions can vary
across learners

a procedure in which small

approximations of a behavior are
shaping reinforced until the learned can
successfully engage in the behavior
with independence
 an assessment in which one item is
presented at a time
single stimulus preference
assessment data is taken on the learner’s
reaction to the item as well as the
duration of engagement

a written improvement plan for

teaching certain skills
skill acquisition plan
usually only a part of the overall
treatment plan

when a behavior that has been

spontaneous recovery placed on extinction briefly reoccurs
for no known reason

repetitive behaviors

often seen as socially inappropriate,

stereotypy but self-regulatory to the person
engaging in it

also known as stimming

 events or items in the environment
that affect a learner's behavior
stimulus
plural: stimuli

stimulus class a group of stimuli that have some

similar factors

when a learned behavior is emitted

stimulus control in response of appropriate stimuli
and not emitted in response to
inappropriate stimuli

techniques in which prompts are

stimulus control transfer discontinued once the target
behavior is being displayed in the
presence of the sd
stimulus delta a stimulus that signals the non-
availability of reinforcement
(s-delta)

tact a type of verbal operant in which an

item, action, or feeling is labelled

an array of behaviors that usually

include two or more of the following
behaviors: crying, screaming,
property destruction, self injurious
tantrum behavior, flopping, and aggression

topography, magnitude, and

operational definitions can vary
across learners

target behavior the selected behavior to be changed

 used to break complex tasks into a
task analysis sequence of smaller steps

a type of prompt in which the

textual prompt correct response or steps in a task
are written out for the learner

a method of prompting in which you

first give the instruction, then give a
gestural or model prompt, and then
three-step prompting give the instruction with a full
physical prompt

also known as tell, show, help

a form of prompt fading that

time delay prompt gradually increases the length of
time between sd and giving a
prompt
 a reinforcement strategy where
token economy generalized reinforcers (tokens) are
exchanged for preferred reinforcers

what a behavior looks, sounds, and

topography feels like in objective terms

teaching a chained task step-by-step

total task chaining each step is assisted with until the
entire task can be completed
independently

the changing of environment,

transition activity, or routine
 reinforcers that do not need to be
conditioned for the learner to view
unconditioned reinforcement them as reinforcement

also known as primary reinforcement

a schedule of reinforcement where

variable interval reinforcement is given after a
(vi) varying amount of time

a schedule of reinforcement where

variable ratio reinforcement is given after a
(vr) varying amount of correct responses

verbal behavior milestones

assessment and placement programs an assessment used to determine a
(vb-mapp) learner’s language and social skills
 a type of verbal behavior
verbal operant categories include mand, tact, echoic,
and intraverbal

a prompt that is a picture or some

verbal prompt other visual cue to help the learner
gain the correct response

a prompt that is a picture or some

visual prompt other visual cue to help the learner
gain the correct response

using a display of pictures to help a

learner understand their daily
visual schedule schedule, routines, or steps to
complete a task
 at the end of each time interval,
recording whether or not the target
behavior occurred throughout the
whole interval
whole interval
known to underestimate the
occurrences of a behavior

a form of discontinuous measurement

a part of the teaching cycle that

happens when the learned behavior
occurs after intervention that was
used to target the behavior has
maintenance ended

maintenance programs are ran less

often and without prompting or
reinforcement

a way of communicating other than

augmentative and alternative speaking
communication
(aac) often used to refer to speech-
generating communication devices