Applied Behavior Analysis

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is a systematic manner of assessing and modifying behavior, through the understanding and manipulation of antecedents and consequences.  Antecedents are events or behaviors that trigger other behavior.  They can be multiple events and environmental characteristics that occur before behaviors are emitted. For instance, all of the characteristics of a classroom, such as the room temperature, the noise level in the room, the behavior of the other students, and the conversation of a specific student, can be potential antecedents to behavior.

Consequences are the events that come after a behavior is emitted. They may have the function of increasing future occurrences of the behavior, i.e. reinforcers, or decreasing future occurrences of the behavior, i.e. punishers.  The behavior analyzes consequences of behavior, to better determine the function that a behavior serves for a person.

Antecedents, behavior, and consequences are referred to as a three-term contingency. In analyzing behavior it is also important to look at setting events or motivating operations. These are events such as the weather, the lighting conditions in a room, and the time from the last meal, which can influence subsequent behavior. 

At Vista Center for Behavior Analysis we thoroughly analyze behavior, before enacting procedures to increase skill levels and decrease challenging behaviors.

Pivotal Response Training

Pivotal Response Training (PRT) is a specific ABA training procedure.  The basic idea is that there are "pivotal” skills, such as motivation and the ability to respond to multiple cues, that when learned result in gains across previously untrained behaviors.

PRT has been used most successfully for teaching language, play and social interaction in children with autism. Behavior Interventionists (BIs) employ specific naturalistic reinforcers that have a direct relationship to the behavior that they are teaching.  If the child is unmotivated or noncompliant, then the BIs employ various strategies to motivate the child to participate.  The child has a role in choosing the stimulus items and/or reinforcers, which serves to increase the likelihood of working for those reinforcers.

Key components of PRT include getting the child’s attention, offering choices, and prompting or modeling desired behaviors, so that the child can gain access to previously selected reinforcers.  The BI provides a consequence, such as a reinforcer or corrective strategy, after the child responds.  Taking turns and modeling the target behavior are essential components of PRT.   BIs intersperse maintenance (learned) skills with acquisition (novel) skills during training sessions. 

PRT is conducted in the child’s natural environment.  PRT uses incidental teaching and is less intensive than the Discrete Trial Training method.  BIs attempt to maintain consistency at all times and they ignore minor inappropriate and challenging behaviors.

Discrete Trial Training

Discrete Trial Training (DTT) is an intensive ABA treatment, which generally consists of 20-25 hours of training per week.  DTT is considered an early intervention program and it is most effective with children under the age of five, who have autism or other developmental disabilities.  DTT consists of a request to perform a specific behavior, a response from the child, and the consequence provided by the therapist.  Tasks are typically broken into short segments, called trials.  The set-up is one-on-one with the therapist.  Sessions are initially conducted at a table but trials are also conducted in more naturalistic settings, to promote generalization of learned skills. 

Planned Activities Training

Planned Activities Training (PAT) teaches parents and caregivers to prevent situations, in which a child’s disruptive behaviors are likely to occur.  PAT skills consist of explaining activities, rules, and consequences; planning in advance; and engaging in activities through incidental teaching.  Incidental teaching is designed to increase language skills and to provide opportunities for learning in natural situations.  PAT may be used to increase social skills, self-help skills, and play skills, among other areas.  An important benefit of PAT is that parents and caregivers learn to prevent challenging behaviors, by providing a consistent method for administering appropriate rules and consequences for daily living activities.  PAT also increases skills that parents and caregivers may utilize in the future to provide structure in novel situations and for novel activities.