Introduction to Applied Behavior Analysis
Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is a science in which principles of behavior are applied to problems of social importance (Cooper et al. 2007). Behavior analysts seek to predict and control behavior, and they are interested in analyzing and identifying environmental events surrounding behavior. Several categories of environmental events are important in the prediction and control of a given behavior. These include: (a) the broader environmental context in which behavior occurs (e.g., employees behave differently while in the workplace than at a holiday party), (b) motivational variables (e.g., asking for a glass of water is more likely to occur following a strenuous workout), (c) events that correlate with the availability of consequences for a response (e.g., turning the handle on a doorknob and pulling the door open will be successful if the deadbolt is unlocked), and (d) the consequence(s) of a response (e.g., touching a hot stove may...
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Hartman, M.J., Kodak, T. (2018). Applied Behavior Analysis. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1610
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