Using Applied Behavior
Analysis in the Schools
By
Tracy Vail,MS,CCC/SLP
Speech/Language Pathologist
Let’s Talk Speech and Language Service, Inc
Letstalksls.com
What is Applied Behavior
Analysis?
• The Science of learning
• Tells us why people do what they do
• Looks at the contingencies of behavior
(What happens before and after) to
analyze the function
• Helps us determine how the environment
can be modified to improve learning
What is Behavior?
• Anything that can be seen, felt and
counted by either an individual or others
in their environment.
• Which of these are behaviors?
• Saying cookie, thinking about a cookie,
touching a cookie, dreaming about a
cookie, baking a cookie, looking at a
cookie, reaching toward a cookie
What is a Discrete Trial?
• Antecedent/Stimulus
• Response/Behavior
• Consequence (neutral, reinforcement,
punishment)
How we manipulate these contingencies
determines whether a behavior will
increase or decrease.
Contingencies
Antecedent/Stimulus
Response
(Function Alt.) Evocative
Consequence
Function Altering
Reinforcement
Soc. Med +
Soc. Med –
Auto +
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(s-delta)
CSS
Auto –
Extinction
MO SD
Punishment
Positive Punishment
Negative Punishment
Reinforcement
• Increases the likelihood that a behavior will occur again
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in the future.
4 categories or “buckets” of behaviors based on the
reinforcement history
What serves as a reinforcer is highly variable.
Must be contingent on the behavior you want to increase
Is not a “thing” but an effect on the behavior.
If a behavior is increasing, something is reinforcing it.
If a child bites in circle time and is put in time out then
comes back and bites again, what served as a
reinforcer?
How do you create new
Reinforcers?
• “Pair” or associate the new thing/person
with something the child already finds
reinforcing.
• The new thing/person becomes a
“conditioned” reinforcer.
• Learn the child and be the provider of “all
good things”
Pair Sounds/Talking with Fun!
BE the Reinforcer!
Motivation Operation
1. Temporarily Increases the value of a reinforcer.
2. Temporarily Increases the behaviors that have been
consequated by that reinforcer in the past.
Ex:If in the past, when I wanted to have some juice, I
said “juice”, I’m more likely to say juice again when I
want it.
Without motivation, you have no reinforcer. Without a
reinforcer, you cannot increase behaviors. If you
aren’t increasing behaviors, you aren’t teaching! :0)
Socially Mediated Positive
Reinforcement
• Behaviors that have a history of being
reinforced by getting things/attention from
people.
• Increase by capturing motivation, teaching
appropriate behavior and reinforcing.
• Decrease by determining reinforcement
history, not allowing it to “work” anymore
and teaching a replacement behavior to
get the same need met.
Socially Mediated Negative
Reinforcement
• Behaviors that have been reinforced by
escape or delay of demands involving
people.
• To increase, determine motivation and
teach appropriate communication to get
need met.
• To decrease, determine reinforcement
history, don’t let it work anymore and
teach a replacement.
Automatic Positive Reinforcement
• Behaviors that are reinforced because
they feel good.
• Often known as “stims”
• Are self-reinforcing. The more they do it,
the more they will do it in the future.
• Teach appropriate ways (or places) to get
the sensory need met, limit time spent,
and pair with people.
Automatic Negative
Reinforcement
• Behaviors I do because they remove a
“bad” or uncomfortable feeling.
• Figure out what part of the environment is
affecting the child then either desensitize
or compensate.
• Desensitization: gradual exposure with
heavy reinforcement for increased
tolerance.
Self-Stimulatory Behavior
So What is Teaching?
• Increasing adaptive or new behaviors that
will allow the child to be more successful
in the world and decreasing behaviors that
are maladaptive or that will cause the
child to have difficulty in the world.
DO
• Teach errorlessly
• Fade in demands
• Teach to Fluency
• Prompt Quickly
• Fade prompts
Don’t
• follow negative behavior with
reinforcement
• Remove a child from a reinforcing
activity to begin teaching
• Give directions to do things you
can’t prompt
• Make sure all questions have
answers
• Give directions without getting
compliance
• Find numerous reinforcers
• Kill reinforcers by placing too many
demands
• Correct errors
• Have fun!
Build Motivation (MO)
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Establish Reinforcers- everyone wants something!
Start with non-verbal connection then add verbal
How does the child respond to the environment?
Be playful- play as children play
Build anticipation
Do the unexpected
Create routines
Gradually change the routines
Stay connected to find reinforcers
Be animated
Pair yourself and talking with reinforcement
Transfer Procedures/Prompting
• Teach a new behavior by starting with a
behavior that you know the child can
already do.
• The child is more likely to repeat the same
behavior under a different condition
• Once the behavior is taught under the
new condition, gradually fade the prompt
• New learning is build on old learning
• The learning remains “errorless”
Teaching Procedure for Transfers
• Transfer trial- Use the mastered skill to
evoke the desired behavior then present
the new SD to get the same behavior.
• Disractor trial(s)- Present a mastered task
or two
• Independent trial- Re-present the new SD
to evoke the behavior and reinforce
correct response heavily
Correction Procedure
• Use whenever the child responds
incorrectly
• Give the SD + the response
• Wait for the echoic
• Repeat the SD
• Wait for the response
• Run a distractor trial (something the child
can do easily)
• Repeat the SD
What to Teach Early Learners??
• People are fun (even kids!)
• Words are valuable
• I can learn
• Playing is fun and teaches me lots of
things about the world.
Verbal Behavior- Verbal
Operants (Skinner)
Antecedent/Stimulus
Mand
Echoic
Motivation
“Say car”
Tact
Intraverbal
Car present
Behavior
Says “car”
Consequence
gets car
Says “car”
social/secondary
Says “car”
social/secondary
“We ride in the ..”Says “car” social/sec.
Verbal Operants
What purpose does the communication serve
to the speaker and listener?
• Mands- “I talk, I get”
• Tacts- I can label things in the environment
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under a variety of conditions
Receptives- I can follow directions, do what
others tell me to do
Imitation/Echoics- I can do/say what others
do/say
Intraverbal- What I say is dependent upon what
others say but is not the same
Pairing Sounds with Fun!
Imitate All Sounds Produced
Reinforce all vocal attempts
Pairing with favorite activities
Manding
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The basis of all other verbal behavior
Teach by transferring from echoics or “fill-ins”
Giving up the things we want
With and without items present
With and without someone asking “What do you
want?
Teach a variety of sentence forms
Manding from peers
Expand sentence length and teach concepts
through mands
Teach manding for information
Manding for attention
Choosing Response Forms
• If child is non-vocal, must use an
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alternative/augmentative system
Augmentative communication encourages rather
than discourages vocal productions
Experiment to determine how the child responds
to various forms
Picture/object exchange
Signs
Communication Boards
Vocal
Voice output devices
Manding with PECS
Manding with Signs
Be sure not to fade signs too
quickly
Watch for Sign/Vocal
Inconsistencies
Shaping Vocals through Mands
Gradually Build Syllables
Mands for Info, Spontaneous
Tacts
NET Manding/Mands for Info
Begin Teaching in “scripted” play
Generalize in less structured format
Teaching Concepts through Mands
Imitation
• Teach through physical prompting or
anticipating actions
• Important for independent learning and
play
• Teach child to do multiple actions in
response to “Do this”
• Gradually increase difficulty and
complexity
Mix NVI’s with other Operants
Echoics- Vocal Imitation
• Teach by transferring from mand, motor
imitation, songs, “sound play” and pairing
with reinforcement
• Use visual and/or physical prompting as
necessary
• Gradually increase length and complexity
• Shape through the mand
Teaching Isolated Sounds
Receptive
• Teach by transferring from imitation or
with physical prompts
• Teach the child to respond to a variety of
SDs (touch, find, show, where’s the etc.)
• Start with items the child can mand for as
well as simple instructions (i.e. come, sit,
clap)
• Gradually increase complexity. Closely
monitor conditional discriminations
Add receptives to reinforcing
activities
Receptive Objects
Tacts
• Teach by transferring from receptive (if
child tacts), mand, fill-in, intraverbal or
echoic.
• Labeling objects, actions, parts, features,
classes, functions
• Be sure to vary SD’s
• Verbal modules- teach the child to
discriminate between question forms
• Build up sentences and break them down
Fill-in to Tact Transfers
Intraverbal
• Talking about things not present
• Transfer from fill-in, tact, or echoic
• Create “intraverbal links”
• Begin with songs, rhymes, stories and
daily activities
• Gradually increase complexity
• Teach reversal fill-ins early
• Mands for information + intraverbals =
conversation
Fill-ins with Books
Fill-ins with Songs
Intensive Teaching
• Use to practice skills taught in the natural
environment
• Make sure instructors have mastered
transfer and correction procedures to
fluency
• Mix and vary to make sure the child is
responding to the correct SD
Intraverbal FFC’s/Categories in
Intensive Teaching
Use Available Reinforcers
Dealing with Negative Behaviors
• New Behavior (talking) won’t be used if the old behavior
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(hitting) still works
Must determine function of the behavior before
determining how to respond
Look at what happened right before and right after the
behavior
Put time between negative behavior and prompting
appropriate communication
The child never gets anything for negative behavior
Don’t live your life trying to avoid negative behaviors
Get a functional analysis by a behavior analyst if
problems persist
Suggested Readings
• Educate Towards Recovery by Robert Schramm
• The Assessment of Basic Language and Learning
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Skills (The ABLLS) by Partington and Sundberg
The VB-MAPP by Mark Sundberg
The Mariposa School Training Manual
Handouts available at letstalksls.com (Answers
Database)
Thanks for who you are for
children!