Applied behavior analysis

Part of a series on
Psychology
Outline History Subfields
Basic psychology Abnormal Affective neuroscience Affective science Behavioral genetics Behavioral neuroscience Behaviorism Cognitive/Cognitivism Cognitive neuroscience Social Comparative Cross-cultural Cultural Developmental Differential Ecological Evolutionary Experimental Gestalt Intelligence Mathematical Moral Neuropsychology Perception Personality Psycholinguistics Psychophysiology Quantitative Social Theoretical
Applied psychology Anomalistic Applied behavior analysis Assessment Clinical Coaching Community Consumer Counseling Critical Educational Ergonomics Feminist Forensic Health Humanistic Industrial and organizational Legal Media Medical Military Music Occupational health Pastoral Political Positive Psychometrics Psychotherapy Religion School Sport and exercise Suicidology Systems Traffic
Concepts Behavior Behavioral engineering Behavioral genetics Behavioral neuroscience Cognition Competence Consciousness Consumer behavior Emotions Feelings Human factors and ergonomics Intelligence Mind Psychology of religion Psychometrics
Lists Counseling topics Disciplines Organizations Outline Psychologists Psychotherapies Research methods Schools of thought Timeline Topics
Psychology portal
v t e

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is the science of behavior that incorporates the principles of respondent and operant conditioning (primarily) to change behavior of social significance with the aim to increase recipients' quality of life (QoL).^[1] ABA is the applied science of behavior analysis; the other two forms are radical behaviorism (or the philosophy of the science) and the experimental analysis of behavior (or basic experimental research).

The name applied behavior analysis has replaced behavior modification because the latter approach changed behavior without clarifying the relevant behavior-environment interactions and often relied on punishment-based techniques. In stark contrast, ABA supports contextually appropriate adaptive behavior by first assessing the functional relationship between a targeted behavior and the environment, known as the functional behavioral assessment.^[2] Further, the approach often seeks to leverage compassionate care^[3] to support socially acceptable alternatives for problem behaviors that adversely impact individuals' QoL.^[4] Although, service delivery providers commonly practice and implement empirically and socially validated intervention for individuals with autism,^[5] ABA is not solely intervention for individuals with autism. Notably, ABA has been applied to a wide range of other areas including space flight training, sports training, cancer detection and prevention, gun safety, diabetes research, environmental conservation, surgical skill training, neuroscience instruction, perspective-taking, problem solving, among others .^[6]

Traditional behavior modification has been criticized by individuals within the autism rights movement due to a perception that it emphasizes normalization instead of acceptance.^[7] Additionally, there is a history in some forms of behavior modification and its predecessors of using aversives, such as electric shocks. These practices do not align with the BACB Code of Ethics,^[8] which emphasizes dignity, respect, and the use of humane, evidence-based interventions.^[9] Such aversive methods are considered poor and inhumane practice, failing to uphold the ethical standards expected of modern applied behavior analysis.^[10]