Applied behavior analysis

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Applied behavior analysis (ABA), also called behavioral engineering,^[1][2] is a scientific discipline that applies the principles of learning based upon respondent and operant conditioning to change behavior of social significance. ABA is the applied form of behavior analysis; the other two are radical behaviorism (or the philosophy of the science) and the experimental analysis of behavior (or basic experimental research).^[3]

The name applied behavior analysis has replaced behavior modification because the latter approach suggested changing behavior without clarifying the relevant behavior-environment interactions. In contrast, ABA changes behavior by first assessing the functional relationship between a targeted behavior and the environment, using a procedure known as functional behavior assessments. Further, the approach seeks to develop socially acceptable alternatives for maladaptive behaviors, often through differential reinforcement contingencies.

Although service delivery providers commonly implement empirically validated interventions for individuals with autism, ABA has been utilized in a range of other areas, including applied animal behavior, organizational behavior management, substance abuse, pediatric feeding therapy, reducing school violence, classroom instruction, acceptance and commitment therapy, athletic exercise, among others.^{[citation needed]}

ABA is considered controversial within the autism rights movement due to a perception that it emphasizes normalization instead of acceptance, and a history of, in some forms of ABA and its predecessors, the use of aversives, such as electric shocks.