Comprehensive Individualized Curriculum and Instructional Design

This teaching procedure occurs in the naturalistic context and consists of a prescribed chain of student-teacher (or peer-sibling) interactions in which the student initiates a request (e.g., reaching, pointing, vocalizing) and the item requested is given contingent upon appropriate asking in the targeted mode. In this section, the characteristics of applied behavior analysis were described within a model that all ABA-based approaches have in common which are: 1) select a socially relevant behavior, 2) measure the behavior with a reliable data collection system, 3) select an evidence-based treatment procedure, 4) implement the procedures with fidelity, and 5) evaluate the long-term effects of the treatment. Procedures This chapter has discussed how student behavior is regulated by consequences, which are the events that occur after the behavior. The description and analysis of these contingencies surrounding a behavior is operant conditioning, which describes the probability of certain behaviors based on the history of consequences (Skinner, 1974). Reinforcement and punishment are the core tools of operant conditioning, and both affect the desired behavior: reinforcement increases and punishment decreases the probability of the desired behavior. Events can be added in (positive) or removed (negative) from reinforcement and punishment procedures. For example, positive reinforcement is the addition of a stimulus (i.e. praise, token), whereas negative reinforcement is the removal of a stimulus (i.e., loud noise, work demand), and both maintain or increase the frequency of the behavior. 51