What is Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)?
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is the science in which the principles of behavior are applied systematically to improve socially significant behaviors. Experimental control is used to identify the specific variables responsible for behavior change. There are seven dimensions of ABA and all must be present for practice. They are:
Applied – intervention only targets those behaviors which are socially significant, meaning they are of immediate importance to the client.
Behavior – behaviors targeted through intervention must be in need of improvement and measured exactly.
Analytic – a functional relation between the intervention and the behavior must be demonstrated.
Technological – all procedures used during the intervention must be precisely identified and described.
Conceptually Systematic – all interventions must be described in terms of the relevant principles from which they were developed.
Effective – all interventions must provide changes in behavior that are meaningful to the client.
Generality – intervention effects must last over time and across different settings.