Has Aba Been Filling The Gap - 1859 Words

Has ABA Been Filling the Gap? Applied behavior analysis (ABA) can be applied to different settings, which may range from helping individuals with phobias to training a dog to sit. ABA is the process of scientifically applying interventions to complex or basic situations (Baer, Wolf, Risley, 1968). ABA is founded on the values of learning theory in order to develop and comprehend specific target behaviors (Baer, Wolf, Risley, 1968). Such work emphasizes the understanding of behavior. ABA aligns itself with natural sciences as opposed to the social sciences. ABA places its concentrations on observable behavior and its relationship to the environment (Baer, Wolf, Risley, 1968). ABA can be used to learn what is causing the problem†¦show more content†¦Disconnect: Researcher and Clinician In ABA there are various stages in which application are taught and applied. For example, there is a transition from researcher to clinician. Such efforts to connect the two groups in an effective manner has been limited when it regards understanding the bridging between the two and applying research to see if such communication has been effective. Researcher Within the field of ABA, practitioners and applied researchers put in effort to identify the many stimulations that are responsible for behavior change in the most simplest and effective manner (Reed, 2008). One salient aspect of behavioral research is the ability for researchers to have parsimony in their models when they are in the process of understanding behavior change (Reed, 2008). According to Reed (2008) and Iwata (1991), within the progression of experimentation, effort is put in to establishing successful outcomes when applying basic experimental research to real live settings. Yet, within experimental research settings it may have too many constraints that are beyond a non-experimental applications. Reed (2008) points out that in a classroom environment there could be various confounds reinforcing the target behavior. In such environments understanding the associations between treatments outcomes becomes difficult to decipher (Reed, 2008; Iwata, 1991). With such complexity taking place in an educational environment it is difficult