ABA Glossary & Acronyms

102 terms

• Abolishing Operation

  AO Behavior Reduction

  A motivating operation that decreases the value of a reinforcer, like a big meal making food less powerful for a while.

• Antecedent

  General

  What happens right before a behavior. It sets the stage and can make a behavior more or less likely.

• Antecedent Intervention

  Behavior Reduction

  Changing the environment before a behavior to make the problem behavior less likely or unnecessary, such as offering choices or pre-teaching.

• Applied Behavior Analysis

  ABA General

  The science of applying learning principles to improve socially important behavior, then measuring whether the change actually happened.

  Example: A clinic uses ABA to teach a learner to request a break instead of throwing materials.

• Assent

  Professional Conduct

  A learner's willingness to take part, shown through cooperation rather than formal consent. Watching for assent and its withdrawal keeps services respectful.

• Backward Chaining

  Skill Acquisition

  Completing all steps for the learner except the last, teaching that final step first, then working backward. The learner always finishes the routine, which can be motivating.

• Baseline

  Assessment

  Data collected before any intervention starts. Baseline is the comparison point that shows whether a later change is real.

  Example: Three sessions of baseline show tantrums averaging 6 per hour before the plan begins.

• Behavior

  General

  Anything a person does that can be observed and measured. If you cannot see or count it, it is not yet a usable behavior definition.

• Behavior Intervention Plan

  BIP Documentation

  A written plan that describes the target behavior, its function, prevention strategies, replacement skills, and how the team will respond. The RBT follows it as written.

• Chaining

  Skill Acquisition

  Teaching a sequence of steps from a task analysis so they link together into one smooth routine.

• Client Dignity

  Professional Conduct

  Treating clients with respect, privacy, and choice at every step. Programs should build skills without embarrassing or demeaning the person.

• Confidentiality

  Documentation

  Protecting client information so it is shared only with people who are authorized and need it. It covers conversations, notes, photos, and electronic records.

• Consequence

  General

  What happens right after a behavior. Consequences are how behavior gets strengthened or weakened over time.

• Continuous Measurement

  Measurement

  Recording every instance of a behavior during the whole observation, such as frequency, duration, or latency. It gives the most complete picture.

• Continuous Reinforcement

  CRF Behavior Reduction

  Reinforcing every single correct response. It builds new behavior quickly but is hard to sustain long term.

• Cultural Humility

  Professional Conduct

  Approaching each client and family with respect for their values and an awareness of your own assumptions. It means staying curious rather than assuming you already understand.

• Cumulative Record

  Measurement

  A graph where responses are added on top of each other over time, so the line only rises. A steeper slope means a higher rate of responding.

• Data Sheet

  Documentation

  The form used to record behavior or skill data during a session. A good data sheet matches the measurement method and is easy to score in the moment.

• Deprivation

  Behavior Reduction

  When time without a reinforcer raises its value, making related behavior more likely.

• Differential Reinforcement

  Behavior Reduction

  Reinforcing one class of behavior while withholding reinforcement for another. It builds up a desirable behavior as the problem behavior fades.

• Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior

  DRA Behavior Reduction

  Reinforcing a specific acceptable behavior that gives the learner the same outcome as the problem behavior.

  Example: Reinforcing a child for asking for help instead of screaming for it.

• Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behavior

  DRI Behavior Reduction

  Reinforcing a behavior that physically cannot happen at the same time as the problem behavior.

  Example: Reinforcing hands in lap, which competes with hitting.

• Differential Reinforcement of Low Rates

  DRL Behavior Reduction

  Reinforcing a behavior only when it happens at or below a target rate. It fits behaviors that are fine in moderation but a problem in excess.

  Example: Reinforcing a student for raising a hand no more than three times in a class.

• Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior

  DRO Behavior Reduction

  Delivering reinforcement when the problem behavior does not occur for a set period. The reward is for the absence of the behavior.

• Direct Assessment

  Assessment

  Observing and recording behavior as it happens in the natural setting. It avoids the recall problems of indirect methods.

• Discontinuous Measurement

  Measurement

  Sampling behavior during part of the observation rather than all of it, as in interval recording or time sampling. It trades some accuracy for practicality.

• Discrete Trial Training

  DTT Skill Acquisition

  Teaching in short, structured trials, each with a clear instruction, a response, and a consequence, separated by a brief pause. It suits skills that benefit from many practice opportunities.

  Example: The instructor holds up a card, says what color, waits, then praises a correct answer and starts the next trial.

• Discriminative Stimulus

  SD Skill Acquisition

  A cue that signals reinforcement is available for a particular response. The learner comes to respond in its presence and not in its absence.

  Example: A ringing phone is an SD for answering it.

• Dual Relationship

  Professional Conduct

  Having a second relationship with a client or family beyond the professional one, such as becoming friends or doing business. Dual relationships can cloud judgment and are usually avoided.

• Duration

  Measurement

  How long a behavior lasts from start to finish. Useful when the concern is how long something goes on rather than how often.

• Echoic

  Skill Acquisition

  Repeating a sound or word that was just heard. Echoics help build vocal imitation, a foundation for other language.

• Errorless Learning

  Skill Acquisition

  Arranging prompts so the learner almost never makes a mistake while acquiring a skill. Fewer errors can mean faster, less frustrating learning.

• Establishing Operation

  EO Behavior Reduction

  A motivating operation that increases the value of a reinforcer, like hunger making food more powerful.

• Extinction

  Behavior Reduction

  Withholding the reinforcement that used to follow a behavior, so the behavior gradually decreases. Extinction only works once you know what was maintaining the behavior.

  Example: A child who got attention for whining no longer gets it, and whining fades.

• Extinction Burst

  Behavior Reduction

  A temporary spike in the behavior right after extinction starts, often louder or more frequent. Knowing it can happen helps teams not give up too early.

• Fixed Interval

  FI Behavior Reduction

  Reinforcement for the first response after a set amount of time has passed. Responding often picks up as the interval ends.

• Fixed Ratio

  FR Behavior Reduction

  Reinforcement after a set number of responses, like every fifth correct answer.

  Example: FR3 means reinforcement after every third response.

• Forward Chaining

  Skill Acquisition

  Teaching the first step of a chain to mastery while completing the rest for the learner, then adding the next step. Progress moves from the beginning to the end.

• Free Operant Observation

  Assessment

  Watching a learner play freely with available items and timing how long they engage with each. High engagement suggests preference without any forced choice.

• Frequency

  Measurement

  A simple count of how many times a behavior happens. Frequency is only comparable across sessions when the observation time is the same.

  Example: Sara raised her hand 9 times during the lesson.

• Frequency Recording

  Measurement

  Tallying each time a behavior occurs during an observation. Best for behaviors with a clear start and end that do not happen too fast to count.

• Functional Analysis

  FA Assessment

  A controlled assessment that briefly arranges different conditions to test which consequence maintains a behavior. It is the most direct way to confirm function.

• Functional Behavior Assessment

  FBA Assessment

  A process for figuring out why a behavior happens by gathering interviews, observations, and data. The result guides a plan that targets the cause, not just the symptom.

• Functions of Behavior

  Behavior Reduction

  The reasons a behavior keeps happening, commonly grouped as escape, attention, access to items, and automatic or sensory. Every plan should match the function.

• Generalization

  Skill Acquisition

  When a learned skill shows up across new people, places, or materials beyond where it was taught. Skills that do not generalize have limited value.

• HIPAA

  HIPAA Documentation

  A federal law that sets rules for protecting personal health information. In practice it shapes how you store, send, and talk about client data.

• Incident Report

  Documentation

  A formal record of an unusual or serious event, such as an injury or a major behavior, completed soon after it happens and shared per agency policy.

• Indirect Assessment

  Assessment

  Gathering information about behavior through interviews, rating scales, and questionnaires rather than watching it directly. It is quick but relies on memory and report.

• Interobserver Agreement

  IOA Measurement

  A measure of how much two independent observers' data agree. High IOA gives confidence that the data reflect the behavior and not one person's judgment.

  Example: Two RBTs score the same session and agree on 18 of 20 intervals, for 90 percent IOA.

• Interresponse Time

  IRT Measurement

  The time that passes between the end of one response and the start of the next. Lengthening IRT is the goal of reinforcing slower responding.

• Intraverbal

  Skill Acquisition

  Responding to someone else's words without copying them, as in answering a question or filling in a phrase.

  Example: Answering blue when asked what color is the sky.

• Latency

  Measurement

  The time between a cue or instruction and the start of the behavior. Long latency to follow a direction is a common teaching target.

  Example: The teacher says sit down and the student sits 8 seconds later, so latency is 8 seconds.

• Least-to-Most Prompting

  Skill Acquisition

  Giving the learner a chance to respond with little or no help, then adding stronger prompts only if needed. It checks for independence on every trial.

• Magnitude

  Measurement

  The force or intensity of a behavior. Magnitude often needs a defined scale or a tool because it is harder to judge than count or time.

• Maintenance

  Skill Acquisition

  Continuing to perform a skill after teaching has ended. Planning for maintenance keeps hard-won skills from fading away.

• Mand

  Skill Acquisition

  A request driven by what the learner wants in the moment. Mand training is often an early focus because it gives the learner a way to get needs met.

  Example: Saying cookie because the learner wants a cookie.

• Mandated Reporter

  Professional Conduct

  Someone legally required to report suspected abuse or neglect to the proper authorities. RBTs are typically mandated reporters in their setting.

• Momentary Time Sampling

  MTS Measurement

  Recording whether a behavior is happening at the exact moment an interval ends. It frees the observer between checks, which helps with group data.

  Example: Every 5 minutes you glance up and note whether the student is on task at that instant.

• Most-to-Least Prompting

  Skill Acquisition

  Starting with the strongest prompt and fading to lighter ones as the learner succeeds. It limits errors early in teaching.

• Motivating Operation

  MO Behavior Reduction

  An event that changes how much a consequence is wanted and how strongly related behaviors occur. It explains why the same reward works one moment and not the next.

• Multiple Stimulus Without Replacement

  MSWO Assessment

  Laying out several items, recording the one chosen, removing it, then re-presenting the rest. It produces a ranked list quickly.

• Natural Environment Teaching

  NET Skill Acquisition

  Teaching during everyday activities and play, following the learner's interest. It supports skills that should show up in real situations.

• Negative Punishment

  Behavior Reduction

  Removing something after a behavior that makes that behavior less likely, such as taking away a privilege.

• Negative Reinforcement

  Behavior Reduction

  Removing something after a behavior that makes that behavior more likely. Escape from a demand is a common form.

  Example: Taking aspirin removes a headache, so taking aspirin increases.

• Operational Definition

  General

  A clear, observable description of a behavior that two people could watch and agree on. It states what the behavior looks like, not why it happens.

  Example: Aggression is defined as hitting another person with an open or closed hand, not as being upset.

• Paired Stimulus Preference Assessment

  Assessment

  Presenting items two at a time and recording which one the learner selects, repeating across pairs to rank preference. Also called forced choice.

• Pairing

  Skill Acquisition

  Associating yourself or a setting with things the learner enjoys so that you become a source of good things. Strong pairing makes teaching easier.

• Partial Interval Recording

  Measurement

  Splitting time into short intervals and marking an interval if the behavior happened at any point in it. It tends to overestimate how much the behavior actually occurred.

• Permanent Product

  Measurement

  A lasting result of behavior that can be measured after the fact, without watching it happen. Completed worksheets and broken items are common examples.

• Pivotal Response

  General

  A behavior that, once improved, produces gains across many other untrained behaviors, such as motivation or responding to multiple cues.

• Positive Punishment

  Behavior Reduction

  Adding something after a behavior that makes that behavior less likely. Positive again means something was added.

• Positive Reinforcement

  Behavior Reduction

  Adding something after a behavior that makes that behavior more likely in the future. The word positive means something was added, not that it feels nice.

  Example: A child cleans up and gets praise, so cleaning up increases.

• Preference Assessment

  Assessment

  A structured way to find out what items or activities a learner likes most, so those can be tested as reinforcers.

• Premack Principle

  Skill Acquisition

  Using a high-probability activity to reinforce a low-probability one. Often described as first the less preferred task, then the preferred one.

  Example: First finish homework, then play a video game.

• Professional Boundaries

  Professional Conduct

  The limits that keep a working relationship professional rather than personal. Clear boundaries protect both the client and the technician.

• Prompt

  Skill Acquisition

  Extra help added to an instruction to make a correct response more likely, such as a gesture, a model, or physical guidance.

• Prompt Dependence

  Skill Acquisition

  When a learner waits for a prompt instead of responding to the natural cue. It is usually a sign that fading happened too slowly.

• Prompt Fading

  Skill Acquisition

  Gradually reducing prompts so the learner responds to the natural cue alone. Fading prevents the learner from depending on help.

• Rate

  Measurement

  Count of a behavior divided by the time observed, usually written as responses per minute or per hour. Rate lets you compare sessions of different lengths.

  Example: 12 hand raises in a 30 minute class is a rate of 0.4 per minute.

• Reinforcer Assessment

  Assessment

  Testing whether a preferred item actually increases behavior when delivered as a consequence. Preference suggests a reinforcer, but only a reinforcer assessment confirms it.

• Response Cost

  Behavior Reduction

  Removing a specific amount of a reinforcer, such as tokens, contingent on a problem behavior. It is a form of negative punishment.

• Response Generalization

  Skill Acquisition

  When teaching one response leads to other untaught responses that serve the same purpose.

  Example: Teaching one way to greet someone leads the learner to use new greetings.

• Satiation

  Behavior Reduction

  When repeated access to a reinforcer makes it temporarily lose its power. Rotating reinforcers helps avoid it.

• Schedule of Reinforcement

  Behavior Reduction

  The rule that decides which responses get reinforced. Schedules shape how often and how steadily a behavior occurs.

• Scope of Competence

  Professional Conduct

  The range of tasks a person is trained and qualified to perform. Working inside your scope means not running procedures you have not been trained and supervised to do.

• Session Note

  Documentation

  A written record of what happened during a service session, including activities, behavior, and progress. Notes support billing and continuity of care.

  Example: A note records targets run, prompts used, and a behavior incident with its antecedent.

• Shaping

  Skill Acquisition

  Reinforcing closer and closer approximations of a goal behavior until the full behavior appears. You build a new skill from what the learner can already do.

  Example: Reinforcing any sound, then sounds near mama, then the full word, to build speech.

• Spontaneous Recovery

  Behavior Reduction

  The reappearance of a behavior that had decreased through extinction, usually after a break. It is normal and usually fades again if the plan holds.

• Stimulus Control

  Skill Acquisition

  When a behavior reliably happens in the presence of a specific cue and not otherwise. It shows the learner has connected the cue to the response.

• Stimulus Generalization

  Skill Acquisition

  Responding the same way to stimuli that resemble the one used in teaching.

  Example: A child taught to name one dog also names other dogs of different breeds.

• Supervision

  Professional Conduct

  Ongoing oversight of an RBT's work by a qualified supervisor, including observation, feedback, and direction. It is required to keep the credential active.

• Tact

  Skill Acquisition

  Naming or describing something the learner notices in the environment. A tact labels the world rather than asking for anything.

  Example: Saying dog while pointing at a dog, with no interest in getting the dog.

• Target Behavior

  General

  The specific behavior chosen for change in a program, whether the goal is to increase or decrease it.

• Task Analysis

  Skill Acquisition

  Breaking a complex skill into smaller, teachable steps in order. The step list becomes the data sheet and the teaching sequence.

  Example: Hand washing is broken into wet hands, soap, scrub, rinse, dry, each scored separately.

• Three-Term Contingency

  ABC General

  The basic unit of analysis in ABA: antecedent, behavior, consequence. Mapping all three shows why a behavior keeps happening.

  Example: Antecedent: teacher gives a hard worksheet. Behavior: child rips it. Consequence: child is sent to the hall and skips the work.

• Token Economy

  Skill Acquisition

  A system where learners earn tokens for target behavior and later exchange them for preferred items or activities. Tokens bridge the gap to delayed rewards.

• Total Task Presentation

  Skill Acquisition

  Teaching every step of the chain on each attempt, prompting wherever needed. It fits learners who already do some of the steps.

• Trend

  Measurement

  The overall direction of data on a graph, going up, going down, or staying flat. Trend is one of the first things to read before judging a program.

• Trials to Criterion

  Measurement

  The number of attempts a learner needs before reaching the mastery standard for a skill. It shows how efficiently a skill was acquired.

• Variable Interval

  VI Behavior Reduction

  Reinforcement for the first response after an unpredictable but averaging amount of time. It produces steady, moderate responding.

• Variable Ratio

  VR Behavior Reduction

  Reinforcement after an unpredictable number of responses that averages out to a set value. It produces steady, high-rate responding.

• Whole Interval Recording

  Measurement

  Marking an interval only if the behavior lasted the entire interval. It tends to underestimate the behavior, so it suits behaviors you want to increase and sustain.

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