This week is mainly a review of the basic concepts of applied behavior analysis. One, we want to make sure we are all on the same page before diving into the application of these behavior principles and concepts. First, we will review some terms, the Abc's, and refresh our understanding of how the environment selects behavior. Second, we will have a brief review of positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement and punishment. These are not all of the behavioral principles. Extinctions, stimulus control, and motivating operations are also important. If you don't feel confident in your understanding of these concepts, now would be a good time to review them. After we review the basic principles of ABA, we will review how to write target behavior definitions. Since this course focuses mainly on application of behavioral principles, we will be working with target behavior definitions almost every week. Good target behavior definitions provide a good foundation for our behavior plans. Finally, we will wrap up with a new topic, the seven dimensions of applied behavior analysis as described by Bear, Wolf, and Rizley. Let's dive in first a review of terms. Remember, the definition of behavior. Behavior is the activity of living organisms. Activity implies action. Behavior is represented by movement through space and time. If what you are identifying and describing does not move through space and time, you are very likely missing the mark on describing behavior. The behavior must interact with the environment in order to be a behavior. This interaction is key, behavior occurs in context. What is going on in the environment that interact with the behavior is the context we are looking for. A stimulus is an object or event that can be detected by one of the senses and thus has the potential to influence the person. It could be a feature of the physical environment or the social environment, meaning the behavior of a person or other people. Stimuli occur before and after behavior. Examples of stimuli in physical environment include sunlight, noxious, smells, warmth and pain. Examples of stimuli in the social environment include attention, praise, frown, or an role within this course, when we are looking for the causes of behavior, we are looking at the stimulus. Changes that occur prior to and immediately after behavior of interest. Remember, behavior does not occur in an environmental void. Every behavior takes place within the context of a situation, meaning, a set of antecedent conditions and consequences. These antecedent conditions, in the context of the behavior, may not be immediately obvious to you, but they are there and we can know them. Determinism Also, you don't have to be aware of antecedent conditions in order to be affected by them. Just like you don't have to be aware of consequences in order for your behavior to change. It is the combination of antecedents and consequent conditions determines what is learned. The antecedents and the consequences are the context in which a behavior occurs. We refer to the antecedent behavior consequence as the Abc's. As human beings, we have variations in our behavior. Selection by consequences depends on these variations in behavior. Those behaviors that produce the most favorable outcomes are more likely to be selected and occur again. Those behaviors with unfavorable outcomes are less likely to be selected and less likely to occur again within our lifetimes. Much of our behavior is selected based on the consequences to our behavior. Some behavior has been selected because it has been found to be beneficial to the human species. For example, vocal sounds resulting in speech. These consequences are determining what behaviors are repeated and what behaviors stop occurring. This process of selection by consequences is operant conditioning. Operant conditioning includes reinforcement and punishment. We're going to talk about positive reinforcement first, Positive reinforcement occurs when a response is followed immediately by the presentation of a stimulus. As a result, similar responses occur more frequently in the future. Pay special note to the word. Immediate reinforcers are more effective when they are given immediately after the behavior occurs. After a behavior occurs, the environment is changed and that something is added or presented, and the behavior occurs more often in the future. What happens to the behavior in the future is critical in defining positive reinforcement. If the behavior does not reoccur in the future, then the stimulus presented is not a reinforcer and reinforcement did not occur. Keep in mind that just because you hypothesize that something will be a reinforcer does not make it one. Just because you deliver a good thing or a bad thing does not mean it will necessarily be reinforcement or punishment. It is the change in behavior that defines it as reinforcement or punishment. I also want to mention, once a behavior has been firmly established through reinforcement, we may no longer see the behavior increase. It may maintain or continue. If a behavior is occurring, it has been reinforced. Our job is to figure out how before we even start with negative reinforcement, I want you to come up with negative reinforcement equals reinforcement. By relief, negative does not mean bad. It does not indicate punishment. It does not refer to a behavior being removed. Negative reinforcement means a stimulus has been taken away or removed. Negative reinforcement occurs when the occurrence of a response produces relief from an aversive stimulus, which results in an increase in the future occurrence of that behavior. By engaging in the behavior, you are removing the aversive stimulus and getting relief there is something unpleasant going on in your environment. And by engaging in a behavior, you are able to change your environment and get relief from the unpleasant stimulus. This is important, the behavior is necessary to remove the aversive stimulus without engaging in the behavior. The aversive stimulus would continue and you wouldn't get relief. The behavior removes the aversive stimulus from the environment. Therefore, the behavior is more likely to occur because it brought relief. Punishment occurs when a response is followed immediately by a stimulus change that decreases the future frequency of similar responses. If the behavior is still occurring, punishment has not occurred. You cannot define punishment by whether the consequence appears unfavorable, unpleasant, or aversive. You can say a consequence is punishing only if the behavior decreases in the future. Also, keep in mind, does the behavior decrease or stop at the time the consequences is administered? Or does the behavior decrease in the future? If it just stops at the time the consequence is administered, continues in the future, punishment has not occurred, the future frequency must decrease. There are two types of punishment, just like two types of reinforcement in positive punishment, a stimulus is presented immediately following a behavior, and the future frequency of the behavior decreases. The stimulus presented is usually considered an aversive stimulus, like a reprimands, yelling, spanking, or a shock. In negative punishment, an already present stimulus is terminated contingent on the occurrence of a behavior, and the future frequency of the behavior decreases With negative punishment. The stimulus being removed is a reinforcer or a preferred stimulus, like an ipad or a privilege. As you explain the target behavior definitions throughout the term, make sure to meet the three characteristics of a good definition described on page 67, 68 of the Cooper here and Ward text And pass the three tests of a good definition and the dead man's test. Your definitions should be objective and countable. They should be clear, meaning a stranger would know what to look for. And the definition should be complete. You shouldn't be able to bring it down any further. The dead man's test states, if a dead man can do it, it isn't behavior. If a dead man can do it, it's behavior. Can a dead man not tantrum. Can a dead man sit quietly? Can a dead man not talk back? Can a dead man not hit you? Basically, any behavior a dead man can do. It isn't a behavior. Use this test on your behavior definitions. Ask yourself, could a dead man do this behavior? If a dead man can do it, you need to change your behavior within behavior analysis. The way we approach changing behavior falls within these seven dimensions. Applied means that the target behaviors we choose to change are socially significant or important to our clients. Behavioral relates to the way we define behavior and behavior analysis. We've already covered this early in our review of terms Analytic relates to how we know if we have control over a behavior, how do we know if our intervention is truly changing the behavior or if it is something else responsible for the change? We determine our intervention's effectiveness through research designs. Technological means that the techniques used in behavior plans are completely identified and described. All of the important components of a treatment are described in such a way that another person can implement them. Conceptual systems requires us to relate our intervention plans back to underlying behavioral principles. It is not enough to just learn a bag of tricks. You have to be able to explain why your intervention will work. Effective means that our interventions have practical real world effects in our clients lives. And finally, in order to have generality, behavior change must be durable over time, appear in a wide variety of possible environments, or spread to a wide variety of related behaviors.

You, a new behavior analyst, are preparing for your first staff training in your new job as a Behavior Analyst for a group of 10 group homes. You have been allotted 10-15 minutes to introduce the basic behavior concepts and principles to the staff. You have come up with a list of topics you want to cover (below).

• The 3-term contingency and the environment's role in selecting behavior.
• Brief descriptions of how positive and negative reinforcement explain the occurrence of undesirable behavior excesses. Give an example of each.
• Highlight the difference between negative reinforcement and punishment (You want to make sure they don't confuse the two!). Give an example.
• Finish by using the 7 dimensions of behavior to describe how you, a behavior analyst, approach interventions with your clients.

explain your explanations for the topics (above). The examples you use should be examples of behavior the staff of the group homes might see on a daily basis - you want your examples to be relatable.