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Applied behavior analysis (ABA), also referred to as behavioral engineering,[1][2] is a discipline based on the principles of respondent and operant conditioning to change behavior. ABA is the applied form of behavior analysis; the other two are: radical behaviorism (or the philosophy of the science) and experimental analysis of behavior, which focuses on basic experimental research.[3]
The term applied behavior analysis has replaced behavior modification because the latter approach suggested changing behavior without clarifying the relevant behavior-environment interactions.[4][5][6] In contrast, ABA changes behavior by first assessing the functional relationship between a targeted behavior and the environment, a process known as a functional behavior assessment. Further, the approach seeks to develop socially acceptable alternatives for maladaptive behaviors, often through implementing differential reinforcement contingencies.[4][5][6]
Although ABA is most commonly associated with autism intervention, it has been used in a range of other areas, including applied animal behavior, substance abuse, organizational behavior management, behavior management in classrooms, and acceptance and commitment therapy.[7][8][9]
ABA is controversial and rejected by the autism rights movement due to a perception that it emphasizes normalization instead of acceptance, and a history of, in some forms of ABA and its predecessors, the use of aversives, such as electric shocks.[10][11]
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