Behavior Analysis in Psychology

Applied behavior analysis with boy in wheelchair.
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Behavior analysis is the scientific study of behavior. It focuses on understanding why people behave the way they do, how behavior can be changed, and how certain behaviors can be prevented. By utilizing the principles of learning theory, behavior analysts can improve the quality of life for individuals and families.

Behavior analysis is often used in mental health treatment to help people overcome problem behaviors. It can also be helpful in organizational settings to enhance employee performance. The basic principles of behavior analysis are often adapted for use in educational settings for optimal learning and classroom management.

Keep reading to explore more about the history of behavioral analysis, some of the practical applications of this approach, and how you can apply it in your personal life. You will also discover the purpose of certain behaviors and the techniques used to modify those behaviors.

What Is Behavior Analysis?

Behavior analysis is based on the foundations and principles of behaviorism. Behaviorism is a branch of psychology rooted in the idea that all behaviors result from conditioning processes. This branch of psychology focuses on understanding associative learning and how reinforcement and punishment can be used to shape human behavior.

Division 25 of the American Psychological Association is devoted to the area of behavior analysis. This division of the APA suggests that it is the specific focus on behavior as a subject that makes this field unique.

According to the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, behavior is the result of circumstances. Behavior analysts seek to understand and apply the laws of behavior that reveal how behaviors develop through the impact of the consequences that come immediately after a behavior. This has become a tool for designing behavior modification strategies for decreasing problematic behaviors and teaching more adaptive responses.

Types of Behavior Analysis

There are two major areas of behavior analysis: experimental and applied. The experimental side focuses on adding to the body of scientific knowledge about how people learn. The applied area focuses on using that knowledge to help people overcome problems they may be facing.

Experimental Behavior Analysis

Experimental behavior analysis involves basic research designed to add to the body of knowledge about behavior. The goal of this area is to add to our fundamental understanding of human behavior.

Psychologists conduct primary research to explore how environmental influences affect behavior. In particular, mental health professionals observe how naturally occurring consequences impact the responses that people display.

Applied Behavior Analysis

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) focuses on applying behavior principles to real-world situations. This process involves taking what researchers know about behavior and using it in individual, social, and cultural contexts.

Those who work in applied behavior analysis are interested in behaviors and their relationship with the environment. Rather than focusing on internal states, ABA therapists focus on observable behaviors and utilize behavioral techniques to bring about behavioral change.

For example, behavior analysts might use what they know about learning and behavior to help kids who have intellectual or developmental disorders or are dealing with maladaptive behaviors.

Recap

Behavior analysis is both a scientific and applied discipline. Scientific research helps professionals understand the learning process, which then allows professionals to utilize this knowledge to help people change behaviors and improve lives.

History of Behavior Analysis

Behaviorism was primarily established through the work of four theorists: Ivan Pavlov, John B. Watson, Edward Thorndike, and B. F. Skinner.

  • Ivan Pavlov discovered the conditioning reflex during his studies with dogs, establishing classical conditioning as a learning method. His research demonstrated that an environmental stimulus (e.g., a ringing bell) could be used to stimulate a conditioned response (e.g., salivating at the sound of the ringing bell).
  • John B. Watson extended Pavlov's theory to human behavior in his famous "Little Albert" experiment. His research demonstrated how a fear response could be learned through conditioning processes.
  • Edward Thorndike explained the law of effect, whereby behaviors are thought to increase when followed by pleasant consequences and occur less frequently when followed by undesirable consequences.
  • B. F. Skinner expanded on Thorndike's law of effect with extensive research on the concept of operant conditioning, in which various types and schedules of reinforcement and punishment lead to the desired behavior.

These concepts of classical and operant conditioning play influential roles in applied behavior analysis and as a component of some psychotherapy methods such as cognitive behavioral therapy.

Behaviorism was once a very prominent school of thought within psychology, although its dominance began to decline during the 1950s as psychologists became more interested in humanistic and cognitive approaches.

Behaviorism no longer dominates psychology in its purest form, but behavioral techniques are still widely used today in childhood interventions, mental health settings, and public health programs.

Application of Applied Behavioral Analysis

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) has many practical applications. Behavioral management strategies can be applied in mental health settings, classrooms, alcohol/drug treatment programs, workplaces, and public health interventions.

ABA is particularly useful when focused on helping children and adults learn positive social skills and communication skills, or reduce maladaptive behaviors. One study found that this method improved behaviors, language, social abilities, and play skills.

All behaviors serve a purpose; however, they may be maladaptive for a person. There may also be factors in the environment that are reinforcing problematic behaviors.

Behavior analysts identify the underlying goal of a person's maladaptive behaviors, as well as the environmental structures maintaining them, and design individualized interventions that help people get their needs met in more positive and prosocial ways.

Understanding the Purpose of Problematic Behavior

In order to decrease problematic behavior, we need to understand the function of that behavior. Research shows there are four main purposes for engaging in behavior: sensory needs, escape, attention, and tangibles (S-E-A-T).

  1. Sensory Needs: This is evident when people seek to decrease stimuli that create discomfort or increase stimuli that are pleasant and comforting.
  2. Escape: Some behavior is designed to help people escape something they find unpleasant. Whether it is doing homework, taking a bath, social activities, and so on, people learn to find ways to avoid and escape these sources of personal discomfort.
  3. Attention: In some cases, people may engage in certain disruptive behaviors as a way to get attention from others. The attention can be positive or negative.
  4. Tangibles: Often times people behave in ways to gain access to something tangible that they want to have. It can be a cookie, a toy, an outfit, an activity, etc.

Three Components of Behavior

Every behavior has a purpose, but it will only be repeated if it has been reinforced by events and circumstances that follow that behavior. Additionally, behaviors can be triggered by environmental cues and become automatic if they are reinforced with desirable outcomes.

There are three components to understanding behavior that encompasses what happens before, during, and after a behavior, known as the ABC model of behavior:

A: The antecedent (a cue that triggers the behavior)

B: The behavior (the behavior, typically in response to an antecedent)

C: The consequence (what happens after the response)

If we know what is driving a specific behavior, we can provide interventions that help a person get their needs met in healthy ways, often by altering the antecedents and consequences.

For example, if the purpose of the target behavior on display is an attempt to get attention, then ignoring the behavior (if it is safe to do so) would make it less rewarding, which would eventually cause that behavioral response to decrease because it does not serve its intended purpose.

In contrast, you would intentionally provide more positive attention to behaviors that are deserving of praise and rewards so the person is reinforced for more prosocial ways of getting their needs met.

Techniques Used to Change Behavior

With the ABCs in mind, behavior analysts are able to modify problematic and undesired behaviors by changing the antecedents or the consequences of a behavior. Some of the techniques used by behavior analysts include:

  • Prompting: This approach involves using some type of prompt to trigger the desired response. This might involve a verbal cue, such as telling the person what to do, or a visual cue, such as displaying a picture designed to cue the response.
  • Shaping: This strategy involves gradually altering a behavior, rewarding closer and closer approximations of the desired response.
  • Chaining: This behavior technique involves breaking a task down into smaller components. The simplest or first task in the process is taught first. Once that task has been learned, the next task can be taught. The process continues until the entire sequence is successfully chained together.

Positive Reinforcement is the Key

ABA emphasizes positive reinforcement to change behavior. Reward systems and token economies are popular methods to achieve behavior change across settings.

ABA is a specific approach frequently used to treat developmental disorders in children and is considered the "gold standard" of treatment for people with autism.

Psychologist Ivar Lovaas developed one form of ABA therapy known as the Lovaas method to teach skills to people with autism. This approach relies on a process known as discrete trial training to mold behavior emphasizing the use of positive reinforcement. 

What Is Discrete Trial Training?

Discrete trial training involves breaking down behaviors into smaller components. Each component of the behavior is then systematically taught using reinforcement.

The Lovaas method is often used to help children gain communication skills that can then be applied at home and school. The approach also incorporates parental involvement to practice discrete trials in a home environment.

Personal Application of Behavioral Analysis

Sometimes a trained professional is needed to help with behavioral management; however, self-management is encouraged whenever possible.

Everyone has behaviors they would like to eliminate (e.g. smoking) and skills they would like to acquire (e.g. giving public speeches). It's not always easy to stay motivated and disciplined when working on changing your own behaviors. It can help to set up a reward system designed to shape your behavior with meaningful treats and activities as you inch closer to your final goals.

Let's say you are determined to eat more fruits and veggies. Consider rewarding yourself each week that you successfully eat a set amount of fruits and veggies per day. If you currently eat zero fruits and veggies, then the goal for week 1 could be to consume one fruit or veggie per day. Give yourself a checkmark each day you successfully meet your goal.

How many checkmarks do you need to earn your reward? It's up to you! Maybe you will require at least 5 checkmarks during the week to earn your reward.

The reward should be something that motivates you and encourages you to keep going, but affordable and accessible (probably not a trip to the Caribbean yet). Continue to shape your eating behaviors with successive approximations toward your final goal, rewarding yourself each week until you have built a new way of life. Then move on to your next goal.

We advise that you do not make too many changes at one time. It is easy to get overwhelmed, and then just want to throw in the towel. Slow and steady wins this race.

Summary

Behavioral analysis is an approach that has both theoretical and practical applications. The field has many applications, including mental health, classroom management, organizational performance, and healthcare.

While rooted in the work of behaviorist thinkers, behavior analysis continues to have a significant influence today. Behavior analysts utilize strategies such as shaping, reinforcement, chaining, and prompting to help people change behaviors and acquire new skills.

10 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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By Kendra Cherry, MSEd
Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."