Applied behavior analysis

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Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is a scientific discipline that utilizes the principles of learning based upon respondent and operant conditioning to make socially significant changes in a subject's behavior. ABA is the applied form of behavior analysis. The impact ABA has on meaningful behaviors is a defining feature, and what differentiates it from experimental analysis of behavior, which focuses on basic experimental research.^[1]

The term applied behavior analysis has replaced behavior modification because the latter approach suggested changing behavior without clarifying the relevant behavior-environment interactions. 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 administering differential reinforcement contingencies.

Although ABA is most commonly associated with autism intervention, it has been utilized in a range of other areas, including organizational behavior management, substance abuse, behavior management in classrooms, acceptance and commitment therapy, and athletic exercise.^[2][3][4]