Science in applied behavior analysis (ABA) has the main aim of description, which
involves objective observation and recording of behavior as it occurs. In this respect, the first
thing
that a behavior analyst would do is closely observing and continuously measuring the
tantrum behaviour of the student, tracking
its frequency, duration and antecedent conditions. As an example, data collection will
show that the student repeatedly spends about three minutes in tantrum behavior about four times
per day, and the tantrums are most frequent when the student is directed to quit a favorite activity
and move to another task. This empirical base cannot be neglected, direct and continuous
measurement, in turn, as Cooper, Heron, and Heward (2020) remark, helps practitioners identify
even slight behavior
changes that would otherwise be overlooked.
When a stable description of the behavior is achieved, ther
e will be patterns of occurrences that can be predicted- what and when a behavior will
most likely occur under such and such circumstances. In this instance, in cases where the data
inputs have
continued to present a consistent result that, as a result of a transition prompt at the time
of preferred activities the child will tantrum, the practitioner can make a preventsive
determination that future transition under an
y similar circumstances will result in the same outcome. It is a good predictive
knowledge as it allows one to be prepared; the practitioner can arrange the assistance in advance,
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namely, schedule transition warnings or visual schedules, before the conditions leading to the
behavior happens and, therefore, few chances of the behavior happening at all.
It is limited in that the
ultimate form of scientific knowledge in ABA is control because it concerns the
manipulation of environmental conditions to obtain meaningful and reliable changes in behavior.
Based on the established functional relationship, the behavior analyst may put in place a planned
intervention that involves giving the
student a two-minute warning signal when it is time
to transition with visual timer and following the interaction
, an access to a short induced favorite activity. In the event that the data indicates the
frequency of tantrums overall declines as this intervention is put into effect and rises as it
is discontinued, a functional relationship has been established the change in behavior is causally
due to the intervention
(Cooper et al., 2020). It is more than a simple knowledge that a behavior is observed because it
can be seen how it can be affected as well as knowing why it is observed through that
particular manner.
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The scientific component of ABA is made up of prediction, description, and
control. They are used to turn behavioral observation into action evidence based practice that
generates socially meaningful changes in the lives of people.