What is ABA and how is it applicable to communication training?
The acronym ABA refers to Applied Behavior Analysis. ABA has been defined as the systematic application and evaluation of principles of behavior management to the improvement of specific behaviors (Baer, Wolf, & Risley, 1968). The terms and principles of behavior management most often used in ABA include stimuli, responses, consequences, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment, and extinction. The techniques used in ABA include prompting, cuing, modeling, chaining, differential reinforcement, and fading. Descriptions of ABA as a training methodology appear throughout the seminal literature of speech-language pathology. Today’s practitioners can choose from permutations of ABA that include strict applications of the techniques mentioned above (e.g., Discrete Trial Training) to more naturalistic technique applications (e.g., Hybrid, Milieu, or Contemporary ABA training). Those using the more traditional applications of ABA must guard against common training caveats inc
