Basic Principles of Behavior Analysis

Catalog description

Behavior is everywhere: in classrooms, clinics, hospitals, boardrooms, and courtrooms. This course provides a rigorous and accessible introduction to the fundamental concepts and principles of applied behavior analysis for students entering from a wide range of professions. Drawing on the science of operant and respondent conditioning, students will explore reinforcement, punishment, extinction, stimulus control, motivating operations, verbal behavior, shaping, and rule-governed behavior and learn to apply these principles to real behavior in real professional contexts. The course is intentionally designed for an interdisciplinary audience: whether you are preparing to become a BCBA, a teacher, a speech-language pathologist, an occupational therapist, a school psychologist, a counselor, or a professional from another allied field, you will leave with a shared scientific language and a practical framework for analyzing, understanding, and ethically influencing behavior. Through data-based examples and applied case discussions, students will develop a basic foundational understanding of behavioral concepts and principles and learn to begin to design effective, compassionate, and evidence-based interventions that promote meaningful and socially significant outcomes for the individuals they seek to support