Applied Behavior Analysis I ((3 Credits))

Catalog description

This course is intended to provide students with an introduction to the concepts of applied behavior analysis (ABA) and the science of human behavior with a focus on the application of behavior analysis for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Students will gain a strong foundation in the basic principles of ABA and how to apply these principles in school, home, and community settings, including identifying these principles in everyday situations. Students will learn how to identify setting and casual events that may lead to maladaptive behaviors as well as successful learning. Students will also learn evidenced based practices to decrease problem behaviors, identify and teach new behaviors, improve performance, and generalized improved performance to other settings. Topics include selecting, defining and measuring behavior, reinforcement contingencies, functional behavior assessment, social validity, treatment integrity, single subject experimental design, antecedent interventions, shaping, and promoting generalization. Multicultural competency in the application of behavior analysis will be discussed. Students will complete an applied project in which a problem behavior is identified and operationally defined, baseline data are collected, and an intervention designed and implemented. This course will be held as a distance education course involving asynchronous activities.