ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how the basic principles of behavior that are discovered in a laboratory are applied to improve behavioral and social problems—an area called applied behavior analysis. Methodological issues such as measurement, observer reliability, irreversibility of treatment, multiple baseline designs, fluency and rate as dependent measures are described. A functional approach underlies applied behavior analysis, which focuses on the consequences that behavior produces, such as gaining attention or escape from a task. The approach to behavioral change involves direct interventions that influence the environment. One example of this includes contingency contracts that are used to influence a wide range of behaviors. Another example is voucher-based contingency management for increasing drug abstinence. Several systematic educational programs, such as precision teaching and personalized system of instruction that have resulted in major improvements in student achievement; these are also introduced. Applications of behavior principles have also been used to improve behavior in children with autism and other developmental diabilities, helping many of them to enter mainstream educational systems. We also review research on the obesity crisis, behavior management of obesity, and conditioned overeating with implications for childhood obesity. This area of research illustrates the use of behavior principles in health and medicine, indicating that applied behavior analysts are making important contributions to human welfare.
