Behavioral Analysis Course

Lesson 1 • History and Origins of Behaviourism

Traces behaviourism from Pavlov and Watson through Skinner to modern applied practice. Provides historical context essential for understanding why current methods exist.

Lesson 2 • Core Concepts and Terminology

Defines behaviour, environment, antecedent, consequence, and reinforcement with precision. Shared vocabulary underpins every subsequent analytical technique in the course.

Lesson 3 • Philosophical Assumptions of the Field

Examines determinism, empiricism, parsimony, and pragmatism as guiding principles. Students evaluate how these assumptions shape research design and clinical decisions.

Lesson 4 • Ethical Foundations and Professional Conduct

Outlines core ethical obligations including client welfare, competence, and confidentiality. Establishes the moral framework students carry into every practical application.

Lesson 1 • Permanent Product and Indirect Measures

Covers artefacts, records, and rating scales as supplementary data sources. Students integrate indirect measures without over-relying on them as primary evidence.

Lesson 2 • Continuous and Discontinuous Recording

Contrasts event recording, duration, latency, and IRT with interval and time-sampling methods. Students select appropriate methods based on behaviour characteristics.

Lesson 3 • Defining Target Behaviours Operationally

Teaches writing observable, measurable definitions that eliminate ambiguity. Precise definitions are the prerequisite for consistent data collection across observers.

Lesson 4 • Interobserver Agreement and Reliability

Explains IOA calculation methods and acceptable thresholds for research and practice. Reliability checks validate that data reflect actual behaviour rather than observer bias.

Lesson 1 • Reversal and Withdrawal Designs

Covers ABAB and withdrawal variations for demonstrating functional relationships. Students identify when reversals are appropriate and when they raise ethical concerns.

Lesson 2 • Multiple Baseline Designs

Teaches across-behaviours, across-settings, and across-participants variations. Preferred when reversal is impractical or unethical, demonstrating control through staggered introduction.

Lesson 3 • Alternating Treatments and Changing Criterion

Introduces rapid alternation and stepwise criterion designs for comparing interventions. Students match design choice to research question and behaviour trajectory.

Lesson 4 • Logic of Single-Case Research

Explains replication, baseline logic, and prediction-verification-replication as evidence standards. Distinguishes single-case methodology from group designs and correlational research.

Lesson 1 • Motivating Operations and Stimulus Control

Introduces establishing and abolishing operations that alter reinforcer effectiveness. Links MOs to discriminative stimuli to explain contextual variation in behaviour.

Lesson 2 • Extinction and Resistance to Extinction

Explains extinction bursts, spontaneous recovery, and factors affecting resistance. Students plan extinction components within comprehensive behaviour reduction packages.

Lesson 3 • Schedules of Reinforcement

Covers fixed and variable ratio and interval schedules and their characteristic response patterns. Schedule selection determines response rate, resistance to extinction, and maintenance.

Lesson 4 • Positive and Negative Reinforcement

Distinguishes stimulus addition from removal as reinforcement operations. Students identify naturally occurring reinforcement contingencies in real-world settings.

Lesson 1 • Hypothesis Development and Summary Statements

Synthesizes multi-method data into precise summary statements linking antecedents, behaviour, and consequences. Summary statements directly inform function-based intervention design.

Lesson 2 • Indirect Assessment Methods

Covers interviews, rating scales, and questionnaires as initial information-gathering tools. Indirect data generate hypotheses but require confirmation through direct observation.

Lesson 3 • Functions of Behaviour

Introduces the four primary functions: attention, escape, access to tangibles, and automatic reinforcement. Function identification drives intervention selection and predicts treatment outcomes.

Lesson 4 • Functional Analysis Methodology

Explains experimental manipulation of antecedents and consequences to isolate function. Students design and interpret standard and brief functional analysis conditions.

Lesson 1 • Differential Reinforcement Procedures

Teaches DRA, DRI, DRO, and DRL as reinforcement-based reduction strategies. Each procedure is matched to function and behaviour characteristics for maximum effectiveness.

Lesson 2 • Crisis and Safety Planning

Addresses reactive strategies, safety protocols, and de-escalation within ethical boundaries. Crisis plans are last-resort components embedded within proactive support frameworks.

Lesson 3 • Antecedent Modification Strategies

Covers environmental restructuring, demand modification, and noncontingent reinforcement. Antecedent strategies prevent problem behaviour before it occurs.

Lesson 4 • Functional Communication Training

Introduces FCT as a replacement behaviour strategy that teaches communicative alternatives. FCT directly addresses function by providing efficient access to the same reinforcer.

Lesson 1 • Task Analysis and Chaining

Teaches breaking complex skills into sequential steps and linking them through forward, backward, or total task chaining. Chaining enables instruction of multi-step behaviours efficiently.

Lesson 2 • Prompting Strategies and Hierarchies

Covers physical, model, gestural, and verbal prompts arranged in most-to-least and least-to-most hierarchies. Prompt selection balances errorless learning with independence building.

Lesson 3 • Discrete Trial and Naturalistic Teaching

Contrasts structured DTT with incidental teaching, pivotal response, and natural environment training. Students select format based on learner needs and instructional goals.

Lesson 4 • Shaping and Differential Reinforcement

Explains successive approximation to build novel behaviours not yet in the repertoire. Shaping criteria must be set precisely to avoid behavioural stalling or regression.

Lesson 1 • Acceptance and Contextual Behavioural Science

Introduces relational frame theory and third-wave behavioural approaches including ACT. Students evaluate how contextual science extends traditional behavioural analysis.

Lesson 2 • Verbal Behaviour and Language Analysis

Applies Skinner's analysis of verbal operants: mand, tact, echoic, intraverbal, and listener behaviour. Verbal behaviour framework guides language assessment and intervention design.

Lesson 3 • Programme Evaluation and Quality Improvement

Teaches outcome measurement, social validity assessment, and continuous quality improvement cycles. Students evaluate programme effectiveness and communicate results to stakeholders.

Lesson 4 • Organisational Behaviour Management

Applies behavioural principles to staff performance, systems change, and organisational outcomes. OBM tools include performance monitoring, feedback, and incentive systems.