ABA & Behavior Analysis Glossary

Plain-language definitions of the terms you will see across behavior tracking, data collection, and special education.

Antecedent

An event, stimulus, or condition that occurs immediately before a behavior and can influence whether that behavior happens.

Applied Behavior Analysis(ABA)

A scientific approach to understanding and changing behavior that applies principles of learning theory to improve socially significant behaviors.

Board Certified Behavior Analyst(BCBA)

A graduate-level practitioner who designs and oversees behavior intervention programs, collects and analyzes data, and supervises behavior technicians.

Discrete Trial Training(DTT)

A structured teaching method that breaks skills into small, discrete steps taught through repeated, clearly defined learning trials.

Extinction

The procedure of withholding the reinforcement that previously maintained a behavior, which leads to a gradual decrease in that behavior.

Functional Behavior Assessment(FBA)

A systematic process for identifying the purpose, or function, that a behavior serves so that effective, function-based interventions can be designed.

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports(PBIS)

A schoolwide, tiered framework for proactively teaching and reinforcing expected behaviors to create a positive, predictable learning environment.

Prompting

The use of supplementary cues or assistance to help a learner produce a correct response, with the intent of fading that help over time.

Reinforcement

The process by which a consequence following a behavior makes that behavior more likely to occur again in the future.

Token Economy

A reinforcement system in which individuals earn tokens for target behaviors and later exchange those tokens for preferred backup reinforcers.