Applied Behaviour Analysis Essay

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Boutot, E., & Hume, K. (2012). Beyond time out and table time: Today's applied behaviour analysis for students with autism. This article provides an overview of the fundamentals of applied behaviour analysis (ABA) and its use on students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The authors argued that the criticisms of ABA stem from the misunderstanding about the science and practice of ABA. In a historical overview, the article emphasised that ABA is based on the principles of operant conditioning theory, which has not only been used in the past but is still used in schools to improve students' behaviour. Therefore, it was argued that teachers have unknowingly employed ABA techniques for years. The subsequent focus of the article discussed ABA relative to …show more content…

It was argued that of all of Pavlov’s theoretical principles, the conditioning paradigms were the most influential to the establishment of behaviour therapy. In highlighting the Pavlovian origins of behaviour therapy, the article indicated that Pavlov’s conditioning process could not only produce but eliminate neurotic behaviours. Furthermore, the use of conditioning or counterconditioning to eliminate neurosis provided important theoretical implications to the foundation of behaviour therapy. Subsequently, it was illustrated that Pavlov’s principles of conditioning were later examined and systematically expanded upon by his students, resulting in the use of conditioning principles (later called systematic desensitisation) to treat neurosis by conditioning appropriate responses to fearful stimuli. In highlighting the importance of Pavlov's contributions to behaviour therapy, the authors argued that Pavlov’s view that animals learn avoidance responses to fear-provoking stimuli via neural processes was not only essential to the development of behaviour therapy but also to the importance of personality in behaviour

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