Applied Behavior Analysis and Autistic Children

Target Behavior and ABA A target behavior, according to Volpe, DiPerna, Hintze and Shapiro (2005), should give an accurate description and definition of the behavior; it should also be positive and have boundaries. The target behavior identified for this study is for the autistic child to obey verbal commands. The method used to define this target and to assess treatment are several: rating scales, observation, IQ tests as well as "the social-cultural-physical environment" in which the child lives, can all be utilized (Ollendick, Cerny, 2010, p. 33).

Internal, external and social validity are ways to determine the nature of the target behavior and the experiment surrounding it. Internal validity is when a cause-and-effect relationship is determined between the independent and the dependent variables. The way an experiment is designed will help to identify if the case has internal validity, though there might also be unanticipated factors impacting the results that the researcher did not think of or identify.

External validity refers to the cause-and-effect relationship that can be made in general terms for others not specific to the individual in the study. In other words, if a study's conclusion can be applied in general or in a universal sense, it is said to have external validity. Social validity refers to the goal of treatment and whether it is one that offers a significant good.

For example, if it is the goal of the therapist to teach an autistic child how to count cards (ala Rainman) when the child cannot even utilize a toilet correctly, there would not be any social validity to this experiment. Social validity occurs when a goal is designed to move the individual forward in a positive manner, as is the case when one puts one foot in front of the next on his way to the next stop.

In terms of the autistic child, the study will likely have internal validity if a causal relationship is determined between two or more variables identified in the study. It will have external validity if the findings can be applied generally in the field of autism studies. And it will have social validity if it is able to help progress autistic children in their development of basic skills, like listening and obeying commands.

The aim is to promote improvement in an autistic child's ability to listen, understand and obey the command from a parent or teacher, for instance, when that command is given to the child in an ordinary setting. The article by Mohammadzaheri, Koegel, Rezaee, and Rafiee (2014) compare two ABA treatments (pivotal response and structured ABA) on autistic children in a classroom setting. They found that the pivotal response treatment (the naturalistic approach as opposed to the structured approach) was more effective in improving target behaviors over a 3-month period.

The independent variables are the methods used to "produce more rapid improvements in communication" -- namely, pivotal response treatment and structured ABA. The dependent variables are social skills and attentiveness. The subjects were two groups of children with autism, "matched.