Introduction to Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Online Tutorial
	Module 5: Teaching New Skills and Behaviors Intro to Reinforcement “A reinforcer is a consequence that increases the frequency of a behavior or maintains the frequency.” - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinforcemeent Reinforcement is a primary strategy that behavior analysts use to increase behaviors (such as how many times a child uses words to ask for something) or teach new behaviors. Recall that our definition of behavior is anything a person does that is observable. Examples of behaviors of students with autism that we might want to increase include spoken requests, social initiations, asking questions, answering questions, attending to a book being read, participating in class, completing school work, etc. The principle of reinforcement tells us that a behavior that is followed by a pleasant event (called a reinforcer) is likely to be increased or repeated in the future. Examples might be Saying, "Thanks for your help!" after a child takes out the trash. (reinforcer = praise) Giving a child a ball after he says “baaa” (an approximation for the word “ball”). (reinforcer = the ball) or Giving a student a point on a point chart for each five minutes she stays focused on her schoolwork. (reinforcer = points on the chart). We can use reinforcement to encourage children to do behaviors (like using words to ask for things or completing schoolwork). If you think about it, all of our behavior is influenced by reinforcement. When I pull the handle of the refrigerator door, I am "reinforced" by the door opening, giving me access to the food. Children with autism may need a little more "arranged" reinforcement to show them how their behaviors can help them get the things they want. For example, you might give a child with autism a small piece of his favorite snack for each time he says, "cracker." This arrangement gives him lots of opportunities to practice asking while having a snack. What if the child with autism doesn't know how to ask for a cracker? We'll look at that issue later in the tutorial. Next --> 3-Term Contingency