Coach ABA

Sorry everybody...BCBA duty calls 🫡

Myth: AAC Devices are too expensive for most families

Fact: AAC Devices are often covered under Medicaid

If you know a client who would benefit from an AAC device, but aren’t sure what steps to take to get them one - this one’s for you!

Join us now on the ABA-LLC blog: https://aba-llc.com/all-about-aac-devices/

Stop scrambling to find the right training sheet - be a BCBA Pro and invest in colored paper! You’ll be able to color code your training sheets to easily see which sheets are which - and grab what you need in a pinch.

Simple, but effective!

Ready to learn more BCBA Pro-Tips? Read more on our blog at https://coachaba.com/bcba-career-tips/

📚 Technical Term Tuesday: Behavioral Contrast

Last week, we discussed the Matching Law and how behavior tends to occur where reinforcement is most available. Today, let's build on that concept by exploring Behavioral Contrast!

What is Behavioral Contrast?
Behavioral contrast occurs when a change in reinforcement conditions in one setting, activity, or context produces the opposite change in behavior in another setting, activity, or context.
In other words, behavior doesn't occur in isolation. Changes to reinforcement in one environment can influence responding somewhere else.

Example:
Imagine a child receives frequent praise and attention for participating during classroom instruction. Then, that reinforcement is significantly reduced.

As a result, classroom participation may decrease—but participation may increase in another setting where reinforcement is still readily available, such as during small-group activities or at home.

The key idea is that a change in reinforcement in one context can produce an opposite change in responding in another context.

⚠️ Clinical Implication
When modifying reinforcement procedures, don't just monitor the target behavior in the intervention setting.

Ask yourself:
✔ Could this change affect behavior in other environments?
✔ Are caregivers, teachers, or staff noticing increases or decreases elsewhere?
✔ Do we need to coordinate reinforcement across settings?

As behavior analysts, it's important to remember that behavior is part of a larger system. Changes in one contingency can have effects that extend beyond the environment where the intervention occurs.

Have you observed behavioral contrast in practice? Share your example below!

What your preferred Caffeine Source says about you as a BCBA...

Listen, we all have our preferred reinforcer. A little extra boost never hurts!

Comment which one you are then tag a friend to share the ABA fun! 💙

Oh don’t mind me I’m just Premacking myself into being a functioning human adult 🙃

Too many people are settling for the first supervisor they find. But if you’re going to be an expert BCBA, you’re going to need an expert coach. That’s why we created CoachABA.

Finding a BCBA supervisor is an important piece of your professional development. We want the 2,000 hours you spend with your BCBA supervisor to be more than just checking a box. You want someone who’s going to impart their knowledge, confidence, and care onto you. CoachABA’s program meets all requirements of board certification, as well as competency items. Our goal is to help you pass the first time, while also assuring all your i’s are dotted and your t’s are crossed when it comes to your paperwork.

Meet your BCBA Supervisor Match today. Get Started at www.coachaba.com

Ever heard the phrase: "Behavior goes where reinforcement flows"?

It’s catchy—but it’s also backed by decades of behavioral research.

One concept that helps explain this is the Matching Law, described by Baum (1974) and discussed in Cooper, Heron, and Heward. The Matching Law predicts that when multiple response options are available, people tend to allocate their behavior in proportion to the reinforcement they receive for each option.

In simple terms: the more reinforcement a behavior produces, the more likely that behavior is to occur.

Let's look at an example:

A learner knows they can ask appropriately for a snack. When they ask, they receive one snack.

However, when they tantrum, they gain access to multiple snacks, attention, and a lengthy discussion from caregivers.

Which behavior is likely to occur more often?
From a behavioral perspective, the answer is clear: the behavior producing the greater payoff is likely to "win" the competition.

This is known as response allocation—how an individual distributes their behavior among available options. When one behavior consistently contacts higher-quality, more immediate, or more frequent reinforcement, responding tends to shift toward that behavior.

Clinical takeaway:

When teaching replacement skills, it is not enough for the new behavior to work. The replacement behavior must work better, faster, or more reliably than the behavior we are trying to reduce.

Ask yourself:
✔ Is the replacement behavior easier to perform?
✔ Is reinforcement delivered immediately?
✔ Is reinforcement meaningful to the learner?
✔ Does the replacement behavior contact reinforcement at least as often as the challenging behavior?

If not, the learner may continue allocating behavior toward the option that produces the greater reinforcement.

Because in behavior analysis, behavior doesn't go where our instructions flow—it goes where reinforcement flows.

What questions do you have about reinforcement, the Matching Law, or response allocation? Drop them in the comments!

BCBAs...As much as we would all like to be paper free…in this field, its still important to have physical copies readily available. You never know when you will need to have someone fill out a BSP Training Sign-In Sheet. You need to have an on-the-go organization system! Don’t just put them loose in your backpack!

Ready for more BCBA pro tips? We’ve got you. Visit https://coachaba.com/bcba-career-tips/ to learn more!