So far we have talked about two major topics in ABA: reinforcement and punishment. These are both operant operations – ones that are based on the consequences of the behavior. Behavior analysts use the basic “unit” of ABC when analyzing operant behavior:
Antecedent
Behavior
Consequence
The ABC is a three-term contingency which outlines that in the presence of an antecedent stimulus, the behavior occurs. The consequence then strengthens that antecedent-behavior relationship so that in the future, the behavior will occur more or less frequently in the presence of that antecedent. I think this is easiest to demonstrate with examples:
| Antecedent | Behavior | Consequence |
| owner says “sit” | dog sits | owner praises and pats dog |
| you see refrigerator | open fridge | get food |
| raining outside | take umbrella | stay dry |
| red traffic light | speed up | get into car accident |
| ad pops up on PC | click ad | PC shuts down |
In the above table, you can see that there is something that immediately precedes a behavior. The consequence that occurs after the behavior will then determine if the behavior will occur more or less frequently in the future. The first four ABCs are examples of positive reinforcement, while the last two are examples of positive punishment. Can you make out why?
I’ll explain it for the first example. Remember, reinforcement is the increase in the future probability of the behavior. In the past, whenever the owner said “sit” and the dog sat, the owner would give the dog a treat or praise. This will increase the frequency of the dog sitting when the owner says “sit” in the future. Try doing that for the remaining 5 examples!
Three-term contingencies are all around us. Can you think of any real-world examples around you?
Next post: Discriminative Stimuli
the pink dog 