Capella ABA Program Guide

Your program is built on the seven dimensions (Baer, Wolf, & Risley, 1968). Your coursework will ask you to apply these. They are what separates ABA from pseudoscience.

Generality: The behavior change must last, appear in different environments, and spread to other related behaviors.

The Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) is a critical assessment. You will write many in your Capella courses. The FBA is a systematic process to find the function (the “why”) behind a behavior.

The Four Functions of Behavior

All behavior happens for a reason. The FBA seeks to identify which of the four functions is maintaining a behavior:

• Escape/Avoidance: To get out of a non-preferred task or situation.
• Attention: To gain attention from peers or adults.
• Access to Tangibles: To get a preferred item or activity.
• Automatic Reinforcement (Sensory): The behavior itself feels good.

Steps in an FBA Report

Your assignments will require this multi-step process for a case study:

1. Indirect Assessment: Interviewing the client, parents, and teachers.
2. Direct Assessment: Observing the client and collecting ABC (Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence) data.
3. Data Analysis & Hypothesis: Analyzing ABC data for patterns to form a testable hypothesis (e.g., “When presented with a difficult task, the student engages in disruptive behavior to escape the task.”).

Once your FBA identifies the function, you will write a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP). This treatment plan must be clear, detailed, and evidence-based.

Key Components of a BIP

Your BIP assignments will require several key sections:

• Operational Definition: A precise, measurable definition of the target behavior (e.g., “Aggression: any instance of hitting, kicking, or biting…”).
• Antecedent Strategies: Proactive changes to prevent the behavior (e.g., using a visual schedule, offering choices).
• Teaching Replacement Behaviors: Teaching the client a better way to get their needs met (e.g., teaching them to ask for a break).
• Consequence Strategies: How to respond to the behavior (e.g., planned ignoring) and how to reinforce the replacement behavior (e.g., immediate praise).

The M.S. in ABA program requires supervised fieldwork to be eligible for the BCBA exam. This is often the most challenging part for working students.

Restricted vs. Unrestricted Hours

The BACB has strict rules for fieldwork. You must balance:

• Restricted Hours: The direct, 1-on-1 implementation of therapeutic procedures.
• Unrestricted Hours: The “BCBA” work. This includes data analysis, program design, FBA interviews, writing BIPs, training staff, and research. Your coursework helps you practice these skills.

A 2024 article on effective ABA supervision models emphasizes the importance of quality supervision in developing these unrestricted skills.

As a future BCBA, you are bound by the BACB Ethics Code. Your Capella courses will focus on analyzing ethical dilemmas.

Key Ethical Dilemmas

• Dual Relationships: The risk of a secondary relationship (e.g., friend) with a client, which can impair objectivity.
• Scope of Competence: Only practicing in areas where you are properly trained and supervised.
• Client Dignity: Ensuring all interventions are respectful and prioritize the client’s quality of life.

A 2024 article on legal and ethical challenges in the digital age explores new issues related to data privacy in ABA.

The gold standard for ABA research is the single-subject design (SSD). Unlike large-group studies, SSD demonstrates experimental control with one participant, perfect for clinical practice.

You will learn to design and interpret A-B-A-B (reversal) and multiple baseline designs. These tools prove your intervention caused the behavior change. This research is a key part of our research paper writing services.