Paul A. Alberto - Applied Behavior Analysis for Teachers (8th Edition)

Eighth Edition

Paul A. Alberto
Georgia State University

Anne C. Troutman
University of Memphis

Alberto, Paul A.
Applied behavior analysis for teachers / Paul A. Alberto, Anne C. Troutman.8th ed.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-13-159289-6
1. Behavior modification. 2. StudentsPsychology. 3. Human behavior. I. Troutman,
Anne C. II. Title.
LB1060.2.A43 2009
371.102'4dc22 2008009451

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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN 13: 978-0-13-159289-6 ISBN 10: 0-13-159289-0

We prepared the first edition of Applied Behavior Analysis for Teachers over 25 years ago because we needed a technically sound, systematically organized, and readable text for our own students. We want students to understand concepts of applied behavior analysis and also to know how to apply those concepts in classrooms and other settings. Applied behavior analysis can make a difference; its principles can be used to teach academic skills, functional skills, and appropriate social behavior. Applied behavior analysis is an overall management system, not a collection of gimmicks for keeping students under control.

This is not a cookbook providing simple step-by-step directions for solving every possible problem an educator might encounter. That would be impossible in any event: What makes working with children and young adults so much fun is that each one is different and no one procedure will be effective for all of them. We want students to be able to use the principles to create their own recipes for success. Successful application of the principles requires the full and active participation of a creative educator. Because we believe so strongly that applied behavior analysis is the most powerful teaching tool available, we stress learning to use it appropriately and ethically.

Instructors will be interested in knowing that the text is as technically accurate and as well documented as we could make it. At the same time, weve tried to enliven it with examples students will enjoy reading. Our examples describe students from preschool through young adulthood functioning at various levels of ability. We describe excellent teachers as well as poor ones. Many of our examples describe the kind of teachers we think we are and hope your students will begood teachers who learn from their inevitable mistakes.

The text is organized in a manner that allows instructors to assign students a behavior-change project concurrently with lectures and readings. The text progresses from identifying a target behavior to collecting and graphing data, selecting an experimental design, conducting a functional analysis, arranging consequences, arranging antecedents, and generalizing behavior change. Weve tried to provide students with the basics of a teaching technology that will serve as a solid foundation for other methods courses.

In preparing this edition, we took to heart suggestions from colleagues and thoughtful letters from students using the book. We did, however, consider the mousetrap example in sufficiently illustrative to retain in spite of a letter from an irate animal rights activist who believed that we advocate violating the civil rights of poor, defenseless mice.

We have expanded and, we believe, improved, the chapter on functional assessment and functional analysis. We believe these tools, along with the development of behavior support plans (described in ), promise to provide teachers with powerful ways of dealing with some of the most challenging behaviors students display, often without resorting to traditional, aversive, or punitive methods.

We have, as always, searched the professional literature so that we can share with you the latest developments in the field. After rigorous consultation with various experts, including nieces, nephews, and grandchildren, we have updated our examples and tried to use current slang expressions and address contemporary interests of children and young adults. We also found ourselves, once again, updating the prices of items whenever money was mentioned.

We have provided a series of classroom snapshots showing teachers implementing the principles of applied behavior analysis in a variety of settings. We hope these anecdotes will give you a sense of what its like to be a teacher using these principles and of the powerful effects they can produce. We also hope that you will sense the joy, pride, and just sheer fun that teachers using the principles experience. The snapshots are included at the end of , but you might enjoy reading them earlier to see if you recognize some of the principles about which youre learning.

The eighth edition has an enhanced supplement support package including an Online Instructors Manual with Test Items, a computerized test bank with assessment software (TestGen), and Online PowerPoint Lecture Presentations.

Online Instructors Manual with Test Items and TestGen Software: