Applied Behavior Analysis

This blogpost is about how I learned to ride my bike in just a couple of days --using applied behavior analysis (ABA).  Before we left my house, my dad took the training wheels off and made the seat low enough for me to put my feet on the ground.  Then me, my mom and my home BCBA went down the street to practice.  At first, I felt nervous and I said, "I am unteachable".  But, my home BCBA reminded me that B.F.Skinner said that "No one is unteachable".  So, I decided to try.

I got on the bike and practiced stopping.  We use TAG for this.  The first TAG point was "grab handles, put feet down".  I practiced this a couple of times.  Next, I practiced kicking off, but I was still pretty wobbly.  After 1/2 hour, we stopped practicing for the day. I was feeling much more encouraged.  

The next day, I was at my grandmother's and my cousins were riding their bikes.  So, I decided to get on a bike and have an adult help me.  Pushing off was still difficult, but then my mom modeled for me how to do it.  After 45 minutes of practicing, I pushed off successfully --fast and on my own! Finally!  I learned how to better balance with some encouragement from my aunt.

I learned to ride a bike thanks to my family, my home BCBA and these ABA methods: Shaping (sitting on the bike, pushing off and stopping, pushing off and pedaling), reinforcement (family cheered me on, self-reinforcement/satisfaction --being proud that I now have "freedom on the road"), modeling (thanks to my mom and my home BCBA who got on and showed me how to ride), and repeated practice.  

ABA is a great way to break down a skill into lots of small, teachable steps.

--Behaviorbrain, 8/31/12