Applied behavior analysis (ABA), also referred to as behavioral engineering, is a psychological discipline that uses respondent and operant conditioning to change human and animal behavior. ABA is the applied form of behavior analysis; the other two are: radical behaviorism (or the philosophy of the science) and experimental analysis of behavior, which focuses on basic experimental research.
The term applied behavior analysis has replaced behavior modification because the latter approach suggested changing behavior without clarifying the relevant behavior-environment interactions. In contrast, ABA changes behavior by first assessing the functional relationship between a targeted behavior and the environment, a process known as a functional behavior assessment. Further, the approach seeks to develop socially acceptable alternatives for maladaptive behaviors, often through implementing differential reinforcement contingencies.