The Student Should Help the Teacher: a View From 30 Years as an ABA Trainer

I characterize my efforts to train graduate students in applied behavior analysis as a shaping process that involves closely monitoring their performance, providing numerous opportunities to respond in a variety of contexts, gradually shifting the reinforcement criterion, differentially reinforcing improvement, and providing instruction and error correction when necessary. In line with the old adage that “the student should help the teacher”, I also discuss how students are responsible in part for their own learning. To illustrate the importance of the student helping the teacher, I present a simple mathematical model that shows how two equally talented students can master skills at dramatically different rates by how frequently they respond to learning opportunities and apply what they learn.