First let's talk about scientific understanding. The aim of science is to figure out why something works or why it doesn't. We want to be sure we understand what is going on, not based on chance or luck, but because we added or removed a variable and that it can be repeated. Check out our blog on the basics of science and ABA.
There are 3 levels of scientific understanding we use in ABA:
Control: this is the highest level of scientific understanding. Imagine a lab setting; we can control all of the variables, events, environment and have pure results.
Example: Plants are droopy, you provide them water they perk up. 2 weeks later, plants are droopy again, you provide them water they perk up. Clear understanding of manipulation of variables.
Prediction: Sometimes referred to as correlation. When two event occur at the same time, but it doesn't mean one caused another
Example: When it's hot, ice cream sales go up. Or, when winter rolls around people get sick more often. Although those occur close together in time, there is no direct control that can prove both are related to each other. Maybe people eat more ice cream when it gets hot because they are on vacation more often.
Description: Observations that can be quantified, but no explanation is determined due to the lack of cause/effect testing
Example: When I asked my client to grab a pencil he refused and ran out of the room. This is only a description, but in reality my client may have refused because he was hungry.
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