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Use when designing self-management interventions including self-monitoring, self-evaluation, self-reinforcement, goal setting, and self-instruction procedures, or when fading external management toward learner independence.
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Basé sur la classification professionnelle SOC
Use when conducting systematic literature reviews of behavior analytic research, building search strategies, evaluating single-subject study quality, and synthesizing findings across ABA studies.
Use when administering, scoring, or interpreting the ABLLS-R — covers all 25 skill areas, 544 tasks, task-analyzed scoring, and linkage to individualized program development.
Use when writing behavior analytic manuscripts for journal publication, including APA formatting, JABA-style structure, precise behavioral language, and reporting single-subject research results.
Use when administering, scoring, or interpreting the AFLS — covers all six modules, functional living skill assessment across the lifespan, scoring procedures, and treatment goal linkage for adolescents and adults.
Use when designing proactive strategies to prevent problem behavior by modifying environmental events that precede behavior, including NCR, high-p sequences, visual supports, and demand fading.
Use when defining target behaviors operationally, selecting appropriate measurement procedures, and designing data collection systems for behavior analytic assessment and intervention.
| name | self-management |
| description | Use when designing self-management interventions including self-monitoring, self-evaluation, self-reinforcement, goal setting, and self-instruction procedures, or when fading external management toward learner independence. |
Self-management is a set of procedures through which a person systematically controls their own behavior by manipulating the antecedents and consequences that influence it. In ABA, self-management represents the strategic transfer of behavioral control from external agents (therapists, teachers, caregivers) to the learner themselves. It is both a treatment goal (independence) and a treatment method (the learner as their own behavior change agent).
Self-management is not the absence of environmental influence — it is the arrangement of one's own environment to make a target behavior more or less likely. The person who places a gym bag by the front door to increase exercise behavior is engaging in self-management.
The learner observes and records their own behavior as it occurs. Self-monitoring is often the first self-management component taught and frequently produces behavior change by itself (reactivity).
Methods:
Reactivity: Self-monitoring alone often changes behavior in the desired direction. Awareness of one's own behavior alters it. Reactivity effects are typically strongest early and may diminish over time — pair self-monitoring with self-evaluation and self-reinforcement for durable effects.
Accuracy: Self-monitoring does not need to be perfectly accurate to be effective. Research consistently shows that the act of monitoring is more important than the precision of the data. However, periodic accuracy checks (comparing self-recorded data to independent observer data) maintain social validity and can be used as a training tool.
The learner compares their self-monitored data to a predetermined standard or goal. Self-evaluation introduces a judgment component: "Did I meet my target?"
Procedure:
The learner delivers a consequence to themselves contingent on meeting their self-evaluated goal. This closes the contingency loop — the learner manages the antecedent (self-monitoring), the evaluation (self-assessment), and the consequence (self-reinforcement).
Forms:
Important: Self-reinforcement works best when the backup reinforcers are genuinely motivating and the learner has genuine access control. If the learner can access the reinforcer without meeting the criterion, the self-management system breaks down.
The learner participates in setting their own behavioral targets. Learner involvement in goal setting increases commitment and perceived control.
Guidelines:
The learner uses verbal statements (overt or covert) to guide their own behavior through a task or social situation. Self-instruction is particularly useful for complex problem-solving, emotional regulation, and multi-step procedures.
Meichenbaum's self-instruction training sequence:
Example self-instructions for on-task behavior: "What am I supposed to be doing? → I'm supposed to be working on my math. → I need to look at the problem. → What's the first step? → I'll start with the ones column."
The clinician manages the contingency while introducing the self-management tools:
The learner begins to self-monitor and self-evaluate, but the clinician verifies accuracy and delivers the consequence:
The learner manages the full cycle (monitor, evaluate, reinforce) independently. The clinician conducts periodic accuracy checks:
The learner manages their own behavior without external checks. The self-management system itself may be faded if the target behavior is now maintained by natural contingencies.
Young children (3–5): Use simple systems — token boards with pictures, smiley/frowny face recording, single-step self-monitoring ("Did I use my words?"). Heavy adult scaffolding needed. Focus on self-monitoring with external evaluation and reinforcement.
School-age (6–12): Can manage multi-step self-monitoring systems, written checklists, point systems. Can participate meaningfully in goal setting. Self-evaluation becomes increasingly independent. Begin teaching self-instruction for academic tasks.
Adolescents (13–18): Can manage complex self-management systems. Technology-assisted monitoring (apps, spreadsheets). Goal setting should be collaborative with high learner ownership. Self-reinforcement can be sophisticated (scheduling preferred activities, budget-based systems). Self-instruction is primarily covert.
Adults: Self-management is often the primary intervention format. Focus on environmental arrangement, self-monitoring, and self-reinforcement. Systems should be practical and integrated into daily routines.
The transition from external to self-management should be a planned, gradual process — not an abrupt removal of support:
