What happens after an ABA error should be written before teaching starts. The plan defines the instruction, response, time window, ordinary supports, event counted as an error, correction sequence, prompt, retry, reinforcement rule, stop condition, and later review. A help request, client withdrawal, device failure, missing material, or unsafe situation may need another code rather than being treated as an incorrect response.
Define the written correction sequence
Ask for the exact sequence in plain language. One plan may give neutral feedback, model the response, arrange one prompted practice, and return to the item later. Another may use an immediate controlling prompt and fade it across future opportunities. The phrase error correction alone leaves these choices unspecified.
Protect the denominator
Predefine correct, incorrect, no response, prompted, requested help, declined, invalid, and safety-stop events. If the response was impossible because the cue was wrong or a tool was missing, record the setting failure. Keep correction trials and independent probes separate so coached performance does not inflate learning data.
Use current evidence narrowly
The BACB outline covers prompting, fading, teaching procedures, integrity, and evaluation as examination content. A 28-participant study found both compared procedures effective for a narrow tact task while their response patterns differed. A four-child study examined reinforcement after correction. Neither supplies a universal sequence. The CASP summary supports individualized planning.
Keep access and willingness active
The Ethics Code addresses client involvement, consent and assent when applicable, risk, data, and continual review. The ASHA portal supports continual AAC access. Make help, pause, stop, wrong item, and more time accessible throughout teaching.
A practical example
During eight label-reading errors, staff complete the written two-step correction six times. One trial has a blurred label and one ends when Lena asks to stop. Report correction fidelity as 6 of 6 valid corrections due, plus one material failure and one withdrawal, rather than 6 of 8 learner success.
Questions families can use
Which event counts as an error? What happens next? How many repetitions occur? Is the retry prompted? Does it receive reinforcement? What ends teaching? How are invalid events and client withdrawal recorded? Which later probe shows independent performance?
Sources
- Behavior Analyst Certification Board, BCBA Test Content Outline, 6th edition
- Leaf and colleagues, Comparing Error-Correction and Errorless-Learning Procedures
- Cariveau and colleagues, The Effects of Reinforcement Following Error Correction
- Behavior Analyst Certification Board, Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts
- Council of Autism Service Providers, ABA Practice Guidelines Version 3.0 public summary
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Finni resources
