Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is a common treatment for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In a recent volume of this journal, Sanvodal-Norton and Shkedy (2019) published a criticism of behavior analysis including the professionals and entire field as a discipline-of demonstrating unethical behavior, creating prompt dependency in the learners, destroying internal motivation, and refusing to collaborate with new and other treatment philosophies. The current paper is a response to the these claims by providing several examples of peerreviewed studies that contradicts the authors' arguments, and summarizing the information of the included study's findings by and other objective. The primary purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that, contrary to the perspectives of Sanvodal-Norton and Shkedy (2019), ABA is scientific approach that identifies environmental variables that influence socially significant behaviors and develop strategies to cause behavior change that is practical and applicable, improve educational outcomes, and provide real-life support for parents and families who are seeking treatment for their loved one with ASD. In doing so, this paper will demonstrate that ABA is an efficacious approach that is supported by numerous scientific studies in the peer-reviewed literature

The purpose of the current study was to conduct a systematic replication of Fiske et al. (2015) to extend the behavior‐analytic literature on token reinforcement. Specifically, the researchers addressed several of the limitations of Fiske et al. by including specific conditioning procedures, creating a controlled history of reinforcement with the token system, including participants with and without disabilities to extend the generality of the findings, and equating the magnitude of reinforcement across the primary and paired‐token conditions. The current study evaluated the reinforcing value of tokens by using progressive‐ratio schedules to compare the efficacy of primary reinforcement, paired tokens, and unpaired tokens. The results suggest that paired tokens may function as reinforcers, but they were not as consistently effective as primary reinforcers.