Reddit reviews Applied Behavior Analysis (2nd Edition)

>Does this mean you're not willing to provide me with some good articles to read on the subject?

I'm more pointing out that you should research a topic before jumping in to advocate child abuse. But sure.

The research is mostly on punishment as a whole as studied by behavioral scientists, but some of the best overviews of the topic would be the punishment chapter in "Applied Behavior Analysis" by Cooper, Heron and Heward, and this paper: On the status of knowledge for using punishment: Implications for treating behavior disorders.

The basics of the limitations described in that paper are summarised here but basically there are a number of conditions required for a punishment procedure to be effective that cannot be met by a normal, non-abusive parent using spanking.

For example, one of the key findings in the research is that the first use of punishment must be extreme and severe, as anything less will simply cause them to adjust to the level of punishment and make it harder to extinguish. Most spankings wouldn't meet that criteria, and so we see what Azrin and Holz observed in their early studies on punishment, which is that the behavior returns often at a higher level and more resistant to interventions.

One of the reasons we use punishment procedures sometimes in behavior analysis (in extreme cases where there is no other option) is precisely because it is such an effective tool when used correctly. It's so effective that for the average problem behaviors that children engage in, a single effective use of a punishment would immediately and permanently end that problem behavior. So a good rule of thumb to determine if your spanking is working is to ask if they ever engage in the problem behavior again after being spanked - if they do, then you've made the problem worse because the punishment has failed.

And all of this gets even crazier when we take into account another limitation of punishment: it leaves a behavioral vacuum. You eliminate one behavior but you don't replace it with something better, and so in many cases another (potentially worse) problem behavior takes its place. So for the punishment procedure to be effective, you have to use reinforcement procedures anyway and if you have to use reinforcement procedures to teach the correct behavior, why not just do that from the start and skip the spanking?

This is the ABA "bible": http://www.amazon.com/Applied-Behavior-Analysis-2nd-Edition/dp/0131421131

Most people who hate on ABA can't even properly define reinforcement or provide a technically accurate definition of what behavior analysis is, so don't listen to the nay-sayers until you actually educate yourself. No one properly trained in ABA would use punishment procedures except for as a last resort, and we couldn't care less about making people normal - we want people to be able to communicate and not emit self-injury/aggression.

With that said, reading the book is NOT enough to properly implement it though it will grant you insights. It is akin to reading books on how to drive. You have to do it, and ethically you have to have someone who knows what they are doing teach how to do it rather than just hopping in a car and speeding off. So, you asked for a book and there you go, but please do NOT join the ranks of people who give ABA a horrible reputation by claiming to practice it when they aren't even remotely qualified to do so.

The Verbal Behavior Approach: How to Teach Children With Autism and Related Disorders
http://amzn.com/1843108526
This is a fantastic place to start. It will provide you with a new framework for understanding and addressing behavior.

If you are feeling ambitious:
Applied Behavior Analysis (2nd Edition)
http://amzn.com/0131421131

This is the "bible" for ABA. It can be a little technical, but not beyond the average adult's comprehension. At the very least it will give you a reference.

BCBA exam will mostly cover content in this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Applied-Behavior-Analysis-John-Cooper/dp/0131421131

New addition coming soon, however.

Applied Behavior Analysis https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0131421131/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1503022530&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=applied+behavior+analysis

This is THE book Behavior Analysts start with.

Read about behavioural science. / applied behaviour analysis and ‘discriminatory stimulus’.

This is a good text book

https://www.amazon.com/Applied-Behavior-Analysis-John-Cooper/dp/0131421131