Toward an Understanding of the Essential Components of Behavior Analytic Service Plans

Quigley et al. (2018) pulled together every paper they could find on what goes into a behavior plan. They also asked BCBAs what parts they think matter most.

The team did not run a new experiment. They mapped the field, like making a big grocery list of plan parts others have named.

No single list of must-have components exists. The literature and the survey answers did not line up into one clear template.

The authors show the mess: some plans list 5 parts, others list 25, with little overlap.

Austin et al. (2015) came first. Those authors asked experts and gave us a tight 20-item checklist. Quigley et al. (2018) widen the lens and say the field still lacks consensus, so the 20-item list remains the closest thing we have to a standard.

Shapiro et al. (2017) reviewed staff-training studies and found the same four ingredients: instructions, modeling, rehearsal, feedback. Quigley’s wider sweep includes those papers, showing that even when we train staff well, the plans they carry still vary in form.

Plattner et al. (2023) and LeBlanc et al. (2020) each show BCBAs feel under-trained in soft skills like alliance building. Quigley adds a parallel gap: we also lack agreement on the hard content of the plans themselves.

You can use this paper as an audit tool. Print the tables, open your current plan template, and check which components appear in the literature but are missing from your form. Add the top vote-getters, then pilot the new version with one client this week. You will move from “I think this is enough” to “these items show up in both research and practitioner surveys.”