Sleep Like a Scientist: Using ABA to Fix Adult Sleep Habits

In this episode of EveryDay ABA, hosts Paola, Leslie, and Brittanny explore one of adulthood’s most frustrating challenges: sleep-onset insomnia. Drawing from evidence-based strategies in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), the episode examines how faulty reinforcement patterns, mismatched stimulus control, and poor sleep hygiene can disrupt healthy sleep routines. The hosts guide you through behavioral sleep training techniques, the use of successive approximations to reshape sleep behaviors, and the importance of making the bed a discriminative stimulus (SD) for sleep—not a place for snacking or scrolling. Designed for parents, practitioners, and anyone tired of being tired, this episode offers practical, research-backed tools. ☕ Support your favorite ABA podcast hosts by showing them love at buymeacoffee.com/everydayaba⭐ Help EveryDay ABA reach more people by following the show + , turning on automatic downloads, and leaving a 5-star review! 📲 Follow us on Instagram: @EverydayABA.3 👟  Get a 10% Discount at Tiny Explorings Shoes using code PAOLA 🎁 Earn Rewards every time you shop by using Shopkick 🤑 Earn $50 cash back by using Rakuten   📊   Earn 125,000 bonus points by opening a new Sapphire Reserve® account or 75,000 bonus points for opening a new Sapphire Preferred® account using EveryDayABA's code at Chase 📢 To advertise on this podcast please e-mail: [email protected]   insights and behind-the-scenes podcast updates.📖 Get your CEU certificate HERE!CEU Learning Objectives: After listening to the episode listeners will know how to: Define sleep-onset insomnia and know how to distinguish it from general fatigue or biological sleep disorders.Describe how poor stimulus control contributes to insomnia, particularly when incompatible behaviors are reinforced in the sleep environment.Implement self-monitoring strategies to increase behavioral awareness and promote habit change. References: Bootzin, R. R. (1972). Stimulus control treatment for insomnia. Proceedings of the American Psychological Association, 7, 395–396. https://doi.org/10.1037/e400972004-001Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2020). Applied behavior analysis (3rd ed.). Pearson.Espie, C. A. (2002). Insomnia: Conceptual issues in the development, persistence, and treatment of sleep disorder in adults. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 215–243. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135243Kazdin, A. E. (2011). Behavior modification in applied settings (7th ed.). Waveland Press.