Start with the least intrusive effective move
Apply LIMA by checking health, antecedents, and reinforcement before considering more intrusive procedures.
The move: make the hierarchy your first checklist. LIMA asks you to use the least intrusive, minimally aversive strategy that is likely to work. The IAABC hierarchy makes that practical. Start by checking health, nutrition, pain, and physical environment. Then redesign antecedents: distance, barriers, cues, surface, timing, access, and trigger intensity. Then teach and reinforce the desired behavior. If a problem behavior has a clear function, reinforce an acceptable alternative that gives the animal a better route to the same need. This order prevents two common mistakes. The first is treating fear, pain, or confusion as disobedience. The second is…
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