ABA
Abbreviation with 3 meanings
| Stands for | American Bar Association |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 3 |
| Categories | Law & Legal, Science & Engineering, Business & Finance |
ABA has three meanings. The most common are American Bar Association (legal profession) and Applied behavior analysis (psychology); it can also stand for American Bankers Association (routing number).
Meanings of ABA at a glance
| # | ABA stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | American Bar Association | Law & Legal › Legal Profession |
| 2 | Applied behavior analysis | Science & Engineering › Psychology |
| 3 | American Bankers Association (routing number) | Business & Finance › Banking |
1. American Bar Association
Law & Legal · Legal Profession Abbreviations · also used in organizations
Largest voluntary professional association of lawyers in the United States, founded in 1878 in Saratoga Springs, New York, and headquartered in Chicago. It accredits law schools, drafts the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, evaluates federal judicial nominees and publishes guidance on practice.
Example: The firm only hires graduates of ABA-accredited law schools.
Membership is voluntary, unlike the mandatory state bars of "integrated bar" states. The US Department of Education recognizes the ABA's law school accrediting body, and most states require graduation from an ABA-approved school to sit for the bar exam, though some states have begun to reconsider that rule. In other fields ABA means applied behavior analysis or the American Bankers Association.
2. Applied behavior analysis
Science & Engineering · Psychology Abbreviations
Approach that applies principles of learning, especially reinforcement, to change socially important behaviors. ABA is best known as an intensive intervention for autistic children, teaching communication, self-care and social skills, and is also used in education, organizational management and animal training.
Example: The insurance plan covers 25 hours a week of ABA delivered by a certified therapist.
The field grew from B. F. Skinner's operant conditioning, and Ivar Lovaas's 1987 study popularized intensive early ABA for autism. Practitioners are often credentialed as Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs). Some autistic self-advocates criticize certain ABA practices as aiming at compliance or masking autistic traits, and modern practice increasingly emphasizes naturalistic, child-led methods.
3. American Bankers Association (routing number)
Business & Finance · Banking Abbreviations · also used in organizations
In US banking, shorthand for the nine-digit ABA routing transit number that identifies a financial institution for checks, ACH transfers and domestic wires. The American Bankers Association created the numbering system in 1910, and the number is printed at the bottom left of US checks.
Example: To set up direct deposit, enter your bank's ABA number and your account number.
The same code is called a routing number or RTN, and some banks use different numbers for ACH and wire transfers. The last digit is a check digit calculated from the first eight. Because ABA also means the American Bar Association and applied behavior analysis, "ABA routing number" is the clearest phrasing.
Related abbreviations
More legal profession abbreviations
- 1L – First-year law student
- 2L – Second-year law student
- 3L – Third-year law student
- ABS – Alternative business structure
- ACC – Association of Corporate Counsel
- AGC – Associate general counsel
- ALI – American Law Institute
- ALSP – Alternative legal service provider
See all 46 legal profession abbreviations →
More psychology abbreviations
- 16PF – Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire
- ACT – Acceptance and commitment therapy
- BAI – Beck Anxiety Inventory
- BDI – Beck Depression Inventory
- CBT – Cognitive behavioral therapy
- CFA – Confirmatory factor analysis
- CR – Conditioned response
- CS – Conditioned stimulus
See all 62 psychology abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not legal advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.