Topic 13: Functional Assessment

Question 1

Functional Assessment

Answer 1

the process of generating information on the events preceding and following the behavior in an attempt to determine which antecedents and consequences are reliably associated with the occurrence of the behavior

includes indirect assessment through interviews and questionnaires, direct observation of the antecedents and consequences in the natural environment, and functional analysis methods involving the manipulation of environmental events

Question 2

Problem Behaviors

Answer 2

an objective description of the behavior that make up the problem

Question 3

Antecedents

Answer 3

an objective description of environmental events preceding the problem behavior, including aspects of the physical environment and the behavior of other people

Question 4

Consequences

Answer 4

an objective description of environmental events that follow the problem behavior, including aspects of the physical environment and the behavior of other people

Question 5

Alternative Behaviors

Answer 5

information on desirable behaviors in the person’s repertoire that may be reinforced to compete with the problem behavior

Question 6

Motivational Variables

Answer 6

information on environmental events that may function as establishing operations and motivating operations to influence the effectiveness of reinforcers and punishers for the problem behavior and alternative behaviors

Question 7

Potential Reinforcers

Answer 7

information on environmental events, including physical stimuli and the behavior of other people, that may function as reinforcers and be used in a treatment program

Question 8

Previous Interventions

Answer 8

information on the interventions that have been used in the past and their effects on the problem behavior

Question 9

Social Positive Reinforcement

Answer 9

when a positively reinforcing consequence is delivered by another person after the target behavior, and as a result the behavior is more likely to occur

Question 10

Social Negative Reinforcement

Answer 10

when another person terminates an aversive interaction, task, or activity after the occurrence of a target behavior, and as a result, the behavior is more likely to occur

Question 11

Automatic Positive Reinforcement

Answer 11

when the behavior produces a positively reinforcing consequence automatically, and the behavior is strengthened

the behavior is said to be maintained by automatic positive reinforcement

Question 12

Automatic Negative Reinforcement

Answer 12

automatic negative reinforcement occurs when the target behavior automatically reduces pr eliminates an aversive stimulus as a consequence of the behavior and the behavior us strengthened

Question 13

ABC Observation

Answer 13

a functional assessment method involving direct observation of the antecedents, the target behavior, and the consequences of the behavior

typically conducted in the natural environment where the target behavior occurs

Question 14

Scatter Plots

Answer 14

a type of functional assessment procedure in which you record each half hour whether the behavior occurred in the preceding half hour

it is used to establish the temporal pattern in the behavior

Question 15

Functional Analysis

Answer 15

a functional assessment method in which environmental events (antecedents and consequences of the behavior) are manipulated to demonstrate a functional relationship between the environmental events and the behavior

Question 16

Exploratory Functional Analysis

Answer 16

a type of functional analysis in which the behavioral analyst may not have a hypothesis about the reinforcing consequence maintaining the problem behavior and is exploring a range of possibilities in the functional analysis

it typically includes three or four test conditions and a control condition

in each test condition, the behavior analyst presents an EO and a possible reinforcer for the problem behavior and, in a control condition, presents an AO and withholds the possible reinforcers

Question 17

Test Condition

Answer 17

a functional analysis condition in which you provide the EO for the behavior and provide the reinforcer for the behavior if it occurs

Question 18

Control Condition

Answer 18

a functional analysis condition in which present the AO for the behavior and do not provide the reinforcer for the behavior if it occurs

Question 19

Hypothesis-Testing Functional Analysis

Answer 19

a type of functional analysis in which the goal is not to evaluate all possible functions, but to confirm or disconfirm the hypothesis

in this type of functional analysis, one condition (the test condition) presents the hypothesized EO, and when the problem behavior occurs, presents the hypothesized reinforcer

the other condition (the control condition) presents the hypothesized AO, and if the problem behavior occurs, does not provide the hypothesized reinforcer

Question 20

Functional Intervention

Answer 20

interventions (extinction, differential reinforcement, and antecedent control) that decreases problem behaviors without the use of punishment by modifying the antecedents and consequences that control the behaviors

Question 21

What is functional assessment?

Answer 21

a set of procedures that allow relationships between a behavior and its antecedents and consequences to be determined

also called functional behavior assessment

Question 22

What are the categories of information provided by functional behavior assessment?

Answer 22

objective description of antecedents

objective description of problem behaviors

objective description of consequences

motivational variables (e.g. EOs and AOs)

potential reinforcers

potential alternative/competing behaviors

effectiveness of previous interventions

Question 23

What is the negative reinforcement of problem behaviors?

Answer 23

escape

e/g/ for children with developmental disabilities, training is often difficult; noncompliance, disruption, aggression, and self-injury can stop the training

Question 24

What is positive reinforcement of problem behaviors?

Answer 24

social: reinforcement provided by another person (e.g. attention)

automatic: target behavior automatically results in reinforcement (e.g. rocking and flapping provide sensory stimulation)

tangible: reinforcer is a physical item

activity: reinforcement involves access to an activity

Question 25

What are indirect methods of functional assessment?

Answer 25

informant assessment

data on antecedents, behaviors, and consequences are collected from the target person or others who know them well (e.g. family, friends, teachers), based on their memory of what happened

interviews, questionnaires, rating scales

Question 26

What are the pros and cons of indirect assessment?

Answer 26

pros: fast and easy to do

cons: less accurate, rely on fallible memory, only provide correlation between antecedent/consequences and behavior

Question 27

What are direct methods of functional assessment?

Answer 27

descriptive assessment

data on antecedents, behaviors, and consequences is gathered as the behavior occurs in its natural environment

unstructured: observations are made altering events in the environment in any way

structured: specific antecedents in the environment are systematically manipulated, and results are recorded, however, consequences are not altered

scatterplot analysis: recording period is divided into intervals; every half hour, if the behavior has occurred, one cell of the grid is shaded in

ABC observations: record antecedents, behaviors, and consequences under normal conditions as they occur

Question 28

What are the pros and cons of direct assessment?

Answer 28

pros: more accurate, do not rely on fallible memory

cons: involve more work and time to record and summarize, only provide correlation between antecedent/consequence

Question 29

What are experimental methods of functional assessment (functional analysis)?

Answer 29

an experimenter systematically manipulates antecedents and consequences to determine their effect on the target behavior in a structured situation

test conditions: present different EO and possible reinforcer for problem behavior in each condition

control condition: present an AO and withhold possible reinforcers for problem behavior (opposite of test conditions)

compare conditions to determine which (if any) have an effect on behavior

Question 30

What are exploratory experimental methods?

Answer 30

to determine patterns of relationships that are not yet clear

Question 31

What are hypothesis testing experimental methods?

Answer 31

to confirm predictions from informant or descriptive assessment

Question 32

What are the pros and cons of experimental methods?

Answer 32

pros: can potentially establish cause and effect

cons: requires more time and expertise than other methods

Question 33

What are the steps involved in functional assessment?

Answer 33

1. use indirect methods first (e.g. behavioral interview)
2. formulate a hypothesis about possible antecedents and consequences of the behavior, consider any contributing health/medical/personal variables’
3. then perform direct observation
4. determine if data from direct observation support the hypothesis, or require it to be modified
5. if all assessments are consistent, then develop behavior support plan that addresses the function of the behavior
6. if assessments are inconsistent, then conduct functional analysis to confirm hypothesis

Question 34

What are the next steps after functional assessment?

Answer 34

the next step is to develop a behavior support plan (or behavior intervention plan)

Question 35

What is a behavior support plan?

Answer 35

summary of data gathered (target behavior, antecedents, consequences, etc.)

hypothesis of function (and results of functional assessment/functional analysis)

functional intervention (or behavioral treatment problem): choose procedures for behavior change and support