Chapter 13 Understanding Problem Behaviours Through Functional Assessment

Question 1

functional assessment and its types

Answer 1

assessment of the 3-term contingency to determine the antecedents that evoke the problem behaviour and consequences that reinforce it. Includes indirect assessment, direct observation, and functional analysis.

Question 2

what are respondent and operant behaviour controlled by?

Answer 2

respondent- antecedent stimuli (CS or US)
operant- antecedents and consequences that make up the 3-term contingency

Question 3

categories of information from a functional assessment

Answer 3

1. problem behaviours
2. antecedents
3. consequences
4. alternative desirable behaviours
5. motivational variables (EOs/AOs)
6. potential reinforcers
7. previous interventions

Question 4

4 classes of reinforcing consequences/functions of problem behaviours

Answer 4

1. social positive reinforcement: positively reinforcing consequences delivered by another person after the behaviour, ex. attention
2. social negative reinforcement: when another person terminates an aversive interaction, task, or activity
3. automatic positive reinforcement: behaviour produces reinforcing consequences automatically, not by another person, ex. getting yourself a drink
4. automatic negative reinforcement: behaviour automatically eliminates aversive stimulus, not by another person, ex. binge eating

Question 5

functional assessment methods

Answer 5

1. indirect/informant assessment: all info is gathered through interviews and questionnaires
2. direct/ABC observation: observers records antecedents, behaviour, and consequences as they occur
3. experimental methods/functional analysis: antecedents and consequences are manipulated to observe their effect on the problem behaviour; demonstrate a functional relationship between environmental events and behaviour unlike the other methods

Question 6

scatter plot

Answer 6

type of functional assessment method where you record every half hour whether the behaviour occurred in the preceding half hour, used to assess what time of day the behaviour occurs

Question 7

3 types of direct observation methods

Answer 7

1. descriptive method: observer rights a brief description of the antecedents, behaviour, and consequences, conducted before indirect assessment, open-ended
2. checklist method: observer marks a checklist with columns for possible antecedents, behaviour and consequences. done after indirect assessment
3. interval/real time recording method: divide observation period into brief intervals and mark whether the behaviour occurred in each interval, with real-time recording, you record exact time or occurrence of the behaviour

Question 8

what are indirect and direct methods of functional assessment categorized as

Answer 8

descriptive assessments

Question 9

test condition

Answer 9

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

Question 10

control condition

Answer 10

A functional analysis condition in which you present the AO for the behavior and do not provide the reinforcer for the behavior if it occurs, determines if behaviour is being maintained by hypothesized reinforcement, antecedents and consequences are absent

Question 11

exploratory functional analysis

Answer 11

A type of functional analysis in which the behavior 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. An exploratory functional analysis typically includes three or four test conditions and a control condition, evaluate a range of possible reinforcing consequences and identify a particular function of a problem behaviour while ruling out others.

Question 12

hypothesis testing functional analysis

Answer 12

goal is not to evaluate all possible functions, but to confirm or disconfirm the hypothesis. 1 test condition and 1 control condition.

Question 13

how does functional analysis draw conclusions about a functional relationship

Answer 13

if the behaviour occurs at a higher rate in the test condition than the control condition

Question 14

functional interventions

Answer 14

interventions (extinction, differential reinforcement, and antecedent intervention) that decrease the problem behaviours without the use of punishment by modifying the antecedents and consequences that control the behaviour, address the function of the behaviour, nonaversive