Ch. 13 - Functional Assessment Flashcards
What is functional assessment?
the process of identifying these variables before treating a problem behaviour
Regardless of whether the behaviour is undesirable or desirable, its occurrence is controlled by…
environmental variables
What are the categories of information from a functional assessment?
Problem behaviours, Antecedents, Consequences, Alternative behaviours, Potential reinforcers, Previous interventions
Describe problem behaviours
an objective description of the behaviours that make up the problem
Describe antecedents
an objective description of environmental events preceding the problem behaviour, including aspects of the physical environment and the behaviour of other people
Describe consequences
an objective description of environmental events that follow the problem behaviour, including aspects of the physical environment and the behaviour of people
Describe alternative behaviours
information on desirable behaviours in the person’s repertoire that may be reinforced to compete with the problem behaviour
Describe potential reinforcers
information on environmental events - including physical stimuli and the behaviour of other people - that may function as reinforcers and be used in a treatment program
Describe previous interventions
information on the interventions that have been used in the past and their effects on the problem behaviours
What are the functions of problem behaviours
Social positive and negative reinforcement and automatic positive reinforcement
What is social positive reinforcement?
positive reinforcement mediated by another person
What is social negative reinforcement?
target behaviours may be maintained by negative reinforcement that is mediated by another person
What is automative positive reinforcement?
the reinforcing consequence of a target behaviour may not be mediated by another person, but rather as an automatic consequence automatically, and the behaviour itself
What is automative negative reinforcement?
automatic negative reinforcement occurs when the target behaviour automatically reduces eliminates an aversive stimulus as a consequence of the behaviour and the behaviour is strengthened
What are the two types of functional analysis?
Exploratory and hypothesis testing
Describe exploratory functional analysis
a number of possible reinforcers are evaluated in the functional analysis along with a control condition in which no EOs or reinforcers for the problem behaviour are present
Describe hypothesis testing functional analysis
one test condition and one control condition are used to test the hypothesis that a particular reinforcing consequence is maintaining the problem behaviour
What are the steps in conducting a functional assessment?
behavioural interview, hypothesis about the ABCs of the problem behaviour, direct observation assessment of the ABCs in the natural context, confirm your initial hypothesis about the ABCs of the problem behaviour, with a firm hypothesis you can develop functional treatments that address the antecedents and consequences identified in the functional assessment, conduct further assessments if needed
Behaviours exist because they have…
functions
If you can change the antecedent in order to change the consequence, then…
you don’t have to directly affect consequences or the behaviour
Assessing is…
defining the target behaviour and assessing its antecedents and consequences
Behaviour is influenced by…
antecedents and consequences (ABC)
What are the categories of reinforcement given in lecture?
Social Attention, Escape or Avoidance, Automatic Reinforcement, Tangible Reinforcement
Direct observation is ideal but has issues with…
reactivity, feasibility and recruiting informants
