Definition and Purpose of Behavioral Assessment

Question 1

What does behavioral assessment include

Answer 1

Behavioral assessment includes indirect and
direct procedures such as interviews, checklists, and tests to identify and define the specific target behavior

Question 2

What functional relations between variables does behavioral assessment provide?

Answer 2

Uncover functional relations between variables; it provides context on the resources, assets, significant others, competing contingencies, maintenance and generalization factors, and reinforcers (or punishers) that can be combined to improve the efficiency of an intervention.

Question 3

What does behavioral assessment do?

Answer 3

Behavioral assessment discovers the function
that behavior serves in the person’s environment (e.g., obtaining social attention, escaping or avoiding a task) identifies the key variables controlling
the behavior, and guides the practitioner to manipulate these
variables to the benefit of the learner

Question 4

What is the critical test of assessment?

Answer 4

Bourret, Vollmer, and Rapp (2004) pointed out:
“The critical test of .. . assessment is the degree to which it
differentially indicates an effective teaching strategy” (p. 140).