Topic 13: Functional Assessment Flashcards
Functional Assessment
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
Problem Behaviors
an objective description of the behavior that make up the problem
Antecedents
an objective description of environmental events preceding the problem behavior, including aspects of the physical environment and the behavior of other people
Consequences
an objective description of environmental events that follow the problem behavior, including aspects of the physical environment and the behavior of other people
Alternative Behaviors
information on desirable behaviors in the person’s repertoire that may be reinforced to compete with the problem behavior
Motivational Variables
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
Potential Reinforcers
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
Previous Interventions
information on the interventions that have been used in the past and their effects on the problem behavior
Social Positive Reinforcement
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
Social Negative Reinforcement
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
Automatic Positive Reinforcement
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
Automatic Negative Reinforcement
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
ABC Observation
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
Scatter Plots
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
Functional Analysis
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
Exploratory Functional Analysis
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
Test Condition
a functional analysis condition in which you provide the EO for the behavior and provide the reinforcer for the behavior if it occurs
Control Condition
a functional analysis condition in which present the AO for the behavior and do not provide the reinforcer for the behavior if it occurs
Hypothesis-Testing Functional Analysis
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
Functional Intervention
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
What is functional assessment?
a set of procedures that allow relationships between a behavior and its antecedents and consequences to be determined
also called functional behavior assessment
What are the categories of information provided by functional behavior assessment?
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
What is the negative reinforcement of problem behaviors?
escape
e/g/ for children with developmental disabilities, training is often difficult; noncompliance, disruption, aggression, and self-injury can stop the training
What is positive reinforcement of problem behaviors?
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
What are indirect methods of functional assessment?
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
What are the pros and cons of indirect assessment?
pros: fast and easy to do
cons: less accurate, rely on fallible memory, only provide correlation between antecedent/consequences and behavior
What are direct methods of functional assessment?
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
What are the pros and cons of direct assessment?
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
What are experimental methods of functional assessment (functional analysis)?
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
What are exploratory experimental methods?
to determine patterns of relationships that are not yet clear
What are hypothesis testing experimental methods?
to confirm predictions from informant or descriptive assessment
What are the pros and cons of experimental methods?
pros: can potentially establish cause and effect
cons: requires more time and expertise than other methods
What are the steps involved in functional assessment?
- use indirect methods first (e.g. behavioral interview)
- formulate a hypothesis about possible antecedents and consequences of the behavior, consider any contributing health/medical/personal variables’
- then perform direct observation
- determine if data from direct observation support the hypothesis, or require it to be modified
- if all assessments are consistent, then develop behavior support plan that addresses the function of the behavior
- if assessments are inconsistent, then conduct functional analysis to confirm hypothesis
What are the next steps after functional assessment?
the next step is to develop a behavior support plan (or behavior intervention plan)
What is a behavior support plan?
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
