Unit 6 Flashcards
A comprehensive assessment for assessing the function of behavior disorders was developed:
After early empirical demonstrations of control by single environmental contingencies
Large scale studies on self-injurious behavior reveal that:
The common functions account for more than 80% of instances
Why may a pairwise functional analysis be effective in identifying behavioral function when other standard functional analysis arrangements result in undifferentiated responding?
Promotes discrimination among conditions
According to Fisher and colleagues (1992), which preference assessment method resulted in greater differentiation among stimuli and better predicted relative reinforcer efficacy?
Paired-stimulus preference assessment
Attention condition
- Antecedent: No attention
* Consequence: Attention
Escape (demand) condition
- Antecedent: Academic demands
* Consequence: Termination of demand
Alone condition
- Antecedent: Impoverished environment
* Consequence: Non-social
the use of functional analysis has led to the following changes in the approach to the treatment of problem bx
a proportional increase in the prevalence of reinforcement based over punishment based studies
in a particular functional analysis condition, the therapist and subject enter a room together where a variety of moderately preferred toys are available. the therapist quiety reads a magazine and ignores the subject. contingent upon problem behavior, the therapist provides brief attention in the form of a concerned statement. this condition is designed…
to test whether prob bx is maintained by positive reinforcement in the form of access to adult attention
what is a specific way in which the control condition can be modified in order to clarify functional analysis results..
provide continuous attention
how or why may experimental functional analyses be limited
potential for iatrogenic effects – that is results can be due to the process itself
results of the 1990 Iwata, et. al., study evaluating the the SIT scale suggest that…
most individuals were judged to be of low or moderate risk
response rates relative to baseline and response allocation are typical dependent variables for….
reinforcer assessments
what is the selection based preference assessment that may be most sensitive to relative preferences and thus may be useful if you want a larger selection of predicted reinforcers…
paired choice
results of Roscoe, Iwata, and Kahng (1999) comparing high preference and low preference stimuli under concurrent schedules and single operant arrangements suggested…
the low preference stimulus was effective as a reinforcer under the single operant schedule, but was ineffective under the concurrent arrangement.
goals of functional analysis
id the variables of which bx is a function
focus of functional analysis -
- description of the problem bx
- id of the antecedent variables that evoke problem bx
- id of the consequent variables that maintain problem bx
common functions of bx
- neg reinforcement in the form of termination of demands
- pos reinforcement in the form of attention
- pos reinforcement in the form of access to tangibles
- automatic reinforcement in the form of sensory stimulation.
functional analysis methodology
- manipulations of motivating operations across conditions (carr, 1997)
- manipulation of both antecedents and consequences across phases (Iwata, 1982)
experimental design commonly used during a functional analysis
mulit-element design
typical functional analysis conditions
- attention
- escape (demand)
- alone
- control (toy play)
alone (toy play) condition
- antecedent: enriched environment, no demands
- consequence: no programmed consequences
multiple control
when bx is maintained by more than one type of consequence
reasons for undifferentiated patterns of bx during functional analysis
- difficulties discriminating the different conditions
- relevant variables are not included in the conditions
- multiple control
ways to clarify functional analysis results
- enhance motivational operations
- enhance discriminability
- limit number of topographies being assessed
- modify the control condition
variables that might present problems to the use of functional analysis
- time limitations
- severity of problem bx
- assessment in naturalistic settings
- low rates of bx
considerations before conducting a functional analysis
- do benefits outweigh potential risks?
- are protective procedures in place?
- is a controlled setting available?
- are there sufficient trained staff available?
limitations of functional analysis
- failure to identify the full range of the controlling variables or failure to identify the specific features that evoke problem bx
- potential iatrogenic effects
- time and labor intensive
- contrived situations may not simulate what occurs in the natural environment
functional analysis conditions variations
- alter response measurement
- enhance motivational operations
- use discriminative stimuli
- vary the control condition
functional analysis design variations
- brief functional analysis
- extended alone conditions
- pairwise comparisons
severity assessment
“a method for classifying and quantifying surface damage caused by self-injurious bx”
estimates of severity assessment
- location of tissue damage
- type of tissue damage
- number of damaged areas
- severity of tissue damage
uses of severity assessment
- before treatment, establishes bx that warrants serious attention
- estimates the risks associated with SIBd
- after treatment, corroborates/validates effectiveness of interventions
- provides a secondary means of assessing treatment maintenance or compliance with treatment recommendations
preference assessment
method for id’ing individual’s preferences among various items, events, and activities
approaches to preference assessment
- indirect (informant-based) methods
- naturalistic (in vivo) direct observation
- reinforcer sampling procedures (empirical)
reinforcer sampling
a systematic preference assessment method to expose individuals to, or provide an individual with, a variety of stimuli or activities and measuring which are preferred.
types of preference assessment
- selection-based preference assessment
- duration-based preference assessment
selection-based preference assessment
reinforcer sampling procedure in which items are presented systematically to produce preference hierarchies.
types of selection-based preference assessment
- single-item/approach method (single-stimulus assessment)
- paired choice (forced-choice)
- multiple stimulus (with or without replacement)
Single-item/approach method (single-stimulus assessment)
Reinforcer sampling procedure in which items are presented, one at a time, in front of the person, and it is measured whether or not they were approached. Preference hierarchy is based on the number of times an item was approached given the number of times it was presented.
Paired-choice (forced-choice) preference assessment
Reinforcer sampling procedure in which items are presented, two at a time, in front of the person, and it is measured which item was approached. Preference hierarchy is based on the number of times an item was selected given the number of times it was presented.
Multiple-stimulus preference assessment
Reinforcer sampling procedure in which all items are presented simultaneously. Participants select one from among all items during each trial.
Types of multiple-stimulus preference assessment
- With replacement
* Without replacement
Multiple-stimulus with replacement
Multiple-stimulus preference assessment in which participants select an item from an array. This same array is presented multiple times.
Multiple-stimulus without replacement
Multiple-stimulus preference assessment in which participants select an item from an array. The items selected are removed from the array, and this procedure is repeated until all items have been selected from the array
Duration-based preference assessment
Preference assessment in which items are presented to the individuals and the proportion of time spent engaging the items is recorded as a measure of preference.
Types of duration-based preference assessment
- Single item presentation
- Free operant (or multiple item) assessments
- Competing stimulus preference assessment
Single-item presentation (duration-based preference assessment)
Duration-based preference assessment in which each item is presented individually several times and the amount of time spent engaging the item is recorded as a measure of preference.
Free operant (or multiple item) assessment (duration-based preference assessment)
Duration-based preference assessment in which all items are presented simultaneously and the amount of time spent engaging with each item is recorded as a measure of preference.
Competing stimulus preference assessment
Duration-based preference assessment used to determine the extent to which stimuli displace problem behavior.
Reinforcer assessment
“A variety of direct, empirical methods for presenting one or more stimuli contingent on a target response and measuring their effectiveness as reinforcers.”
Types of reinforce assessments
- Single-operant arrangement
* Concurrent operant arrangement
Single-operant arrangement
Reinforcer assessment in which the reinforcer efficacy of a single item is tested by comparing levels of a response when it is delivered as a consequence to levels observed during baseline (no consequence).
Concurrent operant arrangement
Reinforcer assessment in which a concurrent schedule is used to compare the relative strength of two or more reinforcers
False negative
related to preference assessment
Failure to identify an item as a reinforcer because it ranks low in a preference assessment.
