What is functional assessment?
A set of procedures that allow cause-and-effect relationships between a behaviour and its antecedents and consequences to be determined (“functional behavioural assessment” or FBA).
What are the categories of information provided by the FBA (functional behavioural assessment)?
- Objective description of antecedents
- Objective description of problem behaviours
- Objective description of consequences
- Motivational variables (EOs, AOs)
- Potential reinforcers
- Potential alternative/competing behaviours
- Effectiveness of previous interventions
What are the functions of problem behaviours?
- Negative reinforcement (escape)
Such as noncompliance, disruption, aggression, self-injury - Positive reinforcement
Such as social reinforcement provided by another person (attention), automatic reinforcement in which the target behaviour automatically results in reinforcement (e.g., sensory stimulation), tangible reinforcement in which the reinforcer is a physical item, or activity in which reinforcement involves access to an activity.
What are indirect methods of functional assessment?
Data on antecedents, behaviours, and consequences are collected from the target person (or others who know them well) based on their memory of what occurred such as interviews, questionnaires, and rating scales.
What are pros & cons of indirect functional assessment methods?
-(Y) Fast and easy to do
-(X) Less accurate
-(X) Only provide correlation between antecedent/consequences and behaviour
What are direct observation methods of functional assessment (descriptive assessment)?
Data on antecedents, behaviours, and consequences is gathered as the behaviour occurs in its natural environment.
What are unstructured direct observation methods?
Observations are made without altering events in the environment in any way.
What are structured direct observation methods?
Specific antecedents in the environment are systematically manipulated, and results are recorded; however consequences are not altered.
What are scatterplot analysis direct observation methods?
Recording period is divided into intervals; every half hour, if the behaviour has occurred, one cell of the grid is shaded in.
What are ABC observation methods?
Record antecedents, behaviours, and consequences under normal conditions as they occur. This descriptive method uses an ABC observation data sheet.
What is the checklist observation methods?
Using a checklist for elements such as date/time, antecedent(s), target behaviour, consequence(s), and possible function.
What are the pros & cons of direct observation methods?
-(Y) More accurate: do not rely on fallible memory
-(X) Involve more work and time to record and summarize
-(X) Only provide correlation between antecedent/consequences and behaviour
What are experimental methods (functional analysis)?
An experimenter systematically manipulates antecedents and consequences to determine their effect on the target behaviour in a structured situations.
What is the test condition and control condition in experimental methods?
In test conditions, a different EO and possible reinforcer are presented for the problem behaviour in each condition.
In control conditions, an AO is presented and possible reinforcers for the problem behaviour are withheld.
These two conditions are then compared to determine if any factors have an effect on behaviour.
What is the purpose of an exploratory experimental method?
Determining patterns of relationships that are not yet clear.
What is the purpose of hypothesis testing in experimental methods?
To confirm predictions from informant or descriptive assessment.
What are the pros & cons of experimental methods?
-(Y) Can potentially establish cause and effect
-(X) Requires more time and expertise than other methods
What are the steps in conducting a functional assessment?
- Use indirect methods first (behavioural interview)
- Formulate a hypothesis about possible antecedents and consequences of the behaviour; consider any contributing variables
- Perform direct observation
- Determine if data from direct observation support the hypothesis or require it to be modified
- If all assessments are consistent, develop behaviour support plan that addresses the function of the behaviour
- If assessments are inconsistent, then conduct functional analysis to confirm hypothesis
What does a behaviour support plan (behaviour intervention plan) contain?
- Summary of data gathered (target behaviour, antecedents, consequences
- Hypothesis of function (results of functional assessment/functional analysis)
- Administer functional intervention (behavioural treatment program): choose procedures for behaviour change and support
