What are the two data collection strategies?
Continuous measurement: Each instance of behaviour is captured
Discontinuous measurement: A sample of behaviour is captured
Continuous measures of behaviour: Event recording (frequency)
- Across constant observation times, expressed as number of occurrences (frequency)
- Otherwise expressed as rate
Continuous measures of behaviour: Duration
- How long a behaviour lasts
Continuous measures of behaviour: Latency
- Elapsed time between onset of a stimulus and start of behaviour
Continuous measures of behaviour: Inter-response time (IRT)
- Elapsed time between the cessation of one response and the onset of another
Discontinuous measures of behaviour: Interval recording
- Partial interval: records whether the behaviour is present at any time during the interval
- Whole interval: records that the behaviour is present throughout the entire interval
Discontinuous measures of behaviour: Momentary time sampling
- Measures the presence of absence of a behaviour at the moment the interval begins/ends
What are functional assessments?
- Functional assessments are conducted to determine the purpose a behaviour serves
- This is known as its function
- In behaviour analysis, this involves looking to the environment to identify controlling variables
What is reinforcement
- A stimulus change that follows a behaviour and increases its future frequency
What are descriptive assessments?
- Descriptive assessments involve direct observation of problem behaviour in the natural environment
What is ABC recording?
- Narrative ABC recording: Antecedent and consequent events are recorded each time the target behaviour occurs
- Continuous ABC recording: Relevant antecedent and consequent events are recorded irrespective of occurrence of target behaviour
What is experimental functional analysis?
- The use of specific methods to test hypotheses about the variables that cause and/or maintain behaviour
- In experimental analysis, we systematically apply various stimuli to determine what functions as a reinforcer and what occasions the behaviour
- Therefore, the procedures in an experimental analysis will actually increase behavioural probability
What are the advantages of functional analysis?
- Yields a clear demonstration of the variables that relate to the occurrence of problem behaviour
- Serves as the standard to which all other forms of functional behaviour assessments are evaluated
- Enable the development of effective reinforcement-based treatment
What are the limitations of functional analysis?
- May temporarily strengthen the problem behaviour
- May result in the behaviour acquiring new functions
- Acceptability may be low
- Difficult to use for serious, low frequency behaviours
- If conducted in contrived settings, may not identify idiosyncratic variables related to problem behaviour
- Requires time, effort, and professional expertise
Why do we conduct functional behaviour assessments
- FBA allows us to understand the purpose a behaviour serves
- Results in more effective and ‘humanistic’ interventions
- Designing an intervention without understanding the factors that contribute to an individual’s behaviour risks wasting resources on an ineffective intervention, arranging contingencies that make a behaviour worse, and delaying access to an effective treatment
What is the three-term contingency
- Most basic form of behaviour analysis
Antecedent –> Behaviour –> Consequence
What are the 3 types of functional assessment?
- Informant methods - Interviews and questionnaires
- Descriptive assessments - observer records, antecedents, behaviours & consequences
- Functional analysis - AAntecedents and consequences are manipulated to understand their effects
What are the four conditions for a standard functional analysis?
- Attention condition (positive reinforcement)
- Demand condition (negative reinforcement)
- Alone condition (automatic reinforcement)
- Control condition
Sometimes:
5. Tangible condition (positive reinforcement) - to test if problem behaviour is maintained by access to things/food
What is the contingent attention condition?
- Experimental condition in which the person is ignored until problem behaviour occurs, at which point social attention is delivered
- What social attention looks like depends on how it is typically delivered in the natural environment
- Often delivered in the form of mild social disapproval
- Sometimes referred to as the ‘social disapproval’ condition
- This condition tests whether attention (social R+) maintains the behaviour
What is the contingent escape condition?
- Experimental condition in which a series of demands are placed on the person, but if the problem behaviour occurs then the demand is removed
- Person is allowed to “escape” the demand for about 30 seconds by engaging in the problem behaviour
- Sometimes referred to as the ‘academic demand condition’
- Tests whether escape (social R-) maintains the behaviour
What is the contingent tangible condition?
- Experimental condition in which a tangible item is provided contingent on problem behaviour
- Tests whether access to tangible items (social and/or nonsocial R+) maintains the behaviour
What is the alone condition?
- Experimental condition in which the person is left alone with no external sources of stimulation
- There is no attention given, no demands are placed, and no access to tangible items is provided
- Tests whether automatic reinforcement (nonsocial R+ or R-) maintains the behaviour
What is the control condition (“play”)
- Experimental condition in which all consequences that could be maintaining the behaviour are present
- Designed to approximate an enriched environment –> no demands, free access to preferred items, frequent social interaction
- This is a control condition because it tests whether the behaviour is maintained by one of the reinforcers in the test conditions
- If something in the environment maintains the behaviour, you would not expect to see the behaviour occur much (if at all) in this condition
