Behavioral Assessment SAFMEDS

Behavioral Assessment

A systematic process of gathering information about a person's behavior and the environmental variables that influence it

Habilitation

The process of teaching skills and behaviors that an individual has never acquired — as opposed to rehabilitation

Pivotal Behavior

A behavior whose acquisition produces collateral improvements across other untrained behaviors or settings. Changes in pivotal behaviors are considered especially efficient targets because they yield broad

Behavior Cusp

A behavior change that opens up access to new reinforcers

Relevance of Behavior Rule

A guideline stating that target behaviors selected for intervention should be meaningful and functional for the individual — improving their daily life

Target Behavior

The specific behavior selected for measurement

Function-Based Definition

Defining a behavior by its effect on the environment or by the consequence it produces

Topography-Based Definition

Defining a behavior by its physical form or shape — what it looks like — rather than by its function

Indirect Assessment

Gathering information about behavior through methods that do not involve direct observation

Social Validity

The degree to which the goals, procedures, and outcomes of an intervention are acceptable and meaningful to the individual, their family, and society

Informed Consent

The process by which a client or their legal guardian voluntarily agrees to participate in assessment or intervention after being fully informed of its nature

ABC Recording

A form of descriptive assessment in which the observer records the Antecedent, the Behavior, and the Consequence. ABC data are used to identify patterns and generate hypotheses about behavioral function

Reactivity

A change in a person's behavior that occurs because they know they are being observed

Direct Assessment

Gathering information about behavior through systematic, firsthand observation of the individual in their natural or analog environment. Includes both descriptive and experimental approaches

Descriptive Assessment

A type of direct assessment in which behavior and surrounding environmental events are observed and recorded without any manipulation by the observer. Methods include ABC recording and scatterplots

Conditional Probability

A statistical measure used in descriptive assessment expressing the likelihood that a behavior will occur given a specific antecedent or consequence

Functional Analysis

An experimental form of functional behavior assessment in which environmental variables are systematically manipulated to identify the specific contingencies maintaining a behavior. Considered the gold standard for identifying behavioral function

Motivating Operation

An environmental variable that temporarily alters the reinforcing or punishing effectiveness of a stimulus and the current frequency of behavior previously followed by that stimulus. Includes establishing operations and abolishing operations

Test Condition

In a functional analysis, a condition designed to evoke the target behavior by presenting the antecedent and consequence hypothesized to maintain it

Control Condition

In a functional analysis, a condition designed to minimize the likelihood of the target behavior by providing non-contingent access to preferred items and attention while removing task demands

Contingency Reversal

A manipulation within a functional analysis in which the consequence typically following a behavior is reversed

Conditioned Reinforcer

A stimulus that has acquired reinforcing properties through repeated pairing with other reinforcers. Also called a secondary reinforcer — examples include praise and tokens

Generalized Conditioned Reinforcer

A conditioned reinforcer paired with many different reinforcers

Positive Reinforcement

A process in which the contingent presentation of a stimulus following a behavior results in an increase in the future frequency of that behavior

Positive Reinforcer

A stimulus whose contingent presentation following a behavior increases the future probability of that behavior. Defined functionally — a stimulus is only a reinforcer if it demonstrably increases behavior

Automaticity of Reinforcement

The principle that reinforcement strengthens behavior regardless of whether the individual is aware of the contingency. No conscious recognition is required for a consequence to function as a reinforcer

Automatic Reinforcement

Reinforcement that occurs independent of the social environment — the behavior produces its own sensory or physiological consequence that maintains it. Inferred when behavior persists in the absence of any social mediatio