EM

Functional Assessment (Chapter 13)

Context and Problem Behaviors

  • Chapter 13: Functional Assessment (Treatment Process - Decreasing Problem Behaviors)
  • Context: Earlier chapters described procedures to establish desirable behavior; now focus on understanding problem/unwanted behaviors.
  • Example scenario (Page 3): Andrew, an 8-year-old in 3rd grade, often plays Game Boy at home. When his mom asks him to complete a task while he’s gaming, he says “in a few minutes.” If the request is repeated, he screams “no,” yells at his mom, and complains she is mean. Mom gets frustrated and tells him he’ll have to do the task after the game, but she rarely follows through.
  • Identified problem behaviors: Andrew’s noncompliance; Mom’s lack of follow-through (reinforcement/mediating factors).
  • Practical aim: Use functional assessment to understand causes of problem behavior and to design effective treatment.

First Step in Behavior Modification

  • Question posed: What should be the first step when using behavior modification procedures to decrease a behavior?
  • Answer: Conduct a functional assessment.
  • Rationale: Helps you discover what is causing what (the function of the behavior).

The ABCs of Self-Change

  • Antecedents (Before) | Behavior (During) | Consequences (After)
  • Identify events that trigger the behavior.
  • Identify the actions, thoughts, or feelings you want to change.
  • Identify what consequences are reinforcing to you.
  • Build in antecedents that lead to wanted behavior.
  • Practice the desired behavior.
  • Reinforce the desired behavior.
  • Remove antecedents that lead to unwanted behavior.
  • Substitute unwanted behavior with alternatives.
  • Make sure undesired behavior is not reinforced.

Functional Assessment: What It Tells You

  • Functional assessment tells you:
    • The antecedent events that evoke a behavior.
    • The reinforcing consequences that maintain a behavior.
    • The dimensions of the behavior (frequency, duration, intensity).
    • What’s causing what (the function).

Functional Assessment: After FA

  • After completing a functional assessment, you can develop a clear treatment plan.
  • FA should be conducted before any treatment for problem behavior.

Functional Assessment: Methods Overview

  • Functional Assessment includes three main methods: 1) Direct Observation
    • Skilled observer records the A-B-C’s.
      2) Informant Methods
    • Interviews and Questionnaires.
      3) Functional Analysis
    • A-B-C’s are manipulated to understand the function of behavior.
  • Integrated approach combines direct observation with informant data and experimental analysis.

FA Direct Observation and Informant Methods

  • Direct Observation: Observe the individual in natural settings; record A-B-C's.
  • Informant Methods: Interview and questionnaires completed by people who know the individual well.
  • Functional Analysis: Systematically manipulate antecedents and consequences to identify the function of the behavior.

Functional Assessment: Data Collection Forms (Sample Overview)

  • Time/Activity/Setting components (e.g., One-on-one, Small group, Whole group; Unstructured activity; Transitions).
  • Sample data categories in an assessment form:
    • Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence, Function
    • Event
  • Typical tasks/settings observed include: one-on-one time, redirect to task, transitions, unstructured activity, group activities, etc.

Treatment Process: Step-by-Step (Summary of Page 10)

  • Step 1: Identify and define target behavior(s) to decrease and, if applicable, to increase (from interview and observation).
  • Step 2: Initiate data collection (importance of data collection to establish baselines and monitor change).
  • Step 3: Complete functional assessment and develop hypotheses about antecedents and consequences.
  • Step 4: Develop and implement treatment.
  • Step 5: Evaluation: Was treatment effective? (Did problem behaviors decrease and desirable behaviors increase?)
    • If YES: Promote maintenance and generalization.
    • If NO: Check treatment fidelity and ask: Was treatment implemented correctly? If yes, repeat Step 3; If no, retrain staff, provide more support, adjust treatment components, promote buy-in.

Functional Assessment: What to Assess?

  • Antecedents (Before): When, where, with whom, what circumstances or situations the behavior occurs.
  • Assess social and environmental antecedents.
  • Behavior: Problem behavior; Add in a new behavior; Remove an unwanted behavior.

Reiteration: The ABCs of Self-Change (Reinforcement of Antecedents, Behaviors, Consequences)

  • Antecedents: Before
  • Behavior: During
  • Consequences: After
  • Repeat: Identify events that trigger behavior; Identify actions, thoughts, or feelings to change; Identify reinforcing consequences; Build useful antecedents; Practice the desired behavior; Reinforce it; Remove problematic antecedents; Substitute alternatives; Ensure undesired behavior is not reinforced.

Illustrative Case: Jane Eats Sweets (Antecedents/Behavior/Consequences)

  • Scenario: Jane, 4-year-old, sees sweets; has family dessert habit and candy at home; tries to resist but caves when out with family.
  • Antecedents: Before
  • Behaviors: During
  • Consequences: After
  • Theme: Where’s the Blame? (illustrates automatic attribution of control and reinforcement patterns across environment)

Illustrative Case: Thomas the Smoker

  • Scenario: Thomas attempts to quit smoking but relapse occurs due to coworker smoking and a nearby store.
  • Antecedents: Before
  • Behaviors: During
  • Consequences: After
  • Theme: Where’s the Blame?

Illustrative Case: Josie and Web Surfing

  • Scenario: Josie, alone, feels bored/lonely; spends study time exploring links online, off-task.
  • Antecedents: Before
  • Behaviors: During
  • Consequences: After
  • Theme: Where’s the Blame?

Illustrative Case: Francis and Studying with TV On

  • Scenario: Francis studies at night; roommate nearby wants to talk/play; study drift due to boredom and beliefs about school.
  • Antecedents: Before
  • Behaviors: During
  • Consequences: After
  • Theme: Where’s the Blame?

Reflection Exercises (Pages 18-21)

  • Exercise: List the behaviors you would change; Circle the ones to focus on for the class.
  • Reflection: Advantages and disadvantages of changing these behaviors.
  • Reflection: What can you do to start recording observations about these behaviors?
  • Note: “During week 10” reference indicates ongoing data collection and practice.

Functional Assessment: Categories of Information (What to Assess)

  • Problem Behavior: Objective description of the behaviors comprising the problem.
  • Antecedents (Before): Objective description of environmental events preceding the problem behavior (physical environment and others’ behavior).
  • Consequences (After): Objective description of environmental events following the problem behavior (physical environment and others’ behavior).
  • Alternative Behaviors: Information on desirable behaviors that may be reinforced to compete with the problem behavior.
  • Motivational Variables: Information on environmental events that may trigger or stop behavior.
  • Potential Reinforcers: Environmental events (physical stimuli and others’ behavior) that may function as reinforcers and be used in treatment.
  • Previous Interventions: Past interventions and their effects on the problem behavior.

Consequences and Reinforcement: Reinforcement Functions

  • Positive Reinforcement (Social): Attention, praise, reactions, activities, or things provided by others.
  • Negative Reinforcement (Social): Escape from tasks, activities, interactions (reinforced by removing aversive demands).
  • Positive Reinforcement (Automatic): Sensory stimulation, environmental stimuli not mediated by others.
  • Negative Reinforcement (Automatic): Relief from pain, anxiety, or other aversive stimulation; escape from aversive environmental stimuli.

Examples: Identify the Function (Various vignettes)

  • 4-year-old’s tantrums: various antecedents and consequences illustrating attention, escape, or access functions.
  • 17-year-old’s hair pulling: different antecedents (alone with negative thoughts, watching TV, mom busy) with consequences (relief, tactile stimulation, attention).
  • 8-year-old’s wrist biting: antecedents during tooth brushing; consequence: escape from tooth brushing.
  • 18-year-old’s binge eating: antecedents (alone, sad, negative thinking) with relief as consequence.
  • 6-year-old with autism hand waving: antecedents (not engaged) with visual stimulation as consequence.

Functional Assessment Methods (Pages 29-33)

  • Indirect (informant) assessment:
    • Behavioral interviews
    • Questionnaires and rating scales
  • Direct observation assessment:
    • Be present in client’s natural environment when problem behavior occurs
    • Descriptive ABC recording:
    • Checklist recording of A-B-Cs
    • Interval recording of A-B-Cs
  • Functional analysis:
    • Brief experiment; manipulate antecedents and consequences while holding other variables constant
    • Record behavior accurately in experimental conditions
    • Repeat experimental conditions to demonstrate experimental control over behavior

Functional Analysis Process and Data Interpretation (Pages 32-45)

  • FA Process: Manipulate possible MOs (antecedents) and possible reinforcers (consequences); observe changes; replicate.
  • FA Types:
    • Exploratory FA: Test a range of possible functions
    • Hypothesis testing FA: Test a hypothesis from descriptive assessment
  • FA Conditions:
    • Test condition: Deliver reinforcer for problem behavior
    • Control condition: Do not deliver reinforcer if problem behavior occurs
    • Test/Control conditions by function: Attention, Tangible, Escape, Automatic reinforcement
  • Interpreting Results:
    • Exploratory FA: Separation in data in one test condition indicates function
    • Multiple functions or automatic reinforcement indicated if data elevated in all test conditions
    • Extended Alone condition: elevation indicates automatic reinforcement
    • Hypothesis testing FA: Separation in data between test and control conditions

Conducting a Functional Assessment: Step-by-Step (Page 46)

  • Begin with an interview or other indirect assessment method.
  • Develop a hypothesis about antecedents and consequences (the function).
  • Conduct direct observation assessments.
  • Confirm or modify the original hypothesis based on direct observation.
  • If assessments are consistent, develop and implement treatment addressing the function of the behavior.
  • If indirect and direct assessments are not consistent, conduct further functional assessments.
  • Conduct functional analysis to confirm hypothesis or resolve inconsistencies between indirect and direct assessments.

Practice: Time to Practice Conducting a Functional Assessment

  • Exercise: Apply FA concepts to a real case (prompt provided on slide).

Case Studies: Practice Scenarios (Pages 48-51)

  • Bob: 10-year-old with Learning Disability (LD)
    • Setting: Regular ed class; disruptive behaviors when math is difficult
    • Consequences: In regular ed, time-out in back of class; in special ed, teacher requires completion of math problems anyway
    • Observations: Problem behavior less in special ed class due to different consequences
    • Problem behavior: Disruptive behavior
    • Alternative behavior: Completing work or asking for a break
    • Antecedents: SD regular ed teacher; EO difficult math problems
    • Reinforcing consequence: Escape from school work
    • Treatment options: (to be determined)
  • Shelly: 15-year-old with severe mental retardation; limited functional language
    • Setting: Prevocational work activities; sits with peers for repetitive sorting tasks for about an hour
    • Antecedents: Teacher busy with other tasks; Mavis nearby when Shelly is near her
    • Consequences: Shelly slaps Mavis; Mavis screams; teacher intervenes
    • Observed linkage: Aggressive behavior occurs when Mavis sits next to Shelly; others have hit Shelly back
    • Problem behavior: Slapping Mavis
    • Alternative behavior: Completing work or seeking attention
    • Antecedents: SD Mavis nearby; EO no teacher attention
    • Reinforcing consequence: Attention from Mavis and teacher
    • Treatment options: (to be determined)
  • Eric: 8-year-old with autism
    • Scenario: Hand-over-hand guidance for brushing teeth leads to wrist biting; parents stop brushing; teeth not brushed for years
    • Problem behavior: Wrist biting
    • Alternative behavior: Brushing teeth or asking for a break
    • Antecedents: SD parent present; EO inflamed gums, need to brush teeth
    • Reinforcing consequence: Escape from tooth-brushing
    • Treatment options: (to be determined)
  • Zoe: 5-year-old in Kindergarten (half days)
    • Scenario: At home, mom studying; Zoe plays alone; when mom asks to complete a task, Zoe screams, cries, calls mom names; mom scolds, repeats request; eventually complies; at school, behavior not observed
    • Problem behavior: Noncompliance
    • Alternative behavior: Completing the task or requesting attention
    • Antecedents: SD Mom making a request; EO not having mom’s attention
    • Reinforcing consequence: Attention
    • Treatment options: (to be determined)
  • Andrew (revisited): 8-year-old in 3rd grade (home context)
    • Problem: Noncompliance with mom’s requests; alternative with missing follow-through from mom
    • Antecedents: SD; EO (request triggers); reinforcement expected from parent’s attention
    • Reinforcing consequence: Parent’s attention or escape/avoidance of task
    • Treatment options: (to be determined)

Andrew—Fill-in Practice (Page 52)

  • Scenario: Andrew home with mom; noncompliance to tasks when Game Boy is involved; Mom rarely follows through.
  • Task: Fill in the blanks:
    • Problem behavior: Noncompliance
    • Alternative behavior: ____
    • Antecedents: SD
    • EO
    • Reinforcing consequence: _
    • Treatment options: _

Practical and Ethical Implications

  • Importance of accurate data collection and fidelity in implementing treatment plans.
  • Need for maintenance and generalization of treatment effects.
  • When treatment fails, examine fidelity, provide support, retrain, and adjust components.
  • Ethical consideration: Ensuring interventions address function and improve quality of life.

Key Takeaways

  • Functional assessment identifies why a behavior occurs (function) and informs effective treatment.
  • FA integrates indirect (interviews), direct (observation), and experimental (functional analysis) methods.
  • A well-designed FA covers: problem behavior, antecedents, consequences, alternative behaviors, motivational variables, reinforcers, and past interventions.
  • The process emphasizes data-driven decisions, continuous evaluation, and flexibility to adapt interventions as needed.
  • Real-world case studies illustrate the range of behaviors, settings, and functions.

Endnotes

  • The slides repeat several concepts (e.g., ABCs, FA methods) to reinforce learning and provide multiple angles for understanding.
  • The material emphasizes practical application: identify behaviors, collect data, hypothesize functions, test, implement, and evaluate for effectiveness and generalization.