Instruction in Functional Assessment, 2014a

Instruction in Functional Assessment Chapter 6
Alone Condition
These are the standard experimental functional analysis conditions as described by
Iwata, et al., 1994/1982, JABA, 27, 197-209 and Iwata et al., 2000.
Purpose & Rationale:
In the alone condition, the client is in a room by him/herself with no toys or activities
(Note all safety concerns should be addressed and appropriate precautions taken). The therapist
observes the client’s behavior for the purpose of data collection from a one-way mirror
or video camera. This condition tests whether self-stimulation or automatic reinforcement
is maintaining the client’s problem behavior by creating a situation in which low levels
of stimulation exist and measuring whether the problem behavior occurs. If levels of the
client’s problem behavior are worse in the alone condition compared to the other functional
analysis conditions or do not differ across all conditions then automatic reinforcement may
be maintaining the client’s problem behavior.
Procedure:
The client is placed in the therapy room alone, without any toys or materials that would
provide a source of stimulation. The client’s problem behavior is measured.
Purpose
Automatic positive reinforcement
Summary Of Condition
Alone, no toys or materials
Examples of client’s graphed levels of the problem behavior maintained by automatic
positive reinforcement.
A
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