Instruction in Functional Assessment, 2014a
Instruction in Functional Assessment, 2014a
Instruction in Functional Assessment, 2014a
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<strong>Instruction</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Functional</strong> <strong>Assessment</strong> Chapter 6<br />
The Case of Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow<br />
From: Rapp, J. T., Miltenberger, R. G., Galensky, T. L., Ell<strong>in</strong>gson, S. A., & Long, E. S.<br />
(1999). A functional analysis of hair pull<strong>in</strong>g. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,<br />
32, 329-337.<br />
Client Description & Background: “Kris was a 19-year-old female with severe mental<br />
retardation and mild cerebral palsy. She was able to ambulate, follow simple <strong>in</strong>structions,<br />
and communicate with s<strong>in</strong>gle words. Due to a childhood stroke, Kris walked with a limp<br />
and could not open her left hand. Consequenctly, she pulled and manipulated her scalp<br />
hair with only her right hand. Her mother reported that Kris had pulled scalp hair s<strong>in</strong>ce<br />
approximately age 3 and that the behavior would occasionally remit for periods up to a<br />
month. In the past, Kris’ hair pull<strong>in</strong>g was unsuccessfully treated with Trazohone and parental<br />
scold<strong>in</strong>g. Accord<strong>in</strong>g to her mother, Kris usually pulled scalp hair while watch<strong>in</strong>g<br />
television and <strong>in</strong> bed. After pull<strong>in</strong>g a hair, she rolled it between her thumb and <strong>in</strong>dex<br />
f<strong>in</strong>der, rubbed the hair on her lips, and then chewed on the hair while pull<strong>in</strong>g it with her<br />
f<strong>in</strong>gers. Her mother reported that periods of <strong>in</strong>creased baldness seemed to be correlated<br />
with constipation, which may <strong>in</strong>dicate that Kris was <strong>in</strong>gest<strong>in</strong>g hairs. Kris did not appear to<br />
<strong>in</strong>gest hair dur<strong>in</strong>g either phase of this <strong>in</strong>vestigation. Hair pull<strong>in</strong>g produced an obvious area<br />
of baldness 5 cm <strong>in</strong> diameter on the top of her scalp” (Rapp et al., 1999, p. 331).<br />
“Hair pull<strong>in</strong>g was def<strong>in</strong>ed as any contact of the f<strong>in</strong>gers of her right hand with her scalp.<br />
Hair manipulation was def<strong>in</strong>ed as roll<strong>in</strong>g of pulled hair between any f<strong>in</strong>gers, gaz<strong>in</strong>g at<br />
pulled hair, and any contact of hair with the lips or mouth. Hair manipulation onset always<br />
occurred with<strong>in</strong> 3 s of hair pullong offset” (Rapp et al., 1999, p. 331).<br />
Procedure: <strong>Functional</strong> analysis was conducted us<strong>in</strong>g a multielement research design<br />
with the follow<strong>in</strong>g conditions:<br />
Attention condition: “Kris and a therapist were seated side by side <strong>in</strong> the room. Kris<br />
was given a video to watch on the television while the therapist shuffled papers and wrote <strong>in</strong><br />
a notebook. No <strong>in</strong>teraction took place between them unless Kriss pulled hair. Cont<strong>in</strong>gent<br />
on hair pull<strong>in</strong>g, the therapist reached over and gently pressed Kris’ arm down from her head<br />
and provided disapprov<strong>in</strong>g statements (e.g., ‘Don’t pull your hair’)” (Rapp et al., 1999, p.<br />
332).<br />
Demand condition: “Dur<strong>in</strong>g this condition, a therapist stood beh<strong>in</strong>d Kris, who was<br />
seated at a large table. The therapist presented a task (from her prevocational curriculum)<br />
that <strong>in</strong>volved tak<strong>in</strong>g s<strong>in</strong>gle pieces of different colored paper off 4 piles <strong>in</strong> a sequential order<br />
and plac<strong>in</strong>g the collated papers <strong>in</strong>to a specified envelope. Kris was shown the correct sequence<br />
for the papers and then prompted every 20 to 30 s <strong>in</strong> a 3-step sequence (verbal<br />
prompt; verbal prompt and po<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g; verbal prompt, po<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g, plus manual guidance) to<br />
stack the papers accord<strong>in</strong>gly. Praise was provided for 2 to 3 s cont<strong>in</strong>gent upon complet<strong>in</strong>g<br />
the correct paper sequence and fill<strong>in</strong>g the envelope. If hair pull<strong>in</strong>g occurred, the therapist<br />
removed the materials and suspended all <strong>in</strong>teractions with Kris for 30 s” (Rapp et al., 1999,<br />
p. 332).<br />
Alone condition: “Kris was seated alone <strong>in</strong> the observation room to watch a video on<br />
the television” (Rapp et al., 1999, p. 332).<br />
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