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 2<br />
Table 7<br />
Example of ABC Record<strong>in</strong>g Data Sheet<br />
Client: Barbara Beam<br />
Situation: Special education class. Picture nam<strong>in</strong>g task with teacher’s assistant (TA)<br />
Observer: Therapist<br />
People Present: 15 other students, teacher, TA<br />
Time Antecedent Behavior Consequence<br />
1:30 pm<br />
1:45 pm<br />
1:52 pm<br />
TA hold up picture<br />
& “What’s this?”<br />
Picture of flower<br />
presented “What’s<br />
this?”<br />
Flower & “What’s<br />
this?”<br />
Flower & “What’s<br />
this?”<br />
Flower & “What’s<br />
this?”<br />
“hoose”<br />
“hoose”<br />
No response<br />
Cry, flap hands<br />
Grab card & rips it<br />
while scream<strong>in</strong>g and<br />
flapp<strong>in</strong>g hands<br />
Slowly stops cry<strong>in</strong>g,<br />
sitt<strong>in</strong>g quietly, f<strong>in</strong>ger<br />
flick<strong>in</strong>g<br />
“Good, Barbara,<br />
that’s it: horse.”<br />
“No, it’s a flower”<br />
“Flower, say flower”<br />
“Quiet, Barbara”<br />
“Barbara, no!”<br />
A direct observational FA can provide an objective means of gather<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>formation<br />
that may help to substantiate <strong>in</strong>direct assessment f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs. The data generated from an<br />
ABC record<strong>in</strong>g procedure can be subjected to a CONDITIONAL PROBABILITY ANALYSIS of<br />
the correlated observed antecedent and consequence events to determ<strong>in</strong>e which events are<br />
most likely to be associated with the challeng<strong>in</strong>g behavior (e.g., frequency of X antecedent<br />
co-occurr<strong>in</strong>g with behavior divided by the total number of times X occurred multiplied by<br />
100). However, it should be recognized that observational methods are correlational and so<br />
causal conclusions are not possible. There may be other factors <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong> contribut<strong>in</strong>g to<br />
the occurrence of the <strong>in</strong>dividual’s challeng<strong>in</strong>g behavior that are <strong>in</strong>volved and have not been<br />
identified.<br />
<strong>Functional</strong> Analysis (FAn)<br />
FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS <strong>in</strong>volves an experimental test of the different possible functions<br />
for the client’s problem behavior (e.g., attention positive re<strong>in</strong>forcement, tangible positive<br />
re<strong>in</strong>forcement, demand/negative re<strong>in</strong>forcement). FAn has been established as a cl<strong>in</strong>ically<br />
effective method of identify<strong>in</strong>g the function of challeng<strong>in</strong>g behavior and treat<strong>in</strong>g it based<br />
on several decades of accumulated research (Beavers, Iwata, & Lerman, 2013). Us<strong>in</strong>g a<br />
standard FAn, attention, demand, tangible, and alone conditions are compared to a play/<br />
recreational control condition (e.g., Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, & Richman, 1982/1994).<br />
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