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 3<br />
Based on over a half century of research conducted s<strong>in</strong>ce ABA was <strong>in</strong>itiated, many<br />
empirically-based <strong>in</strong>terventions have been developed and evaluated. Major treatment<br />
components for a well-designed BEHAVIOR INTERVENTION PLAN (BIP), or a written treatment<br />
document to address the <strong>in</strong>dividual’s challeng<strong>in</strong>g behavior <strong>in</strong>clude:<br />
A. Preventative efforts or ANTECEDENT-BASED TREATMENT<br />
B. Actively <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g or teach<strong>in</strong>g functionally equivalent replacement and other<br />
desirable behaviors<br />
C. Reactive procedures or, what to do when the challeng<strong>in</strong>g behavior occurs<br />
These treatment components should be tailored to the specific function of the <strong>in</strong>dividual’s<br />
challeng<strong>in</strong>g behavior (e.g., tangible positive re<strong>in</strong>forcement, automatic re<strong>in</strong>forcement,<br />
negative re<strong>in</strong>forcement, attention positive re<strong>in</strong>forcement), consider contextual factors (e.g.,<br />
available assistance, history factors, etc.), and ethical considerations. Specific procedures<br />
related to these treatment components will be briefly reviewed below and then more specific<br />
functionally-related treatments will be noted. This review only highlights the ma<strong>in</strong><br />
treatment possibilities that have received a fairly extensive empirical support and is not<br />
exhaustive of the various treatment possibilities available. Also note that to be competent<br />
<strong>in</strong> deliver<strong>in</strong>g treatment, additional knowledge and experience is needed (see the Behavior<br />
Analyst Certification Board® for more at http://www.bacb.com/)<br />
<br />
based Treatment<br />
The <strong>in</strong>dividual’s situation can be altered <strong>in</strong> ways that will eventually reduce the challeng<strong>in</strong>g<br />
behavior, potentially avoid<strong>in</strong>g the need for reactive strategies. Prevention efforts<br />
can entail reduc<strong>in</strong>g the <strong>in</strong>dividual’s motivation for engag<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the challeng<strong>in</strong>g behavior<br />
and chang<strong>in</strong>g antecedent stimuli <strong>in</strong> the <strong>in</strong>dividual’s natural environment.<br />
NONCONTINGENT REINFORCEMENT (NCR) is a procedure to reduce the <strong>in</strong>dividual’s motivation<br />
for engag<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the challeng<strong>in</strong>g behaviors whereby the re<strong>in</strong>forcers for that behavior<br />
are provided freely accord<strong>in</strong>g to a set time (e.g., every 5 m<strong>in</strong>) before the <strong>in</strong>dividual engages<br />
<strong>in</strong> that behavior (Marcus & Vollmer, 1996; Vollmer, Marcus, & R<strong>in</strong>gdahl, 1995). NCR is<br />
an empirically validated approach for decreas<strong>in</strong>g challeng<strong>in</strong>g behavior (Carr, Severtson, &<br />
Lepper, 2009) and may be one of the most frequently used re<strong>in</strong>forcement-based procedures<br />
(Matson et al., 2011). For example, if a student is act<strong>in</strong>g out <strong>in</strong> the classroom to ga<strong>in</strong> the<br />
attention of his classmates then, at the beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g of class before he acts out, give him a<br />
classroom job that garners a lot of attention to foster his desirable behavior (e.g., pass<strong>in</strong>g out<br />
handouts). This approach may reduce the <strong>in</strong>dividual’s motivation to engage <strong>in</strong> the undesired<br />
behavior and thereby make it less likely to occur. When us<strong>in</strong>g NCR, <strong>in</strong>itially the re<strong>in</strong>forcer<br />
that is controll<strong>in</strong>g the challeng<strong>in</strong>g behavior is delivered cont<strong>in</strong>uously or more frequently<br />
than the average basel<strong>in</strong>e occurrence of the challeng<strong>in</strong>g behavior. Once the challeng<strong>in</strong>g<br />
behavior is reduced, then the frequency of presentation of the re<strong>in</strong>forcer can be gradually<br />
decreased to typically occurr<strong>in</strong>g levels (Tucker, Sigafoos, & Bushell, 1998).<br />
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