Instruction in Functional Assessment, 2014a

Instruction in Functional Assessment Chapter 5
in more accurate implementation of the treatment procedure by the teachers and improved
outcomes for their corresponding students. In general, the reinforcer delivered to increase
someone’s behavior should be tailored to the individual; that is, holding meetings may be
a reinforcer to some while avoiding meetings may be reinforcing to others. The feedback
delivered by the instructor should occur immediately after the learner’s performance and
include praise given regarding multiple specific areas that the learner performed well and
then corrective feedback concerning areas to improve. Initially, during the early instruction
sessions, feedback should be immediately delivered after the learner’s performance; however,
later in training, feedback should be delivered in a more delayed fashion to increase
generalization to real-world situations where delayed feedback is typically the case (Lee &
Belfiore, 1997).
Generalization of FA Skills to the Natural
Environment
GENERALIZATION refers to whether the desired skills occur across non-training behaviors,
setting, time (or maintenance), and people as mentioned in Chapter 3 (Stokes & Baer,
1977). Generalization of learners’ skills across these various domains may not automatically
occur (Finn, Patten, & McLachlan, 2010), so strategies to promote it may need to be
programmed into the instructional approach. The occurrence of professionals’ assessment
and intervention skills across different contexts (e.g., different individuals, topography of
problem behavior, maintaining variables) and long-term maintenance of those skills are
important.
A major approach to facilitate stimulus generalization is to incorporate into the training
situation stimuli or events that are comparable to that in the natural environment (Ducharme
& Feldman, 1992). For example, Finn, Patten, and McLachlan (2010) compared test
scores for 82 medical students when they wore scrubs versus no scrubs following learning
gross anatomy (which involved dissection and wearing scrubs in both conditions). Higher
test scores occurred when the students were tested in a similar context (with scrubs) compared
to dissimilar context (no scrubs) to training. These results suggest that incorporating
common stimuli in the training situation may aid in transfer of knowledge. For example,
professionals working in inclusion settings may generalize these results by arranging events
in which students act as scientists using tools and equipment so students act as if they are
performing scientific tests.
CASE-BASED LEARNING, also known as guided inquiry approach, involves presentation
of a real-world problem for students to define and solve during instruction. The trainer/
teacher provides a supportive role guiding the student down the correct path, delivering
feedback, and probing for additional information (Srinivasan, Wilkes, Stevenson, Nguyen,
& Slavin, 2007). Srinivasan et al. (2007) compared case-based learning to problem-based
learning, which is a less structured approach, and found that medical students preferred
case-based learning. Cifuentes, Mercer, Alverez, and Bettati (2010) describe how presenting
problems for students to solve provides a meaningful learning experience likely
to be encountered in future job settings. This method of instruction is versatile, and has
even been effectively used in large university classes of 100 students working in groups of
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