Week #7 Cooper Chapter 27 PDF

Chapter 27 Functional Behavior Assessment Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  Stimulus Preference Assessments Free Operant One Stimulus Forced Choice Multiple Stimulus with Replacement Mu...

Chapter 27 Functional Behavior Assessment Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  Stimulus Preference Assessments Free Operant One Stimulus Forced Choice Multiple Stimulus with Replacement Multiple Stimulus without Replacement Key Learnings  Reinforcement Assessments Multiple Schedule (when and how) Progressive Ratio (breaking point) Differential Reinforcement Key Learnings  Differential Reinforcement Key Learnings  Chaining Procedures Backwards Backward with Leap Ahead Forwards Total Task Key Learnings Learning Objectives Section 2. Applications F. Behavior Assessment F-6 Describe the common functions of problem behavior F-7 Conduct a descriptive assessment of problem behavior F-8 Conduct a functional analysis of problem behavior F-9 Interpret functional assessment data Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Functional Behavior Assessment ▪ Enables hypotheses about relations among specific types of environmental events and behaviors ▪ Designed to obtain information about the purposes (functions) a behavior serves ▪ Used to identify the source of reinforcement for challenging behaviors Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Functions of Behavior Behaviors are learned and maintained through interaction with the social and physical environment ◦ These behavior–environment interactions are described as positive or negative reinforcement contingencies Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Positive Reinforcement Social positive reinforcement (attention) ◦ Problem behavior often results in immediate attention from others ◦ Behavior maintained by positive reinforcement in the form of reactions from others can often occur in situations in which attention is otherwise infrequent Tangible reinforcement ◦ Many behaviors result in access to reinforcing stimuli ◦ Problem behaviors may develop when they consistently produce a desired item or event Automatic positive reinforcement ◦ Some behaviors directly produce their own reinforcement ◦ A behavior is assumed to be maintained by automatic reinforcement only after social reinforcers have been ruled out Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Negative Reinforcement Social negative reinforcement (escape) ◦ Many behaviors are learned as a result of their effectiveness in terminating or postponing aversive events Automatic negative reinforcement ◦ Behaviors that directly terminate aversive stimulation are maintained by negative reinforcement that is an automatic outcome of the response Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Function Versus Topography Environmental influences do not make distinctions between desirable and undesirable topographies of behavior ◦ The same reinforcement contingencies that account for desirable behavior can also account for undesirable behavior Likewise, the same topography of behavior can serve different functions for different individuals The topography of a behavior often reveals little useful information about the conditions that account for it Identifying the function of a behavior suggests what conditions need to be altered to change the behavior Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Role of Functional Behavior Assessment in Intervention and Prevention FBA and Intervention Interventions informed by FBA primarily consist of three strategic approaches: ▪ Alter antecedent variables ▪ Alter consequent variables ▪ Teach alternative behaviors Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Alter Antecedent Variables Identify antecedents that might be altered so the problem behavior is less likely to occur Can change and/or eliminate either ▪ The motivating operation for problem behavior ▪ The discriminative stimuli that trigger problem behavior Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Alter Consequent Variables Identify a source of reinforcement to be eliminated for the problem behavior Provide the reinforcer for alternative behaviors instead of for the problem behavior Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Teach Alternative Behaviors Identify the source of reinforcement to be provided for appropriate replacement behaviors ▪ Alternative appropriate behaviors that have the same function could be taught Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Role of Functional Behavior Assessment in Intervention and Prevention FBA and default technologies ▪ Understanding why a behavior occurs often suggests how it can be changed for the better ▪ FBA can decrease reliance on default technologies (e.g., punishment-based interventions) and contribute to more effective interventions ▪ When FBAs are conducted, reinforcement-based interventions are more likely to be implemented than are those that include punishment Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Role of Functional Behavior Assessment in Intervention and Prevention FBA and Prevention ▪ FBA can also contribute to the prevention of difficulties (e.g., emergence of problem behavior) ▪ FBA data may further assist in prevention efforts by identifying the conditions that pose risks for the future development of problem behaviors Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Overview of FBA Methods FBA methods can be classified into three types: ◦ Functional (experimental) analysis ◦ Descriptive assessment ◦ Indirect assessment Functional analysis is the only method that allows practitioners to confirm hypotheses regarding functional relations between problem behavior and environmental events Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Functional (Experimental) Analysis Basic Procedure ▪ Antecedents and consequents representing those in the natural environment are arranged so their effects on problem behavior can be observed and measured ▪ Often referred to as an analog Antecedents and consequences similar to those occurring in the natural routines are presented in a systematic manner Not conducted in the context of naturally occurring routines ▪ Typically comprise four conditions: Three test conditions ◦ Contingent attention, contingent escape, and alone Control condition Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Interpreting Functional Analyses The function problem behavior serves can be determined by visually inspecting a graph of the results of an analysis ▪ Problem behavior is expected to be low in the play condition because no motivating operations for problem behavior are present ▪ Elevated problem behavior in the contingent attention condition suggests that problem behavior is maintained by social positive reinforcement ▪ Elevated problem behavior in the contingent escape condition suggests that problem behavior is maintained by negative reinforcement ▪ Elevated problem behavior in the alone condition suggests that problem behavior is maintained by automatic reinforcement ▪ If problem behavior occurs frequently in all conditions, or is variable across conditions, responding is considered undifferentiated Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Austin, J., & Carr, J. (Eds.). (2000). Handbook of applied behavior analysis Austin, J., & Carr, J. (Eds.). (2000). Handbook of applied behavior analysis Saini et al. (2021) Saini et al. (2021) Advantages of Functional Analysis Primary advantage ◦ Ability to yield a clear demonstration of the variable or variables that influence the occurrence of problem behavior Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Limitations of Functional Analysis ▪ May temporarily strengthen the undesirable behavior ▪ Little is known about the acceptability of functional analysis procedures to practitioners ▪ Some behaviors may not be amenable due to setting and other factors ▪ Functional analyses that are conducted in contrived settings might not detect the variables that account for the occurrence of the problem behavior in the natural environment ▪ Time, effort, and professional expertise required to conduct and interpret functional analyses have been frequently cited as obstacles to its widespread use in practice Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Variations of Functional Analysis Procedures Brief functional analysis ▪ Only one or two (5- to 10-min) sessions are conducted for each condition ▪ Demonstration of function can be achieved by Either alternating a condition that produces problem behavior with one that does not Conducting a contingency reversal ▪ Reveals a function clearly in fewer cases than a full functional analysis Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Conducting Functional Analyses in Natural Setting Can be advantageous to conduct functional analyses in the setting where the problem behavior occurs ▪ Relevant stimulus cues are present in those settings One challenge ▪ Procedures can be disruptive to ongoing routines May require additional supervision Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Trial-Based Functional Analysis Consists of a series of trials interspersed among classroom activities Each trial consists of two components (1-min each) 1. Test Condition - Presenting the establishing operation and contingency for problem behavior 2. Control Condition - Continuous access to the reinforcer One consideration is exposure to the relevant establishing operations and consequences may be too brief to evoke or maintain problem behavior Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Synthesized Functional Analysis Designed to increase efficiency by using an interview-informed synthesized contingency analysis (IISCA) Test condition ▪ Multiple contingencies are implemented simultaneously when the problem behavior is demonstrated Control condition ▪ Same reinforcers are presented noncontingently and continuously May have particular utility when ▪ Problem behavior is not observed in typical FA conditions ▪ The behavior analyst suspects multiple contingencies may be maintaining problem behavior Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved How does IISCA Differ from a Traditional FA? 1. Specific contingencies are assessed, and materials used in the sessions are derived from the interviews, thus the analysis is interview informed. a) the response topographies that will and will not produce reinforcement in the test sessions b) the specific contingencies that will and will not be assessed, c) the extent to which the contingencies will be assessed simultaneously, d) the specific conditions that will be arranged to evoke problem behavior, and, e) the specific materials and interactions used during reinforcement. 2. An IISCA involves the rapid alternation of two conditions, one in which the synthesized contingency suspected of influencing problem behavior is arranged (referred to as a test condition) and one in which it is not (referred to as a control condition) https://practicalfunctionalassessment.com/2015/11/20/fa-c-qa1/ Latency-Based Functional Analysis Each session is terminated as soon as problem behavior occurs ▪ The index of problem behavior is the latency from onset of the establishing operation to the first occurrence of the problem behavior Can reduce the number of occurrences of problem behavior necessary for analysis and shorten the time required to conduct the analysis A limitation is that there is only one exposure to the contingency per session Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Saini et al. (2021) Functional Analysis of Precursors Sometimes, even one occurrence of problem behavior can be so severe that evoking it poses unacceptable risk to the client and/or others ▪ In these cases, it can be helpful to conduct the functional analysis on precursor behavior—a behavior that reliably precedes the target behavior Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Safety Considerations for FAs Consider ethical issues surrounding the client’s safety Some procedures that have been used to mitigate risk of injury ▪ Medical examinations ▪ Presence of medical staff for especially severe behavior ▪ Ensuring that trained practitioners plan and run analyses ▪ Having additional staff present to block behavior ▪ Using protective equipment ▪ Establishing a behavioral and/or medical criterion for terminating sessions ▪ Using soft toys to conduct the analysis ▪ Using brief FA or assessing precursor behaviors Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Descriptive Functional Behavior Assessment Direct observation of behavior are made under naturally occurring conditions ▪ Involves observation of the problem behavior in relation to events that are not arranged in a systematic manner Three variations of descriptive analysis ▪ ABC (antecedent-behavior-consequence) continuous recording ▪ ABC narrative recording ▪ Scatterplots Generally considered invalid for detecting behavioral function ▪ Yield false positives for an attention function Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved ABC Continuous Recording An observer records occurrences of the targeted problem behaviors and selected environmental events in the natural routine The occurrence of a specified event is marked on the data sheet ▪ The targeted environmental events (antecedents and consequences) are recorded whenever they occur, regardless of whether problem behavior occurred Recorded data in this manner may reveal events that occur in close temporal proximity to the target behavior Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Advantages of ABC Continuous Recording Descriptive assessments based on continuous recording use precise measures ▪ In some cases, the correlations may reflect causal relations Likely to provide useful information for designing a functional analysis Do not require disruption to the persons routine Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Considerations for ABC Continuous Recording Correlations between particular events and the problem behavior may be difficult to detect ▪ It may be necessary to calculate conditional probability or conduct a contingency space analysis Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved ABC Narrative Recording A form of descriptive assessment Differs from continuous recording in that ▪ Data are collected when behaviors of interest are observed ▪ The recording is open-ended May be less time-consuming than continuous recording Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Considerations for Narrative Recording ▪ Utility in identifying behavioral function has not been established ▪ Might identify functional relations that do not exist ▪ Observers may report inferred states or subjective impressions instead of observable events in objective terms ▪ Given the likelihood that a number of environmental events occur in close temporal proximity to one another, discriminating the events that occasion a behavior can be difficult ▪ May be best suited as a means of gathering preliminary information to inform continuous recording or functional analyses Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Scatterplot Recording Recording the extent to which a target behavior occurs more often at particular times than others ▪ Divide the day into blocks of time ▪ For every time segment, an observer uses different symbols to indicate whether the target problem behavior occurred A lot Some Not at all ▪ Analyzed for patterns of specific time periods that are typically associated with problem behavior Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Austin, J., & Carr, J. (Eds.). (2000). Handbook of applied behavior analysis Considerations for Scatterplots Advantages ▪ They identify time periods during which the problem behavior occurs Concerns ▪ It is unclear whether temporal patterns are routinely evident ▪ Obtaining accurate data may be difficult as the subjective nature of the ratings can contribute to difficulties with interpretation Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Indirect Functional Behavior Assessment ▪ Uses structured interviews, checklists, rating scales, or questionnaires ▪ Identifies possible conditions or events in the natural environment that correlate with the problem behavior ▪ Referred to as “indirect” because they do not involve direct observation of the behavior Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Behavioral Interviews Goal is to obtain information about the problem behaviors, antecedents, and consequences Might include ▪ Clarifying descriptions of the behavior When, where, with whom, how often it occurs ▪ What typically precedes the behavior ▪ What the child and others typically do immediately following the behavior ▪ What steps have been taken to address the problem Similar information might be solicited about desirable behavior Information can also be obtained about preferences, skills, and means of communicating Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Behavioral Rating Scales Ask informants to estimate the extent to which behavior occurs under specified conditions, using a Likert scale ▪ Hypotheses about the function of a behavior are based on the scores associated with each condition ▪ Those conditions assigned the highest cumulative or average rating are hypothesized to be related to the problem behavior Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Considerations for Indirect FBA Can provide a useful source of information in guiding subsequent, more objective assessments Can contribute to the development of hypotheses about variables that might occasion or maintain the behaviors of concern Convenient and useful in conducting an FBA However, ▪ Closed-ended indirect assessment instruments have repeatedly demonstrated to be unreliable and therefore of questionable validity in identifying function Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Conducting a Functional Behavior Assessment FBA can best be viewed as a four-step process: ▪ Gather information with indirect and descriptive assessment ▪ Interpret information and formulate hypotheses about the purpose of problem behavior ▪ Test hypotheses using functional analysis ▪ Develop intervention options based on the function of problem behavior Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Gathering Information Begin the FBA process by conducting Functional Assessment Interviews Prepares the evaluator to conduct direct observations by ▪ Identifying and defining the target problem behavior ▪ Identifying and defining potential antecedents and consequences that may be observed ▪ Gaining an overall picture of the behavior Helps determine if other assessments are warranted before a more extensive FBA is conducted At this point, conducting direct observations in the natural routine is useful ▪ Helps confirm or disconfirm the information obtained through the interviews Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Interpreting Information and Formulating Hypotheses Results from indirect assessments should be analyzed Look for patterns of behavior and environmental events ▪ Hypotheses regarding the function of the problem behavior can be made Hypothesis statement should state the ▪ Antecedent(s) ▪ Topography of problem behavior ▪ Maintaining consequence Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Testing Hypotheses After hypotheses have been developed, a functional analysis can be conducted to test them Should always contain a control condition that promotes the lowest frequency of problem behavior Often a play condition, which consists of ▪ Continuous availability of preferred toys and/or activities ▪ No demands ▪ Continuously available attention Conditions are then selected to test specific hypotheses Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Developing Interventions When an FBA has been completed, an intervention that matches the function of problem behavior can be developed The FBA identifies ▪ Antecedents that might trigger problem behavior ▪ Potential behavioral deficits that should be remedied ▪ Reinforcement contingencies that can be altered ▪ Powerful reinforcers that can be used as part of the intervention package Intervention should be functionally equivalent to problem behavior ▪ Example: If problem behavior serves an escape function, then the intervention should provide escape for a more appropriate response or alter task demands to make escape less reinforcing Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Developing Interventions When an intervention has been developed, FBA is not “done” ▪ Assessment is ongoing once intervention is implemented as it is important for the continued monitoring of intervention effectiveness The functions of behavior are not static; they are dynamic and change over time ▪ Intervention may lose its effectiveness because the function of problem behavior may change Copyright © 2020, 2007, 1990 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Fryling and Baires (2016) The practical importance of the distinction between open and closed-ended indirect assessments.pdf