Behavior Iceberg
Functions of Behavior
Barriers & Communication
ABCs and FERBs
100

The top 10% of the behavior iceberg represents observable actions like yelling or refusal. What is the hidden 90% underneath the surface?

What are internal drivers (e.g., sensory overload, trauma, hunger, executive dysfunction, or emotional distress)?

100

What are the 4 functions of behavior?

SEAT: What are Sensory, Escape, Attention, and Tangible

100

Before assuming a student is being intentionally defiant about classroom expectations (e.g., raising hands, taking passes), what must educators verify?

What is whether the routines/expectations were explicitly taught beforehand?

100

To be effective, a replacement behavior (FERB) must fulfill the exact same function as the target behavior while requiring what level of effort?

What is equal or less effort?


200

Underlying variables that exist outside the immediate moment but lower a student's frustration threshold before a lesson even starts.

What are precipitating factors?


200

What the behavior looks like on video is its topography. What term refers to why the behavior occurs?


What is function?


200

Why might an English Language Learner (ELL) engage in disruptive behaviors during moments of stress or frustration?

What is they may lack the ability to translate and express their needs in English?

200

In behavior analysis, what do the letters A, B, and C stand for?

What are Antecedent, Behavior, and Consequence?


300

According to Dr. Dan Siegel’s Hand Model, what happens when emotional stress or trauma triggers the amygdala?

What is "flipping the lid" (or losing access to the prefrontal cortex/thinking brain)?

300

A student tearing up a math paper or asking for frequent bathroom passes during independent work is likely demonstrating which S.E.A.T. function?

What is Escape?

300

Merely handing a student an AAC device or visual board is not enough—what crucial instruction must happen first?

What is explicitly teaching and prompting the student how to use the tool/device?

300

What does the acronym FERB stand for in positive behavior support?

What is Functionally Equivalent Replacement Behavior?

400

What are the 4 F's (primary survival stress responses that students default to when dysregulated).

What are Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn?

400

How does identifying the function of behavior help with communication?

What is so we can teach an appropriate replacement behavior


400

What are 2 alternative communication tools or modalities used for non-verbal students or those with speech delays?

What are AAC devices and PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System)?


400

If a student throws a math worksheet to escape a hard task, raising a "Break Card" serves as a FERB because it accomplishes what?

What is fulfilling the same Escape function safely without disrupting the classroom?

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