How does this all work?
What is an FA used for?
Identifies environmental determinants of problem behavior.
What does a typical attention condition look like in an FA?
Attention is provided only following problem behavior to analyze if the behavior is attention-maintained.
What are precursors?
Mild responses that may predict the occurrence of more severe target behaviors.
What did Fritz find regarding the efficiency of precursor FAs?
The assessment was highly efficient, typically requiring 10 or fewer instances of severe behavior and concluding within 150 minutes, which provides a safer clinical alternative.
What are the seven dimensions of ABA?
Applied, Behavioral, Analytic, Technological, Conceptually Systematic, Effective, and Generality.
What do the results of the FA help facilitate?
The development of reinforcement based interventions.
What does a typical escape condition look like in an FA?
After presenting task demands, if problem behavior occurs, those demands are removed, determining if the behavior serves as an escape.
What has research found regarding the correspondence between precursors & severe problem behavior?
Precursors & severe problem behavior can be maintained by the same sources of reinforcement.
What was the reliability of caregiver reports for precursor behaviors?
Caregiver reports were largely unreliable, matching the objective assessment results in only 11% of cases.
What are other variations of FAs?
Brief FA, Trial-Based FA (TBFA), Synthesized FA (IISCA), Latency-Based FA (LFA), and Precursor FA.
What are the typical FA conditions?
Escape, attention, alone, play (control), tangible (if applicable).
What does a typical alone condition look like in an FA?
The individual engages in activities without any practitioner attention, assessing if behaviors occur without reinforcement.
How can those findings be beneficial?
Placing reinforcement contingencies on precursors can reduce the occurrence of severe problem behavior.
Did the study establish functional correspondence between precursors & severe problem behaviors?
Yes, they found they were maintained by the same environmental contingencies in 7 out of 8 cases.
How did Baer et al. (1968) originally define the term functional analysis?
Any empirical demonstration of a cause-and-effect relation.
How is a typical FA conducted?
Repeated observations of problem bx under controlled conditions.
What does a typical play (control) condition look like in an FA?
Provides conditions where the individual has free access to preferred activities, typically leading to minimal problem behavior.
What is a limitation of previous research on precursor behavior?
The initial identification of potential precursors was based on caregiver verbal report or informal observations conducted before assessment.
Was the treatment package Fritz implemented based solely on the results of the precursor analysis effective?
Yes, it avoids the need to reinforce dangerous behaviors during the treatment process. The treatment package reduced precursors & increased appropriate communication while maintaining low rates of severe behavior
What experimental designs are typically used when conducting FAs?
Multielement, pairwise, sometimes reversal.
What are some difficulties that can arise with an FA?
Problem behavior poses a significant risk to the individual or caregivers.
What does a typical tangible condition look like in an FA?
Preferred items are removed, and the behavior leads to getting the item back, testing for access to desired items.
What is a practical benefit of a precursor analysis?
Interventions for more severe forms of behavior might be based on assessment of less severe behavior.
What was one limitation & one idea for future research the authors noted?
Brevity and structure of trial-based assessments, unclear treatment failures, limited applicability to automatically reinforced behavior, unexamined nonpredictive behaviors, and occasional adventitious reinforcement. Future research should refine trial parameters, examine complex response chains and nonpredictive behaviors, evaluate adaptations for automatically reinforced behavior, and test procedures that minimize adventitious reinforcement.
What was Skinner's favorite animal?
The pigeon.