Functional Behavior Assessment: Design FBA Procedure

Functional behavioral assessments have two major components, identifying and defining target behaviors as well as conducting behavior observations. The assessment should begin with indentifying and defining targeted behaviors and the best way to do that is to conduct a formal interview of the student. The interview should include family who are directly connected to the student's home life as well as the staff involved with the student. The interview should reveal important things like when does the behavior occur during the day, how frequently, what the behavior is receded by, what

This method is known as the ABC model and was created by psychologist Dr. Albert Ellis. The “a” symbolizes the activating event or situation. The “b” represents the belief, or explanation of why the event happened. Finally, the “c” stands for the consequence of the behavior. After repeating several of these models for a child, the behavior analyst can compare the charts and find out which methods of consequences are successful and which are not depending on the behavior that occurred. The analyst may also discover patterns of behavior in the child and what triggers these

Once it is determined that the behavior needs to be addressed in a more formal way, a Functional Behavioral Assessment will take place. A Functional Behavioral Assessment, or a FBA is "premised on a behavioral perspective, in which behavior, appropriate or challenging, is viewed as being driven by function" (Adams, 2009).

It is used to identify conditions or events in the natural environment that correlate with the problem behavior and can be done through structured and unstructured interviews, checklists, rating scales, questionnaires or tools such as FAST, MAS, QABF. These tools can be used to obtain information from people who are familiar with the individual (e.g. teachers, parents, caregivers, and/or the individual). An advantage of indirect FBA is its convenience. Indirect FBA can be a useful source of information in guiding subsequent, more objective assessments, and contribute to the development of hypotheses about variables that might occasion or maintain the problem behavior. A limitation of Indirect FBA is that informants may not have accurate and unbiased recall of behavior and the conditions under which it occurred. Little research exists to support the reliability of the information obtained from indirect assessment methods therefore are not recommended as the principal means of identifying the functions of

The problem behavior being observed is self-injurious behavior. Self-injurious behavior is operationally defined as: projecting head into forceful contact with any surface and forceful contact between hand and head/face. Levi’s self-injurious behavior occurs hourly at a severe intensity, thus posing a physical threat to his safety. Engaging in this behavior also impedes Levi from communicating his needs using verbal language and acquiring additional functional skills. For these reasons, a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) should be performed in order to determine the cause

A Functional Behaviour Assessment (FBA) is not one single thing; it is a broad term used to describe a number of different methods that allow researchers and practitioners to identify the reason a specific behaviour is occurring (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007).

I enjoyed reading your post! You have made several good points. I like how you tied opinion into making a hypothesis, then using the assessments to confirm or disprove one's hypothesis about the behavior being observed. Behavior analysts have to observe what precedes (antecedent) a behavior before it happens and what happens after the behavior (consequence). They take what is called ABC data (Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence). This data helps to identify the function of the behavior. FBA's (Functional Behavior Assessments) are also given to help better understand what the behavior is and how it serves the client. The ABC data and FBA are both tools used to help a behavior analyst to confirm their professional opinion and provide the

In regards to functional behavioral assessment, many articles have been analyzed for this paper which review what FBA is, various areas of studies further investigating FBA, why FBA should be taught to pre-service teachers, how it is implemented within elementary school, and continuing. While reading these articles a few suggestions come to mind in which future research could be conducted to advance the use of FBA and how it could be used to assess students with more accuracy. A suggestion towards future research in this area of expertise would be to conduct a study focusing on a selected amount of students from elementary school to high school. With findings in research like this would help identify a student’s development over

A functional behavior assessment is systematically completed in three consecutive steps. Initially, information is gathered through indirect assessments via interview, self reports, and those who know the person well. This serves to define the behavior, provide background information, as well as provide information about when the behavior is more likely or unlikely to occur and what environmental variables might influence its occurrence. After this is completed, the professional conducts a descriptive assessment during which observations are conducted in the natural environment as a step toward determining a true functional relationship between the behavior and controlling factors. This is done through the use of observational recording formats such as: ABC assessments, time sampling, interval recording and structured descriptive assessments. A functional analysis is the final part of the functional behavioral assessment during which the hypothesis is tested through the

Direct observations require (a) identification and description of problem behaviors in observable and measureable terms, (b)selection of conditions under which problem behaviors will be observed, and (c) selection of assessment strategies (frequency, interval recording, etc.) to record problem behaviors. Antecedents-Behavior-Consequences (ABC) records, scatter plots or matrices, and lag analysis protocols are some of the tools employed for data collection during direct observations. Information from direct observations is helpful in formulating the hypothesized function(s) of a problem

Every step of the FBA process is crucial and necessary for the success of a student’s support plan. In my past experience of working with children who have significant behavioral challenges, I have been involved in the creation of an FBA process before. Some things that came naturally to me, were identifying the problem behavior, collecting data on that behavior, and forming a hypothesis about the function of the behavior.

Behavior is communication and for young children behavior is used to have their needs met. Howard is a sixth grader that has been referred to the office six times in four month by his first-year teacher Ms. Anderson. Based on Ms. Anderson’s observations Howard exhibits specific weakness in mathematics resulting in incomplete in-class work and homework assignments, and avoidance behaviors when asked to work at the whiteboard. Howard’s outbursts according to Educator Richard Lavoie M.A., M.E. students would rather be bad than dumb. Creating an intervention plan will accurately document the function, and communication behind his behaviors. Howard displays behaviors that may be misinterpreted as misbehaviors in the classroom at times. The purpose of this to create an intervention plan based on Howard’s Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA).

Behaviors are not defined to allow replication in this study. The behaviors targeted for decrease are named (i.e. shows aggression, repetitive use of toys, lines up objects, flaps hands, etc.) but no specific behaviors are operationally defined. A definition for undesired behavior was offered as “behaviors that interfere with task engagement and participation in daily activities” (576). Operationally defining the topography of the specifically mentioned behaviors would not only create more opportunities for replication, but it would preserve treatment integrity.

The field of Applied Behavioral Science’s future will be greatly affected by contemporary issues that involve the creation of the Association of Professional Behavior Analysts (APBA), board certification limitations, and the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB).

This week, the readings focused on the methods for preventing challenging behaviors through assessing the antecedents/settings and identifying and managing strategies to correct challenging behavior. In addition, we read about writing and implementing function- based assessments and identifying the variables in developing the plan. The key in this week’s readings for me is learning to evaluate the variables when developing a behavior intervention plan. The reason I find this the most important is, I believe this is the most difficult part of the behavioral assessment process.