Indirect Behavioral Assessments KELLY ET AL 2011 FISHER

Indirect Behavioral Assessments KELLY ET AL. (2011) FISHER ET AL. CH 10

Functional Behavioral Assessments IDEA legislation (1997) Every What P child has the right to a FBA is an FBA? 182. “A process of gathering information, observing and / or manipulating environmental variables to develop function – based treatments

Functional Behavioral Assessments Operational definition of the target behavior 2. The situations where the target behavior is likely and unlikely to occur 3. The potential environmental events that may affect future occurrence of the problem behavior 1.

Indirect Behavioral Assessment Best understood in comparison with direct and experimental assessments Naturalistic or contrived observation of an individual Experimental Purpose: Many manipulations of environmental events to derive function based treatment advantages regarding function Disadvantages: costly, time consuming

Indirect Behavioral Assessment Requires less training ( e. g. , complete a rating scale or interview) Less time consuming and less disruptive of routine ( e. g. , hours vs weeks) BUT: Provides less or even erroneous information Relies May on mediator memory and observations not have psychometric reliability or validity

Structured Interviews interview Specific questions regarding the topography of the behavior, settings where it occurs, antecedent events and consequences, etc. same questions for several caregivers, same order Caregiver May bias or memory (accuracy) say what they think you want to hear

Functional Analysis Interview FAI( 11 O’Neill et al (1997) sections designed to detect potential function 45 -90 Content minutes to conduct areas 1. Behavior Description 2. Setting events 3. Antecedents and consequences 4. How efficient is the target behavior?

Functional Analysis Interview (FA Content Cont’d 5. alternative behavior & communicative ability 6. Identification of reinforcers 7. History of previous interventions

Rating Scales Same purpose as FA interview but uses pre-determined statements that the interviewee agrees with or disagrees along some continuum. (e. g. , a likert scale) Has the advantage of quantifiability and reliability / validity comparisons May be more accurate information as specific behaviors and settings are used

Problem Behavior Questionnaire PBQ 15 question rating scale to assess challenging behavior Responder answers each question regarding the relative percentage of time the statement is true for a problem behavior Scores are totaled and a function is suggested Caution-not psychometrically evaluated yet

Functional Analysis Screening Tool FAST ( Iwata et al 1996) 16 queston informant rating scale that separartes social and non social setting events Ie. questions about attention vs escape, vs sensory (automatic reinforcement) Caution still no reliability or Validity studies

Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS) A 16 item (1988) questionnaire that purports to indicate function of problem behavior. The questions relate to automatic (sensory) functions and socially mediated positive and negative reinforcement. Controversial: results from several studies suggest that this tool is less reliable than originally reported ( levels of IOA are too low)

Questions about Behavior Function (QBF) Matson & Volmer (1995) More extensive than previous rating scales Several studies have indicated good validity and reliability. More research needed for a rating scale like this to remove the need for more direct assessments