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Functional Analysis
Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is the name of the method/process used to help school professionals determine consequences that are maintaining challenging behavior. A challenging behavior that is disrupting a class and preventing learning can have a variety of functions—including gaining a teacher’s attention, avoiding work that is experienced as too difficult or boring, gaining the approval of classmates, and other functions as well. The purpose of determining which function is actually the one maintaining a challenging behavior is to place the teacher (or some other professional) in a better position to design an intervention that will succeed in stemming unwanted behavior and promoting behavior that leads to a student’s cooperating and learning. Components of the FBA include indirect methods (e.g., interviews), descriptive analyses (e.g., direct observations), and functional analysis. Functional analysis (FA), conducted as a component of FBA or alone, is specifically used to identify the function of challenging behavior via a systematic experiment. The main purpose of this entry is to describe the history of FA and its methodology, as well as to discuss its application in school settings.
The term functional analysis refers to any empirical demonstration of a causal relation. Although FA procedures can differ, all variations share the common trait of observing behavior under specific test versus control conditions. The test condition contains the variable of interest, whereas the control condition is used to rule out the possibility that challenging behavior observed under the test condition would have occurred regardless of what the condition contained.
Another key component of FA is antecedent events. Antecedent events are those in effect prior to the occurrence of challenging behavior and serve as potential establishing operations (EOs). For example, in the test condition for attention, attention is withheld or is delivered to someone other than the targeted student, either of which may increase the value of attention as a reinforcer.
Role of Motivation in FA
Motivation has been defined as a drive, or a change in response level as a result of satiation or deprivation. An EO is an environmental stimulus that affects an individual by temporarily altering the reinforcing effectiveness of other stimuli and the occurrence of the part of an individual’s behavior relevant to those stimuli as consequences. The term establishing operation should be used only when referring to a change in the environment that meets the above requirements and that increases the behavior. For example, attention can function as a consequent stimulus to increase behavior, but the effectiveness of attention as a consequence is dependent on other factors such as attention deprivation. In this example, attention would more likely increase behavior if the student has not obtained attention for a long period of time, therefore making attention more reinforcing. On the other hand, an abolishing operation (AO) refers to any stimulus that decreases the effectiveness of a consequence. Using the previous example, if the student has obtained attention over a long period of time and has become satiated, attention may no longer serve as an effective reinforcer (at that moment).
Both EOs and AOs play important roles in assessing behavior. Significant advances in the field of applied behavior analysis have led to improved behavioral assessments for students with disabilities. In FA research, the role of a particular consequence that maintains the challenging behavior is assessed during test conditions that either (1) withhold the potential reinforcer and deliver it contingent upon occurrence of the targeted challenging behavior or (2) present an aversive stimulus and remove it contingent upon occurrence of the targeted challenging behavior. In addition to providing information on the function of the target behavior, an FA may also suggest (1) antecedent stimuli that serve as EOs, (2) sources of reinforcement, and (3) intervention strategies that should be used or avoided. Understanding the role of EOs to determine possible stimuli that maintain the targeted behavior can strengthen school professionals’ ability to assess challenging behavior.
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