We taught 6 supervisors of a residential service provider for adults with developmental disabilities to train 9 house managers to conduct trial-based functional analyses. Effects of the training were evaluated with a nonconcurrent multiple baseline. Results suggest that house managers can be trained to conduct trial-based functional analyses with…

Functional communication training (FCT; Carr & Durand, 1985) is a commonly used differential reinforcement procedure for replacing problem behavior with socially acceptable alternative responses. Most studies in the FCT literature consist of demonstrations of the maintenance of responding when various treatment components (e.g., extinction,…

Background: The ability of descriptive assessments to differentiate functions of problem behaviours might be increased by systematically sampling natural contexts characterized by different establishing operations. This study evaluated the stability of such characteristics, and variability in challenging behaviour, for three school contexts.…

Direct methods of functional assessment--through which information is gathered by observing environment--behavior relations--vary with the degree to which environmental events are manipulated. Unstructured (ABC) assessments involve observing the occurrence of problem behavior without altering environmental events in any way. At the other extreme,…