This study employed an ABAC and multiple baseline design to evaluate the effects of (B) feedback and (C) a package of feedback, goalsetting, and reinforcement (supervisor praise and an area-wide celebration as managed through a performance matrix, on a total of 14 various customer service behaviors for a total of 115 employees at a large…

Previous research implies that stereotypic behavior tends to be maintained by the sensory consequences produced by engaging in the response. Few investigations, however, have focused on vocal stereotypy. The current study examined the noncommunicative vocalizations of 4 children with an autism spectrum disorder. First, functional analyses were…

We conducted functional analyses and identified reinforcers for problem behavior for three individuals with developmental disabilities. Based on results of the functional analysis, we evaluated the rate, probability, delay, and duration of reinforcement for problem and appropriate behavior during descriptive parent-child observations. Results…

Functional analysis methodology is an assessment strategy that identifies sources of reinforcement that maintain problem behavior and prescribes individualized interventions that directly alter the conditions under which behavior occurs. In this article we describe the environmental determinants of problem behavior, methods for conducting…

Background: The behavioural function of handmouthing has been assessed across various studies utilising analogue functional analyses. The aim of the current study was to expand upon research on this relatively understudied behaviour by examining the relationship between handmouthing and "Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disorder" (GERD), and the potential…

A concurrent-operants design was used to analyze the repetitive behavior of observing reflective surfaces while simultaneously engaging in erratic gross-motor body movements (EBMs) exhibited by a young boy diagnosed with autism. The assessment involved an evaluation of preference for controlled (i. e., the participant controlled the visual…

This study examined the effects of a function-based intervention implemented with a student, Shawn, who had attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, internalizing behavioral problems, and a speech and language impairment. Shawn attended a fourth-grade classroom in a self-contained school that served students with emotional and behavioral…

Functional assessments were conducted to identify the variables maintaining disruptive behavior in eight, typically developing fifth-grade students enrolled in general education classrooms. Participants whose behavior was found to be functionally related to either task-avoidance or attention-seeking were randomly assigned to a treatment strategy…

A study developed a systematic functional assessment package to reduce the stereotypy and self-injurious behaviors maintained by nonsocial reinforcement in two individuals with mental retardation. Differential reinforcement of zero rates of responding (DRO) procedures using stimuli within the targeted sensory classes were successful in eliminated…

Prior researchers have evaluated the efficacy of using the matching law to describe naturally occurring behavior-environment interactions. However, spurious matching could be obtained if the response and environmental event were correlated, even if the event did not reinforce the response. To assess the likelihood of obtaining spurious matching…

In the United States today, there is a growing number of children exhibiting disruptive behavior. The rising rates of violence among youth in society parallel the increase in numbers of students who engage in severe problem behavior in schools. Schools are currently confronting a number of disturbing trends regarding school discipline, violence,…

This paper covers the application of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) to treatment of problem behavior in residential facilities. Basic behavioral concepts are covered with emphasis on antecedent events and their importance in assessment and treatment. The paper focuses on two types of assessment, the behavioral interview and A-B-C narrative…

Brief multiple-stimulus-without-replacement (MSWO) preference assessments were conducted with 3 adolescent boys with emotional-behavioral disorders in the context of their public school educational program. The reinforcing effects of stimuli identified as high, medium, and low preference were then evaluated using an alternating treatments design…

This study evaluated the effects of choice making within functional communication training (FCT) to increase the task engagement of two participants with inappropriate behaviour. Pretreatment functional analyses indicated that both participants' inappropriate behaviour was maintained by escape. For one of the participants, inappropriate behaviour…

We conducted functional analyses of disruptive behavior in a classroom setting for two students of typical intelligence with emotional/behavioral disorders (E/BD) using the classroom teacher to implement functional analysis conditions. The functional analyses suggested that both participants' disruptive behavior was maintained by escape from task…