It is customary in behavior analysis to distinguish between positive and negative reinforcement in terms of whether the reinforcing event involves onset or offset of a stimulus. In a previous article (Baron & Galizio, 2005), we concluded that a distinction of these terms is not only ambiguous but has little if any functional significance. Here, we…

The articles in this special Practitioner's Edition of "Psychology in the Schools" share the application of sound educational and behavioral practices in real school and classroom contexts. Given this emphasis in these articles on the applied use of behavioral practices, the purpose of this brief commentary is to highlight and comment on some of…

This review evaluates research on the treatment of challenging behavior in school settings for students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Electronic database searches were carried out to identify studies published between 1995 and 2005. Twenty-six studies were identified. A variety of procedures were implemented in these studies to decrease…

A range of interventions exist to prevent and respond to disruptive classroom behavior. This study documents the efficacy of a function-based intervention conducted using a multiple baseline across settings design. Despite moderately variable levels of treatment fidelity, results suggest a functional relation between the introduction of a package…

Referral requests for individual counseling pose a threat to the implementation of comprehensive school counseling programs (Jackson & White, 2000). Consulting with teachers is one way that school counselors can efficiently respond to some referrals while also providing system support. Using a developmental counseling and therapy-based…

There has been much research concerning functional assessment over the past 20 years, but several important research considerations have yet to be explained. One is the comparison of different types of functional assessment (e.g., experimental functional analysis and non-experimental functional assessment). The current study aims to compare the…

Although FBA has been a familiar term to those in special education for over 30 years, its formal inclusion into IDEA is relatively recent. Currently, agreement as to the nature, context, and application of the FBA process is, at best, confusing and, at worst, inadequate to direct elective practice in schools. An analysis of the issues that define…

Since the reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA; 1997) through the current reauthorization (IDEA 2004), disciplinary procedures and functional behavioral assessment (FBA) have been widely used in school districts to assist in the prevention and amelioration of problem behaviors. Although researchers have…

The authors examined the relation between variables maintaining problem behavior and reading performance for elementary-age students. Participants were 51 students in Grades 4, 5, and 6 who had received two or more office discipline referrals in 2003-2004. Students were grouped by teacher-indicated function of problem behavior. The prevalence of…

This article considers the perseverative and passive behavior patterns common in children with intellectual disabilities and often the focus of educational interventions. It suggests that, instead of always being an impediment to progress, these behaviors may sometimes be appropriate and adaptive responses of a slow mind to coping in a world that…

This article presents a detailed example of how faculty and staff at one middle school implemented team-based functional behavioral assessment (FBA) planning procedures with a student exhibiting recurring minor problems. Insets list tasks and considerations for an FBA, a sample formatted antecedent-behavior-consequence summary of team member…

Provides a wide range of information for 100 articles published from January 1980 through July 1999 that describe the functional assessment (FA) of behavior in school settings. Results indicate that FA is useful for ascertaining the variables that control high-frequency problem behaviors in students with low-incidence disabilities and for…

Describes three types of communication assessment: structural assessment; functional assessment; and process assessment. Contends that these traditional approaches are inappropriate for assessing organizational change. Proposes that complexity theory explicitly focuses on evolutionary processes and thus is a more appropriate foundation for…

Assessments were made of possible functions of overactive behaviors for two adults with severe intellectual disability using both ecological analyses and cluster analyses. Two ecological approaches suggested that the behaviors of both clients were related to levels of environmental stimulation. Cluster analyses showed that the behaviors, though…

This study applied the methodology of an analog experimental (functional) analysis of behavior to the specific interaction between parents and three children with mental retardation exhibiting food refusal and related mealtime problems. Analog results were highly consistent with other forms of functional assessment data, including interviews,…