Functional Behavior Assessments �and �Positive Behavioral Interventions
April 21, 2020
Alternative Education for Disruptive Youth (AEDY)
Virtual Conference
Willow Hozella, Ph.D., BCBA�
Ashley Harned, M.Ed., BCBA
Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network
PaTTAN’s Mission
The mission of the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) is to support the efforts and initiatives of the Bureau of Special Education, and to build the capacity of local educational agencies to serve students who receive special education services.
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PDE’s Commitment to Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
Our goal for each child is to ensure Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams begin with the general education setting with the use of Supplementary Aids and Services before considering a more restrictive environment.
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Functional Behavior Assessment
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Process for identifying problem behaviors and developing interventions to improve behavior
Identification of environmental antecedents and consequences maintaining the behavior of concern
Information-gathering results in a hypothesis about the function of the behavior to develop effective supports
Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA)
Functional Behavioral Assessment
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Student-centered team process
Evidence-based process to understand the function (purpose) of behavior
Identification of function or purpose of behavior guides team through development of function based strategies
Function-based behavior plans are an effective method of eliminating concerning behaviors, developing positive proactive behaviors and increasing academic achievement
Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA)
Conducting an FBA
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Conducting an FBA
Conducting an FBA
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There is no one way to complete an FBA;
Rather the goal of the FBA process is to develop a hypothesis statement
Conducting an FBA
Conducting an FBA
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1- Define the behavior of concern
2- Identify antecedent events that reliably predict (trigger) of the behavior of concern
3- Identify consequences that maintain the behavior
Conducting an FBA:
3 KEY Steps
Determining the Target Behavior to Change
Measurable and observable
Most important behaviors first
May not be able to manage all problem behaviors- PRIORITIZE
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Data Collection
Frequency/Event: number of times a behavior occurs
Duration: for how long the behavior occurs
Latency: how long it takes for a response to occur
Inter-response time: time between behaviors (when it stops and resumes)
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ABC Analysis
Antecedent – What happens immediately before the behavior
Behavior – What the person does (observable and measurable). This means our behavior goals must be observable and measurable.
Consequence – What happens immediately after the behavior
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ABC Analysis
Observing what happens before and after a behavior allows prediction
If we can predict we can get some control!
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ABC Examples
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Setting Events
(Not functions of behavior)
Health�
Sleep�
Family issues�
May make certain behaviors more likely to occur but only if the immediate evocative antecedent occurs
Functions of Behavior
Function in Common Terms | Function in Technical Terms |
Attention | Socially mediated positive reinforcement |
Tangibles | Socially mediated positive reinforcement |
Escape | Socially mediated negative reinforcement |
Self stimulation | Automatic positive reinforcement |
Pain attenuation | Automatic negative reinforcement |
What is problem behavior?
Problem behavior is best thought of as a defective repertoire of behavior�
Reducing problem behavior will be most effective when it includes teaching a socially acceptable replacement behavior�
Ideally, this replacement behavior will be easier and will contact the same reinforcement as the problem behavior
Key Steps to Reducing Problem Behavior
Antecedents: Reduce motivation to engage in problem behavior
Replacement Behavior: Teach a competing skill
Consequences:
Teaching to
function
Teaching a replacement behavior will decrease the problem behavior�
Socially acceptable behavior to access the same class of reinforcement �(e.g. Raising one’s hand to access adult attention, learning to transition from one activity to another under conditions of reinforcement, etc.)
Teaching to
function
Sometimes, a replacement behavior that accesses similar reinforcement might not be able to be taught for ethical reasons�(e.g. Self-injurious behavior that accesses automatic positive reinforcement)�
Sometimes it may be necessary to teach where/when a behavior can occur as a component of addressing the problem behavior’s function
Formulating the Behavioral Goal
The goal: Identifies the behavior to change
�States the anticipated and reasonable change in behavior from baseline data
�States the amount of growth or level of proficiency so that it can be measured
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Given a verbal direction to transition from a preferred activity to a non-preferred activity, Rachel will stop a preferred activity and move to a non-preferred activity 5 out of 5 opportunities for 4 consecutive school weeks (as measured by daily behavior ratings)
Example Behavior Goal *for training purposes only*
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When the student wants something (e.g., Information about completing a task), Student will appropriately request for the reinforcer without problem behavior for 5 out 5 opportunities for 3 consecutive days
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Example Behavior Goal *for training purposes only*
Antecedent
Strategies
Reduce motivation to engage in problem behavior�
Increase occurrence of replacement behavior�
Make the problem behavior irrelevant�
Always consider the FUNCTION of the behavior
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Replacement Behavior
Behavior that will be taught to the student as a replacement for the behavior of concern
Should efficiently achieve the same function as the behavior of concern
Include plan for instruction including prompts and shaping
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Consequence Strategies
Reinforcement- when the student performs the replacement behavior
Extinction- problem behavior does not contact reinforcement
Training Staff: Behavior Management
Establish a focus on teaching appropriate behavior rather than reacting to problem behavior
Establish a focus on keeping students meaningfully engaged
Establish an environment wherein teachers support one another. They come to each others’ assistance when needed
Have emergency plans and procedures established in advance so staff know how to respond when crisis do arise
Fidelity of Intervention Implementation
Fidelity – implementing the intervention as it was intended.
Steps to Obtain Fidelity:
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Summary
Invest time in prevention
Develop a behavior management plan at the start of school that focuses on prevention
Focus on teaching and reinforcing positive behaviors
Use effective teaching procedures
Promote fast-paced, relevant, and interesting instruction within the instructional range for all students
Don’t take student behavior personally
Be consistent – there are no quick fixes to problem behavior
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Resources *NEED TO ADD
Visit the PaTTAN’s training calendar:
https://www.pattan.net/events/
for more information about
FBA Addressing Behavioral Needs of Individual Students
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Upcoming Training Opportunities
References
Carbone, V.J., Morgenstern, B., Zecchin-Tirri, G., & Kolberg, L. (2010). The role of the reflexive conditioned motivating operation (CMO-R) during discrete trial instruction of children with autism. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 25, 110-124.
Hanley, G. P., Iwata, B. A., & McCord, B. E. (2003). Functional analysis of problem behavior: A review. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 36, 147-185.
Moore, J. W., Edwards, R. P., Sterling-Turner, H.E., Riley, J. Dubard, M. & McGeorge, A. (2002) Teacher Acquisition of functional analysis methodology. The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 35, 73-77
Neef, N.A., & Peterson, S.M. (2007). Functional behavior assessment. In J.O. Cooper, T.E. Heron, & W. Heward, Applied Behavior Analysis (p. 500-524).
Sugai, G., Lewis-Palmer, T., Hagan-Burke, S. (2000). Overview of the functional behavioral assessment process. Exceptionality, 8, 149-160.
Contact Information www.pattan.net
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Tom Wolf, Governor
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