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The effects of consequence manipulation during functional analysis of problem behavior maintained by negative
Kathryn Potoczak1, James E Carr, Jack Michael
1Department of Psychology, Shippensburg University, 1871 Old Main Drive, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania 17257, USA. kmpoto@ship.edu
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
|January 15, 2008
Summary
The antecedent-behavior-consequence (ABC) method effectively identified escape behaviors in children with developmental disabilities. In contrast, the AB method, which omits consequences, failed to identify any behavioral functions.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral analysis
- Developmental disabilities
- Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)
Background:
- Functional analysis is crucial for understanding and treating problem behaviors.
- Two methods exist: antecedent-behavior-consequence (ABC) and antecedent-behavior (AB).
- The ABC method involves consequence delivery, while the AB method relies solely on antecedents.
Observation:
- This study compared the efficacy of the AB and ABC methods.
- Four children with developmental disabilities exhibiting task-related problem behaviors participated.
- The study focused on identifying the function of these problem behaviors.
Findings:
- The antecedent-behavior-consequence (ABC) method successfully identified an 'escape' function for all four children.
- The antecedent-behavior (AB) method, however, did not identify a function for any of the participants.
- This highlights a significant difference in the diagnostic power of the two methods.
Implications:
- The ABC method appears more effective for identifying the function of problem behaviors in this population.
- Results suggest that consequence delivery is vital for accurate functional analysis.
- Clinicians should consider the ABC method for a comprehensive understanding of problem behavior in children with developmental disabilities.
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