Use of a latency-based demand assessment to identify potential demands for functional analyses

Area of Science:

• Behavior Analysis
• Applied Behavior Analysis
• Functional Analysis

Background:

• Tangible reinforcers are identified using preference assessments in functional analyses.
• Demands are often chosen arbitrarily or via caregiver report for functional analyses.
• This can lead to inaccurate identification of escape-maintained problem behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a demand assessment for identifying aversive demands.
• To determine if using a demand assessment improves functional analysis outcomes for escape-maintained problem behavior.

Main Methods:

• A demand assessment was conducted with 12 participants exhibiting escape-maintained problem behavior.
• Participants were exposed to 10 different demands.
• Aversiveness was measured by the latency to the first instance of problem behavior.

Main Results:

• Functional analyses using the least aversive demand (shortest latency) identified an escape function in 11 participants.
• Functional analyses using the most aversive demand (longest latency) identified an escape function in only 5 participants.
• Failure to use the demand assessment could result in false-negative findings for 7 participants.

Conclusions:

• A demand assessment is a valuable tool for identifying aversive demands.
• Incorporating demand assessments into functional analyses enhances the accurate identification of escape functions.
• This method can prevent false-negative results in behavior analysis.