A functional assessment of tantrum behaviors of two students (ages seven and nine) with severe mental retardation found that the function of the behavior was to gain attention rather than to avoid or escape demands. Intervention, based on the positive reinforcement hypothesis, resulted in a substantial reduction of tantrums for both subjects.…

An adolescent female with multiple handicaps and severely disruptive behavior participated in a functional assessment linked directly to specific revisions in her school curriculum. The assessment and intervention produced substantial and durable reductions in the student's longstanding and severe behavior problems. (Author/JDD)

A case study of an elementary school child with emotional and behavioral problems illustrates a process of descriptive assessment, functional assessment, and assessment-based intervention. The descriptive information generated hypotheses about variables maintaining the problem behavior which were then tested in the classroom environment.…

The article reports on ways in which the Preparation through Responsive Educational Programs (PREP) project developed and conducted process and outcome assessment in a behavioral program for junior high students with behavior and learning problems. (Author/DLS)