Individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who engage in stereotypy may also emit a prior, temporally contiguous, high-risk response to access stereotypic behaviors. For example, the participant in this study who was diagnosed with ASD engaged in a chained response that included elopement, often in unsafe locations, to access light…

A functional behavior assessment is a process for identifying events in the environment that reliably precede (i.e., antecedents) and follow (i.e., consequences) problem behavior. This information is used to develop an intervention plan. There are two types of antecedents--triggers and setting events. Triggers are antecedent events that happen…

Students with persistent challenging behavior are present in nearly every classroom. Teachers need the knowledge and skills to understand student behavior and intervene effectively. This article presents a framework to guide teachers in understanding student behavior and feasible tools for collecting data about the function of student behavior.…

Life Space Crisis Intervention (LSCI) is a therapeutic, verbal strategy for intervention with students in crisis. It explores a student's reactions to stressful events to gain insight into thinking, feelings, and behavior in order to strengthen resilience and self-esteem (Long, Wood, & Fecser, 2001). By exploring timelines of challenging…

The author considers the application of transactional analysis (TA) in the field of education. Initially, the focus is on the use of TA in reducing conflict in the classroom and staffroom before offering observations about its broader relevance to contemporary UK schooling. Concepts covered include the egostate model of personality, functional…

Resurgence refers to the recovery of previously extinguished responding when a recently reinforced response is extinguished. Although the topic of resurgence has received limited experimental attention, there recently have been an increased number of investigations involving the topic. This increased experimental attention also has been…

This guide discusses using Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) to find out why a student is behaving inappropriately and to enable the provision of appropriate positive behavior intervention. It stresses that a FBA goes beyond looking at antecedent behavior and consequence to review everything in the entire environment of the student.…

This response to a paper (EC 624 771) on the early development of stereotyped and self-injurious behavior in infants and young children considers reasons why such behaviors are maintained in some individuals. The use of functional behavioral assessment suggests these behaviors are influenced by environmental factors including attention, escape, or…

A review of the use of psychotropic medications for people with developmental disabilities is presented. Results suggest that prescribing drugs based on topographical features of the problem behavior, without considering the function the behavior serves for the individual, contributes to variability in clinical response. Functional analysis of a…

This article discusses the successes of behavior analysts in affecting challenging behaviors in persons with developmental disabilities. Three future issues are then addressed: the development of challenging behaviors, the role of rule-governance in challenging behavior, and the behavior of persons who directly apply functional assessment and…

The rationale for using a behavioral assessment approach in the evaluation of hyperactivity is explained, and the various procedures for behaviorally assessing hyperactivity are reviewed. Guidelines and resources are also suggested for the practitioner to use in behavioral assessment of hyperactivity. (SW)

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…

Recent research in psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience has demonstrated reliable associations between temperament and individual differences in sensitivity and responsiveness to environmental cues and behavioral consequences. Temperament-influenced behavior patterns evident in infancy have also been found to predict behavioral tendencies in…

This article describes the prevalence of different types of functional assessment and analysis procedures reported in articles in the "Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps" (JASH) involving individuals exhibiting problem behaviors. The most frequently reported functional assessment approach was the use of structured direct…

The evidence for the psychometric adequacy of behavioral interviews in terms of traditional psychometric theory and generalizability theory are reviewed. The review resulted in the conclusion that behavioral interviews have some evidence for interrater reliability, content validity, and criterion-related validity. Additional research in several…