Linking Brief Functional Analysis to Intervention Design in General Education Settings.

Functional analysis has been shown to be an effective assessment tool for identifying the environmental variables maintaining a wide range of problematic behavior in various settings (Derby et al. 1992; Mace & Lalli, 1991; Northup et al., 1991; Sasso et al., 1992; Wacker et al., 1994; Wilder, Chen, Atwell, Pritchard, & Weinstein, 2006; Wilder, Harris, Reagan, & Rasey, 2007). Despite numerous studies in the literature that supply evidence for the utility of functional analyses, this assessment tool has not been readily adopted in general education settings. The rationale for the lack of integration are cited as being due to time constraints, the general complexity of the analysis, as well as the impractical nature of this method for use in many public school districts (Axelrod, 1987; Tincani, Castrogiavanni, & Axelrod, 1999). Similar reasoning could also be given for the lack of adoption by behavior analysts to fully market this method of assessment when consulting in general education settings. As a result, teachers, behavior analysts, and other professionals may instead choose to use less reliable assessment methods in order to obtain similar conclusions for the relationships between behavior and the environment (Northup et al., 1991). Still the evidence is definitively clear that functional analysis is the most effective method for identifying the relationship between the environment and behavior (Derby et al., 1992; Wacker et al., 1994). The link between the identification of the contingencies maintaining problematic behavior and the intervention designed and chosen to produce a targeted behavior change has significant implications. Past studies have shown that the accurate identification of behavioral function is crucial to designing an intervention which focuses on replacing the socially inappropriate behavior with an appropriate alternative that will serve the same function (Carr & Durand, 1985; Derby et al., 1992; Mace & Lalli, 1991; Northup et al., 1991; Sasso et al., 1992; Tincani, et al., 1999; Wilder et al., 2007). Brief functional analyses are less time consuming than traditional or extended functional analyses and offer an effective alternative approach in settings in which time, resources, and staffing limitations cannot be made more accommodating (Derby et al., Tincani et al., 1999; Wacker et al., 1994; Wilder et al., 2006; Wilder et al., 2007). Although functional assessments are traditionally performed in least restrictive environments, brief functional analyses may produce more accurate and clear results as well as take less time to conduct. For this reason, general education settings could more readily use this assessment tool in situations in which the maintaining variables may be confounded by simultaneously occurring consequences in the natural environment (e.g. attention and escape). The importance of accurately assessing the function of problematic behavior to determine a functionally equivalent intervention remains an indisputable fact within behavior analysis studies in any setting. The purpose of this research study was to first conduct a brief functional analysis to determine the function maintaining noncompliant behavior and then to determine a function-based intervention centered on analysis results in a general education setting. A short-term evaluation documented the effectiveness of the proposed function-based intervention. This brief study extends the research to general education settings and provides further basis for the utility of brief functional analyses in the least restrictive environments. METHOD Participant The participant in this study was a student who attended a regular education preschool program. Michael was a four-year old boy who attended a regular education preschool program. He had not received a diagnosis at the time of this study. The behavior of concern was non-compliance which Michael exhibited by remaining stationary when given a direction, throwing objects, and/or vocally stating "no. …