PSY 420 Week 4 Functional Assessment and the ABC Model Example

Why Jamal Walks to the Pencil Sharpener: A Functional Behavior Assessment Using the ABC Model

[Student Name]

University of Phoenix

PSY/420: Theories of Behavior

Week 4 Assignment

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The student teacher, child, classroom and data are composites written for a model paper; research findings come from the sources listed.

Earlier weeks examined how Jamal's calling out is maintained by teacher attention. His other problem behavior, leaving his seat during independent writing, has not responded to reprimands or to praise for staying seated. Functional behavior assessment asks a different question: what does leaving his seat do for him? This paper conducts that assessment using the ABC model.

Defining the Behavior

Ms. Ortega defines out-of-seat behavior as Jamal's body leaving contact with his chair without permission for more than five seconds. The definition is observable and countable, so two observers would agree on each instance. She records each occurrence for ten school days using ABC data: the antecedent, what happened just before; the behavior; and the consequence, what happened just after.

What the ABC Records Show

Across ten days, Jamal left his seat thirty-four times. Twenty-nine of those occurred during independent writing, usually within three minutes after the teacher said, "Begin your paragraph." Only five occurred during math or reading. The consequences were consistent: he sharpened pencils for several minutes, wandered to the window or was sent to the hallway "to calm down," often until the writing period ended. He rarely received much attention; the teacher was busy with other students. On two days when the writing task was a list rather than a paragraph, he left his seat once each.

The pattern suggests escape: writing a paragraph is the antecedent, leaving his seat is the behavior and the consequence is removal from the writing task. Sending him to the hallway, intended as a consequence, actually delivered exactly what he was seeking.

Confirming the Function

Descriptive data suggest a function but do not prove it. Iwata et al. (1994) introduced a method for testing functions experimentally, exposing individuals with developmental disabilities who self-injured to brief conditions designed to isolate possible causes: attention following the behavior, escape from demands following the behavior, being alone with nothing to do and a play control condition. Higher rates of the behavior in one condition revealed its function, and different individuals showed different functions for similar-looking behavior.

In a school, a simplified version can be used. Ms. Ortega and the school psychologist could compare short writing sessions in which leaving the seat leads to a brief break with sessions in which it leads to attention but the task continues. Higher rates in the break condition would confirm escape.

How Common Is Escape?

Hanley et al. (2003) reviewed 536 published functional analyses and found that social functions, attention and escape, together accounted for the majority of identified functions, with escape from demands among the most frequent. Many analyses identified a clear function, which supports the value of testing before treating.

Each trip to the hallway was meant as a consequence for leaving the paragraph; it was the very thing Jamal had been working to get.

Teaching a Replacement Behavior

Carr and Durand (1985) first identified which children's problem behavior in a classroom was maintained by attention and which by escape from difficult tasks. They then taught each child a phrase that produced the same outcome, such as asking "Am I doing good work?" for attention or "I don't understand" to get help with difficult work. Problem behavior dropped sharply, but only when the taught phrase matched the function; teaching an attention phrase to a child whose behavior served escape did not help.

For Jamal, a replacement behavior that serves escape appropriately is asking for help or a short break. He will have a break card he can place on his desk to earn a two-minute break, and a help card to bring Ms. Ortega over.

The Function-Based Plan

Antecedent changes come first. The paragraph task will be broken into steps, a topic sentence, then three details, then a closing sentence, each with a checkbox. A graphic organizer will reduce the demand of starting. An occupational therapist will screen his handwriting, since difficulty forming letters may make writing aversive.

Consequences will be changed. Leaving his seat will no longer lead to the hallway; he will be calmly redirected to the task. Using the break or help card will be honored immediately at first, then gradually after completing one step, then two, thinning breaks as writing becomes easier. Completing steps will earn praise and a check toward a preferred activity.

Interobserver Agreement

To make sure the counts are trustworthy, the school psychologist will observe two writing periods alongside Ms. Ortega and record independently. If their counts agree closely, the definition is clear enough; if not, they will refine it before judging the plan.

Measuring and Adjusting

Ms. Ortega will continue counting out-of-seat behavior and record sentences written per session. A graph with baseline and intervention phases will show whether the plan works. If out-of-seat behavior does not fall within two weeks, the function hypothesis will be revisited. A second function, such as attention from classmates, could be operating as well.

Why Not Just Reward Staying Seated?

The cooperating teacher first suggested a sticker for every writing period Jamal stayed in his seat. A reward can compete with escape, but if the task remains as hard as before, the sticker may not be worth the effort the paragraph demands. Worse, sitting quietly without writing would earn the sticker. A function-based plan instead lowers the cost of the task, teaches a legitimate way to get a short escape and reinforces actual writing.

Ethics

Function-based plans respect the person by recognizing that problem behavior communicates a need. They use the least restrictive effective procedures and replace removal from class, which costs instruction, with support to stay engaged.

Conclusion

Ten days of ABC records showed that Jamal's seat-leaving occurs almost only during paragraph writing and is followed by escape from the task, a function that reprimands and hallway time were strengthening. Research on experimental functional analysis, the frequency of escape functions and functional communication training supports a plan that makes writing easier, teaches him to request help or breaks and stops rewarding escape.

References

Carr, E. G., & Durand, V. M. (1985). Reducing behavior problems through functional communication training. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 18(2), 111-126. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1985.18-111

Hanley, G. P., Iwata, B. A., & McCord, B. E. (2003). Functional analysis of problem behavior: A review. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 36(2), 147-185. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.2003.36-147

Iwata, B. A., Dorsey, M. F., Slifer, K. J., Bauman, K. E., & Richman, G. S. (1994). Toward a functional analysis of self-injury. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 27(2), 197-209. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1994.27-197