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Function of Challenging Behaviors

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Functional Assessment for Challenging Behaviors

Part of the book series: Autism and Child Psychopathology Series ((ACPS))

Abstract

This chapter presents a selection of studies on functional analysis of challenging behaviors to illustrate the procedural conditions involved in the analysis and the possible results of it (i.e., the possible functions identified at the basis of the challenging behaviors). The studies are divided into five groups, which differ with regard to the behavioral functions identified. Those functions concern attention, access to tangible items, escape from demands, automatic reinforcement, and idiosyncratic events for the five groups, respectively. The chapter also discusses possible adaptations of the functional analysis procedure aimed at allowing the procedure to cover a wider range of situations and making its application practically feasible in daily contexts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Bari, Via QuintinoSella 268, Bary, 70100, Italy

    Giulio E. Lancioni

  2. American Health and Wellness Institute, 80466, Raleigh, NC, 27623, USA

    Nirbhay N. Singh

  3. Department of Special Education, College of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA

    Mark F. O’Reilly

  4. School of Educational Psychology and Pedagogy, Victoria University of Wellington, Karori Campus, 17-310, Wellington, New Zealand

    Jeff Sigafoos

  5. Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, 9104, Nijmegen, 6500 HE, The Netherlands

    Robert Didden

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  1. Giulio E. Lancioni
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  2. Nirbhay N. Singh
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  3. Mark F. O’Reilly
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  4. Jeff Sigafoos
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  5. Robert Didden
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Correspondence to Giulio E. Lancioni .

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  1. , Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, 70803, USA

    Johnny L. Matson

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Lancioni, G.E., Singh, N.N., O’Reilly, M.F., Sigafoos, J., Didden, R. (2012). Function of Challenging Behaviors. In: Matson, J. (eds) Functional Assessment for Challenging Behaviors. Autism and Child Psychopathology Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3037-7_4

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