Functional analysis in behavior therapy

doi:10.1016/0272-7358(90)90074-K

Clinical Psychology Review

Volume 10, Issue 6, 1990, Pages 649-668

https://doi.org/10.1016/0272-7358(90)90074-K Get rights and content

Abstract

The functional analysis occupies a central role in behavioral construct systems and in behavior therapy. However, examination of the literature suggests that it is a conceptually amorphous term with multiple definitions. Such imprecision has resulted in inconsistency and restricted applications in clinical case conceptualizations and clinical decision-making. In order to clarify the nature of the functional analysis, this paper examines its epistemological bases and important dimensions of functional relationships. A definition of functional analysis is proposed that integrates the important characteristics of functional relationships with the tenets of behavioral construct systems. This definition can accommodate complex causal models which more accurately depict the behavioral interrelationships presented by most clients. Methods for deriving the functional analysis are then examined. A review of the literature suggests that pretreatment functional analyses are infrequently conducted. The construction of functional analytic causal models is proposed as a method of systematizing and organizing the functional analysis and facilitating its clinical impact.

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^∗: The authors would like to thank Linda Gannon for her comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript.

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Functional analysis in behavior therapy

Abstract

Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders

Metaphysics

Causal modeling

Moderator variables: A clarification of conceptual, analytic and psychometric issues

Organizational Behavior and Human Performance

On the relation between basic and applied research

Advances and gaps in a behavioral methodology of pediatrie medicine

Causes of sexual dysfunction: The role of anxiety and cognitive interference

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

Psychosocial functioning and depression: distinguishing among antecedents, concomitants, and consequences

Psychological Bulletin

Depression

Behavioral Assessment and DSM-III-R [mini-series]

Behavioral Assessment

Multivariate analysis of latent variables: Causal modeling

Annual Review of Psychology

Assessment of anxiety

Causality, confirmation, credulity and structural equation modeling

Child Development

Causal inferences in nonexperimental research

Behavior modification and therapy, an introduction

A history of experimental psycholology

Integrated assessment and treatment

Depression

Causality

Reducing behavior problems through functional communication training

Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis

Quasi-experimentation: Design and analysis issues for field settings

Assessment of alcohol and drug behaviors

Behavior modification: Principles, issues and applications

Theory building

Introduction to structural equation models

Behavior therapy with adults

Building systems models as a strategy for target behavior selection in clinical assessment

Behavioral Assessment

Classification of behavioral pathology

Behavioral methods for chronic pain and illness

Truth and method

Role of assessment in behavior modification

Psychological Reports

Mild hypertension: Recent advances

Multivariate statistical analysis in psychopathology

Causality and the science of human behavior

Cooperation, competition and related social phenomena

Long-term effects of incestuous child abuse in college women: Social adjustment, social cognition, and family characteristics

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

Selection of target behaviors

Principles of behavioral assessment

The design of intervention programs

A behavioral model of paranoid behaviors

Behavior Therapy

Behavioral assessment of adult disorders

Behavioral assessment

The Gordian Knot of DSM-III-R Use: Integrating Principles of Behavior Classification and Complex Causal Models

Behavioral Assessment

A developmental theory of drug use: Derivation and assessment of a causal modeling approach

A treatise of human nature

A treatise of human nature

Introduction to theoretical psychology

Causal analysis: Assumptions, models and data

Strategies and tactics of human behavioral research

Structural analysis of covariance and correlation matrices

Psychometrika