Functional Analysis Methodology in Developmental Disabilities

Publisher Summary

This chapter describes the basic assumptions of the functional analysis methodology approach. The chapter reviews (1) the methods for conducting functional analysis in clinical practice and (2) the function-based treatments. Functional analysis is a methodology for systematically investigating relationships between problem behavior and environmental events. Its purpose is to identify variables controlling behavior and to generate hypotheses about its functions. It is the function of the behavior, not its topography, that guides treatment selection. A distinction is made between descriptive and experimental methods. Descriptive or nonexperimental methods are also referred to as functional assessment. Experimental methods or functional analysis refers to procedures that systematically manipulate environmental conditions to assess effects on the rates of problem behavior. Descriptive analysis involves methods of both indirect and direct observation of the target behavior and environmental events. Such methods are typically implemented in naturally occurring applied settings.