A Survey of Behavior Analysis and Behavioral Consultation Courses in School Psychology: Implications for Training School Psychologists

All 216 doctoral and specialist level school psychology training programs were mailed a seven question survey to determine how much behavioral consultation and behavior analysis course work school psychology students are offered. One hundred and twenty-eight surveys were returned, yielding a return rate of 58.26%. The results indicated that almost all programs offer didactic courses in consultation (98.79%) and behavior analysis/behavior modification (91.52%). The percentage of practicum devoted to behavioral consultation and behavior analysis/modification was considerably less (about 25% for each) than other subject areas. The results are discussed within the context of training needed to meet the needs of practitioners in the areas of behavioral consultation and behavior analysis/behavior modification.     

The Student Guided Functional Assessment Interview: An Analysis of Student and Teacher Agreement

Functional assessment strategies are used to guide the treatment of problem behavior with individuals who have severe disabilities. Also, researchers have extended functional assessment applications to individuals with emotional and behavioral disabilities. One such extension is the use of students as informants in the functional assessment process. The present study assessed an interview tool designed to elicit information directly from students regarding their problem behaviors. We examined agreement between students and their teachers. Results showed high agreement on the causes and functions of problem behavior with mixed agreement on support plan recommendations.     

Identifying the Function of School Refusal Behavior: A Revision of the School Refusal Assessment Scale

A revision of the School Refusal Assessment Scale (SRAS-R), a measure designed to help clinicians identify the primary function of a child's school refusal behavior, was examined. Changes in the original version of the scale were made to improve psychometric quality and align the measure in accordance with evolutions in the functional model. Two samples of youth with school refusal behavior, in addition to parents and teachers, were evaluated to determine the test-retest and interrater reliability and construct and concurrent validity of the SRAS-R. The scale was found to have good psychometric strength. Implications of these findings for clinicians who address this population are discussed.     

Functional analysis of problem behavior: a review

Functional analysis methodology focuses on the identification of variables that influence the occurrence of problem behavior and has become a hallmark of contemporary approaches to behavioral assessment. In light of the widespread use of pretreatment functional analyses in articles published in this and other journals, we reviewed the literature in an attempt to identify best practices and directions for future research. Studies included in the present review were those in which (a) a pretreatment assessment based on (b) direct observation and measurement of (c) problem behavior was conducted under (d) at least two conditions involving manipulation of an environmental variable in an attempt (e) to demonstrate a relation between the environmental event and behavior. Studies that met the criteria for inclusion were quantified and critically evaluated along a number of dimensions related to subject and setting characteristics, parametric and qualitative characteristics of the methodology, types of assessment conditions, experimental designs, topographies of problem behaviors, and the manner in which data were displayed and analyzed.     

Using Structural Analysis in Natural Settings: A Responsive Functional Assessment Strategy

Since the reauthorization of IDEA (1997), the use of functional assessments to examine factors that are related to students challenging behaviors has gained increasing attention in the literature. Over the past five years, several groups of investigators have conducted systematic analyses of the current status of the use of functional assessment in relation to students with or at risk for emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD). Their findings outline a number of critical, applied research issues for the field to consider. The purpose of this paper is to respond to a number of these issues by highlighting the relevance of structural analysis in addition to and in some cases in lieu of more traditional functional assessments. A brief review of current trends in the functional assessment research is presented as well as a rational for the use of structural analysis to examine the occurrence of appropriate behavior for students with EBD. Finally, illustrations of studies conducting structural analyses in classrooms settings are provided.     

Functional analysis in public schools: a summary of 90 functional analyses

Several review and epidemiological studies have been conducted over recent years to inform behavior analysts of functional analysis outcomes. None to date have closely examined demographic and clinical data for functional analyses conducted exclusively in public school settings. The current paper presents a data-based summary of 90 functional analyses conducted in public school settings from 2006 through 2009 for 69 students. Specifically, we present data on gender, age, race, diagnosis, topography of target behaviors, number of conditions, duration of sessions, duration of analysis, functional outcomes, setting, and person serving the role of therapist. Results suggest that functional analyses in schools are possible, practical, and produce results that are comparable to those in past research.     

A Functional Analysis of Psychological Terms Redux

In his seminal paper, “An Operational Analysis of Psychological Terms,” Skinner (1945) offered the revolutionary suggestion that, rather than endlessly debating the meanings of psychological terms, psychologists should analyze the variables that control their occurrence as verbal behavior. Skinner''s suggestion reflected the essence of his 1957 book, Verbal Behavior, wherein he argued that the behaviors of which language is composed (i.e., speaking and listening) are controlled by variables found in the social environment (which he called the verbal community), and that analyzing those variables would lead to an understanding of the behaviors. Although Skinner formally introduced his radical approach to language in 1945, it has yet to be fully realized. The result is that psychologists, including behavior analysts, still debate the definitions of terms. In the present paper, I review Skinner''s functional approach to language and describe ways in which behavior analysts have already applied it to traditional psychological terms. I conclude by looking at other current terms in behavior analysis that engender some confusion and encourage behavior analysts to apply a functional analytic approach to their own verbal behavior.     

Psychometric Properties and Clinical Utility of the School Refusal Assessment Scale in a Multiethnic Sample

Kearney and Silverman (1993) developed the School Refusal Assessment Scale (SRAS) to assess the function of and to prescribe treatment for school refusal behavior. The present investigation examined the psychometric properties and clinical utility of the SRAS in a multiethnic sample. Participants were 30 children and their mothers who were identified as school refusers after an initial screening. Results indicated that scales measuring negatively reinforced school refusal were intercorrelated, whereas scales measuring positively reinforced school refusal were not. Concurrent validity of dimensional and categorical scoring algorithms was examined. Although parent–child agreement was relatively low, validity analyses suggested that each reporter contributed important information. Clinical implications and areas for future research were discussed.     

深谋远虑:前瞻行为研究的回顾与展望

前瞻行为是一个自我发起、未来导向以及试图改变现状的积极行为,能够为个人与组织带来正面的影响.本文旨于回顾前瞻行为的本质、前导因素、动机历程以及结果效应,也特别回顾笔者近期针对前瞻行为所进行的研究.首先,关于前瞻一词可以从不同的角度进行理解,包括个别差异观点、行为观点与历程观点.由于过去文献多从行为观点进行研究,本文的回顾亦以行为观点为主轴.其次,本文逐一回顾目前文献所提出的三个关于促进前瞻行为的动机历程:能力、缘由与情绪.再者,笔者讨论各种能够促发前瞻行为的前导因素,包括个人因素、环境因素,以及两者间的交互作用如何影响前瞻行为的展现.笔者也基于过去的研究发现,总结前瞻行为所能导致的结果,包括工作态度与绩效.最后,在近期研究的介绍中,笔者介绍了三个根据个别差异的观点所进行的研究.此研究路线旨在了解人格特质对前瞻行为的影响,并且勾勒情境所扮演的调节效应.全文最终总结前瞻行为的研究现状,以及提出未来可能探索的研究方向.     

Functional Analysis and Treatment of Mealtime Problem Behavior for a Person with Developmental Disabilities

We conducted a functional analysis of problem behaviors (spitting and whining) during meals and tested an intervention based on that analysis. The participant was a 13-year-old young woman with severe mental retardation and cerebral palsy. She ate all food presented to her, and the hypotheses were tested that the problem behaviors were maintained either by contingent access to trainer attention or the pace of eating. An attention analysis examined the relationship between problem behavior and trainer attention during the meal. The effect of attention following problem behavior versus ignoring was inconclusive. An analysis of the effects of teacher paced eating, student paced eating (reinforce spoon grasping) and food presented for problem behavior was conducted next. Problem behavior rates were highest when access to food was made contingent on the performance of problem behavior and lowest when spoon grasping resulted in a bite of food. Following analysis, an intervention was designed to reduce the frequency of targeted problem behaviors during mealtime. Reinforcing spoon grasping and a 10s removal of food following problem behavior dramatically reduced spitting and whining during meals. The study provides a demonstration of an extended functional analysis and treatment of a complex behavior pattern.     

A Comparison of Results and Acceptability of Functional Behavioral Assessment Procedures with a Group of Middle School Students with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders (E/BD)

There is currently controversy over the validity and applicability of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) procedures with students with emotional/behavioral disorders (E/BD). A set of FBA procedures, including teacher and student interviews and direct classroom observations, were carried out with eight students with disabilities (7 classified E/BD, one classified LD). Results indicated that when all three methods (teacher/student interviews, classroom observations) yielded a ranking for a function they agreed 64% of those occasions. For those situations in which there was overall disagreement there was agreement between teacher interview and classroom observations most of the time. Social validity data indicated that both students and teachers felt that the assessment procedures were a useful and productive process.     

Improving Public Perception of Behavior Analysis

The potential impact of behavior analysis is limited by the public’s dim awareness of the field. The mass media rarely cover behavior analysis, other than to echo inaccurate negative stereotypes about control and punishment. The media instead play up appealing but less-evidence-based approaches to problems, a key example being the touting of dubious diets over behavioral approaches to losing excess weight. These sorts of claims distort or skirt scientific evidence, undercutting the fidelity of behavior analysis to scientific rigor. Strategies for better connecting behavior analysis with the public might include reframing the field’s techniques and principles in friendlier, more resonant form; pushing direct outcome comparisons between behavior analysis and its rivals in simple terms; and playing up the “warm and fuzzy” side of behavior analysis.     

Mand compliance as a contingency controlling problem behavior: A systematic review

Bowman et al. (1997) described a dynamic contingency in which severe problem behavior was evoked by adult noncompliance with a variety of child mands, which occurred at high rates, and was reinforced by adult compliance with subsequent mands. They discovered this phenomenon with 2 children for whom standard functional analyses were inconclusive. In recent years, similar contingencies have been shown to influence problem behavior, but the manner in which they have been arranged and described has varied across studies. The purpose of this literature review is to (a) describe contingencies involving mand compliance and the circumstances under which they have been evaluated, (b) summarize procedural variations in analysis and treatment, and (c) discuss what is known and yet to be discovered about the contingency as it relates to problem behavior. Future research focused on improving technology for analyzing and treating problem behavior suspected to be sensitive to mand compliance is discussed.     

主动性人格与员工行为的关系：政治技能视角下有中介的调节模型

本研究通过两时点纵向问卷调查,探讨主动性人格与组织公民行为、任务绩效之间的关系,考察主动社会化行为在其中的中介作用,以及政治技能的调节作用。结果表明：（1）主动社会化行为在主动性人格和组织公民行为、任务绩效之间起中介作用;（2）政治技能对主动社会化行为在主动性人格和组织公民行为、任务绩效之间的中介效应起调节作用：当政治技能水平上升,主动性人格通过主动社会化行为对组织公民行为及任务绩效的预测更加明显。     

主动性人格与员工行为的关系：政治技能视角下有中介的调节模型

本研究通过两时点纵向问卷调查,探讨主动性人格与组织公民行为、任务绩效之间的关系,考察主动社会化行为在其中的中介作用,以及政治技能的调节作用。结果表明：（1）主动社会化行为在主动性人格和组织公民行为、任务绩效之间起中介作用;（2）政治技能对主动社会化行为在主动性人格和组织公民行为、任务绩效之间的中介效应起调节作用：当政治技能水平上升,主动性人格通过主动社会化行为对组织公民行为及任务绩效的预测更加明显。