Functional Assessment of Distracting and Disruptive Behaviors in the School Setting

Functional Analysis and Successful Treatment of a Captive Rhesus Macaque's Disruptive Behavior

Functional analysis (FA) is a method developed and used by behavior analysts in human clinical settings to identify possible environmental variables that reinforce undesired behavior. FA is increasingly being applied to better understand the behavior of nonhuman animals. When training monkeys in a room with others, disruptive behavior displayed by neighboring monkeys can impede training progress. In the present study, a FA identified possible reinforcers of disruptive behavior (loud shaking of a toy) exhibited frequently (24% duration pre-treatment) by a rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) during in-room training sessions. The functional analysis identified that contingent delivery of foods was maintaining the disruptive behavior, with a mean percent duration of 57% in this condition. The implementation of a function-based treatment consisting of continuous access to a preferred food during in-room training sessions successfully decreased disruptive behavior by over 90% as measured during 15 subsequent sessions. This study advances the current literature applying functional analysis to nonhuman primates as a means of determining the reinforcers maintaining aberrant or undesirable behavior and applying effective treatments based on understanding this function.

Teaching Future School Personnel to Train Parents to Implement Explicit Instruction Interventions

Students with disabilities are less likely to be proficient with basic academic skills compared to peers, indicating a need for more quality instructional time. Parent tutoring has been identified as a promising practice for supplementing instruction to improve child outcomes. However, educators are not sufficiently prepared to collaborate with and provide guidance to parents in how to support academic goals at home. We describe how an academic assessment and intervention clinic trains future school personnel to work with families to develop and implement explicit instruction parent tutoring interventions. A case example illustrates the process.

School Inclusion in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders in France: Report from the ELENA French Cohort Study

Children and adolescents with ASD are increasingly included in regular school settings, however little is known about how placement decisions are made. In the present study, we examined the types and duration of school attendance among children and adolescents in the ELENA Cohort, a multi-center study of children and adolescents with ASD, ages 2-16 years, in France. Results showed that 88% of subjects were attending school and that children and adolescents with more severe adaptive and cognitive deficits were less likely to attend school. The results provide a topography on school inclusion and ASD in France. Challenging behaviors and sensory processing difficulties were associated with partial-inclusion; and co-occurring anxiety symptoms were associated with inclusion on a full-time basis.

Effects of tootling on classwide disruptive and appropriate behavior of upper-elementary students

The current study assessed the effects of a positive peer reporting procedure known as Tootling on classwide disruptive as well as appropriate behavior with fourth- and fifth-grade students and their teachers in two regular education classrooms. Tootling is a technique that teaches students to recognize and report peers' prosocial behavior rather than inappropriate behavior (i.e., as in tattling), and is also a variation on the expression, "tooting your own horn." Tootling combined with an interdependent group contingency and publicly posted feedback were assessed using an ABAB withdrawal design with a multiple baseline element across classrooms. Results demonstrated decreases in classwide disruptive behavior as well as increases in appropriate behavior compared with baseline and withdrawal phases across both classrooms, with results maintained at follow-up. Tootling was also rated highly acceptable by both teachers. Effect size calculations reflected moderate to strong effects across all comparisons. Limitations of the present study, directions for future research, and implications for practice are discussed.

Identifying controlling variables for math computation fluency through experimental analysis: the interaction of stimulus control and reinforcing consequences

This study investigated a method for conducting experimental analyses of academic responding. In the experimental analyses, academic responding (math computation), rather than problem behavior, was reinforced across conditions. Two separate experimental analyses (one with fluent math computation problems and one with non-fluent math computation problems) were conducted with three elementary school children using identical contingencies while math computation rate was measured. Results indicate that the experimental analysis with non-fluent problems produced undifferentiated responding across participants; however, differentiated responding was achieved for all participants in the experimental analysis with fluent problems. A subsequent comparison of the single-most effective condition from the experimental analyses replicated the findings with novel computation problems. Results are discussed in terms of the critical role of stimulus control in identifying controlling consequences for academic deficits, and recommendations for future research refining and extending experimental analysis to academic responding are made.

Incremental benefits of a daily report card intervention over time for youth with disruptive behavior

This study examined the percentage of children who respond positively to a daily report card (DRC) intervention and the extent to which students achieve incremental benefits with each month of intervention in a general education classroom. Participants were 66 children (87% male) with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder or disruptive behavior problems who were enrolled in a school-based intervention program in rural, low-income school districts in a Midwest state. The DRC was implemented by each child's teacher, who received consultation from a graduate student clinician, school district counselor, or school district social worker. A latent class analysis using growth-mixture modeling identified two classes of response patterns (i.e., significant improvement and significant decline). Results indicated that 72% of the sample had all of their target behaviors classified as improved, 8% had all of their targets classified as declining, and 20% had one target behavior in each class. To examine the monthly incremental benefit of the DRC, individual effect sizes were calculated. Results for the overall sample indicated that most children experience a benefit of large magnitude (.78) within the first month, with continued incremental benefits through Month 4. The differential pattern of effect sizes for the group of improvers and the group of decliners offer data to determine when and if the DRC should be discontinued and an alternative strategy attempted. Evidence-based guidelines for practical implementation of the DRC are discussed.

Classroom application of a trial-based functional analysis

We evaluated a trial-based approach to conducting functional analyses in classroom settings. Ten students referred for problem behavior were exposed to a series of assessment trials, which were interspersed among classroom activities throughout the day. Results of these trial-based functional analyses were compared to those of more traditional functional analyses. Outcomes of both assessments showed correspondence in 6 of the 10 cases and partial correspondence in a 7th case. Results of the standard functional analysis suggested reasons for obtained differences in 2 cases of noncorrespondence, which were verified when portions of the trial-based functional analyses were modified and repeated. These results indicate that a trial-based functional analysis may be a viable assessment method when resources needed to conduct a standard functional analysis are unavailable. Implications for classroom-based assessment methodologies and future directions for research are discussed.