Indirect assessments are assessments that are subjective verbal reports by parents, teachers, the children themselves, and anyone else who is in direct contact with the child. These assessments are usually performed as a form of interview. Interview questions are worded in a manner that will allow access to certain types of information. For example, we may ask:
The questions attempt to discover what the antecedents and consequences of the behavior are. Once this information is gathered, patterns in the behavior and environment are sought. For example, Johnny may be more likely to go off-task during reading. He may be much less likely to go off-task during play. When he goes off-task he usually is redirected to the task. He seems to be off-task much more when he forgets to take his medication. Or, he seems to be off-task much more often during group versus individual instruction.
Several areas of assessment are included in a functional assessment interview (Cooper et al., 2020; Martella, Nelson, Marchand-Martella, & O’Reilly, 2012). These include defining the following:
The advantage of indirect assessments is that they are easy to perform and time-efficient (may take less than one hour to complete). The disadvantage of indirect assessments is that they have questionable reliability and validity. These assessments should be seen as a first step in the assessment process. The second step involves completing a descriptive analysis.
Descriptive analyses are direct observations of the behavior under natural conditions. These observations can be completed in several ways. The simplest method is to complete an A-B-C analysis. Essentially, you take a piece of paper and draw two lines so that you segment the paper into thirds. At the top of the paper put "Antecedent" above the first column, "Behavior," above the second, and "Consequence," above the third. Then write what you see.
Antecedent |
Behavior |
Consequence |
What conditions are present just before the behavior occurs. |
The student’s response – what he or she does. |
What occurs immediately after the student’s behavior. |
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When a behavior (positive or negative) occurs, write what occurred just prior to it (antecedent), what the behavior was, and what occurred just following the behavior (consequence). You do this for several days. Then, look for patterns as you did with an indirect assessment.
Other forms of descriptive analysis can be used and are in published form (see Martella et al., 2003; O'Neill et al., 2015). The advantages of descriptive analyses are that they are objective and are relevant to what is taking place. You see directly what is occurring and do not rely on others' perceptions of what might be taking place. The disadvantages are that they are difficult to complete successfully and that you must see the behaviors occur directly (they may not occur when you are observing).
Functional analyses require much more training and expertise since the observation of behavior is under preselected and controlled conditions. A functional analysis is essentially a mini-study, wherein a subject is placed in several types of conditions to see what will happen to his or her behavior.
First, we put strong demands on the individual and allow him or her to escape the situation. If we see an increase in the level of escape behavior, we will assume that a function of the behavior is negative reinforcement. Second, we provide attention to the individual whenever we see the unwanted behavior. If we see high levels of the behavior during attention, the function may be positive reinforcement in the form of attention. Third, we provide a tangible item, such as a toy, when we see unwanted behavior. If there is an increase in the behavior, we will conclude that positive reinforcement in the form of tangible items is a function. Fourth, we isolate the child from others and make sure no toys or other attractive items are available. There is no attention, nor are there any demands. If we see the behavior occur, we will conclude that the function is some form of automatic reinforcement. If we see the behavior occur in two or more of these conditions, we will conclude that the behavior is multi-determined.
The obvious advantage to functional analysis is that we see directly what specified environmental conditions do to behaviors. These assessments have a high degree of control and allow for the direct identification of functional relationships. The disadvantage is that functional analyses:
Consider that during the functional analysis you are providing some form of reinforcement for a behavior that may not have received that reinforcement before. The behavior was escape-motivated, but you are providing attention now. The child could use attention as a reinforcer for the problem behavior. Now the behavior is not only escape-motivated, but also attention-seeking.
Fortunately, functional analyses are usually not needed, since enough information will be gathered via indirect assessments and descriptive analyses to determine which intervention is appropriate. The information derived from a functional analysis is used to decide upon an appropriate behavior management plan. The intervention will involve removing the source of reinforcement (extinction) and reinforcing a replacement behavior. For example, if Johnny is redirected back to task, this redirection may be functioning as a positive reinforcer for him. The intervention may take the form of using a gesture to redirect, rather than speaking to him. If he is much more off-task during reading, we would want to assess his reading skills and see whether he is receiving instruction at the correct level. He may also be required to be on task for a longer period of time during reading than during another subject. So we may reduce the required length of time he has to be on task by building in frequent breaks.