Abstracts Category : Other

Getting what you want: using abolishing operations in functional analyses

by Alexandria Antoinette Jones

Functional Analysis (FA) of problem behavior is a well-established method for determining the contingencies under which problem behavior occurs and maintains. With over 1,000 articles on the replication and extension of this technology, researchers aim to find the most effective and efficient way to evaluate possible maintaining variables and develop an effective function-based treatment. Functional analyses require the repeated occurrence of behavior and are most often conducted prior to the development of a treatment plan. Given this, it is advantageous to increase the efficiency of functional analyses, and minimize the occurrence of problem behavior, while retaining an acceptable degree of control within the analysis. Latency to first response has been shown in a small number of studies to be a useful dependent variable in a functional analysis and seems to reduce both the occurrence of the problem behavior and the duration of the functional analysis. One variable that might enhance the control in an analysis using this measure is the motivating operation, specifically the abolishing operation (AO). In this study, we examined the effectiveness of manipulating AOs to determine the function of problem behavior in a modified functional analysis. The outcomes were compared to that of a standard functional analysis for all participants.Advisors/Committee Members: Jackson, Marianne, L (advisor), Moschella, Jonpaul, D (committeeMember).