Abstract
Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities are at an increased risk for engaging in severe problem behavior, which is often preceded by less intense precursor behaviors. These precursor behaviors may be a viable option as target behaviors for functional analyses in situations where evoking severe problem behavior is not ideal. We identified precursor behaviors through a correlational analysis and confirmed their membership in the same response class as more severe problem behavior through an experimental analysis.
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Research Highlights
• Precursor behaviors can serve as potential alternatives to more severe problem behaviors as target behaviors in functional analyses.
• Conditional probability analyses are an effective method for identifying precursors.
• Intervening when precursor behaviors occur may avoid evoking more severe problem behavior.
• Precursor behaviors may serve as a means for designing function-based treatments.
This research was supported in part by a grant from the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Eunice K. Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (1R03HD096180, Griffin W. Rooker, principal investigator).
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Schmidt, J.D., Kranak, M.P., Goetzel, A.L. et al. A Clinical Demonstration of Correlational and Experimental Analyses of Precursor Behavior. Behav Analysis Practice 13, 966–971 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-020-00452-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-020-00452-9