A variation on functional analysis in the classroom: A clinical note

Traditional Functional Analytic procedures rely upon the identification of one or two 'target' behaviours for examination via observation and analysis. From these data, multiple functions are identified for each target behaviour via antecedent-behaviour-consequence data collection. However, although these methodologies have been shown to be effective with a wide range of inappropriate behaviours in classrooms, they have limitations when the inappropriate behaviours are so many and varied that selection of one or two as 'targets' becomes unreliable in terms of obtaining an accurate representation of the child's overall behavioural repertoire. A variation on this procedure is described and data from a case example are presented as a suggested alternative way of obtaining the kind of data required for effective classroom management of difficult behaviour.