IRIS Module Assessment: Functional Behavioral Assessment: Identifying the Reasons for Problem
Behavior and Developing a Behavior Plan
Name_Ashley Boyd____________________ Date_4-1-14_______
EDUC 312sp14
http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/fba/cr_assess/#content Please complete the items below. If you have
difficulty, go back and review the Perspectives and Resources pages in this module.
1. Give a field-based example of two of the following: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement,
punishment, or extinction.
a.
A positive reinforcement that is used in my special education classroom is that when students
transition from activities appropriately (follow instructions given to them, do not cause
disruptions, remain at a reasonable noise level depending on circumstances), they receive a
ticket. If students receive 30 tickets by the end of the week, they get candy from their teacher.
Students look forward to this reward and work hard to transition well so that they may receive a
ticket.
b. An example of positive punishment that I see in my 5th grade general education classroom is
when a student is rude to another student or teacher, their teacher makes them write an apology
letter to the person that they were rude to. This letter has to be three paragraphs long. Students
usually do not make anymore rude comments after having to write these letters.
2. Discuss at least two benefits of conducting an FBA to address problem behaviors.
a.
The FBA helps teachers to understand the reason for a student’s behavior. It is stated in the
module that most student’s challenging behaviors are just a way for them to obtain something
desirable (like attention) or to avoid something not preferred (like a class activity). However,
teachers need to know the exact reason for the challenging behavior, so the FBA will help to
discover the function of this behavior.
b. The FBA also helps teachers to design an intervention that will help the student learn a more
acceptable way to get what he or she wants. Once the teacher is able to actually determine what
the cause of the challenging behavior is, he or she will be able to find a better way to handle the
situation.
3. Watch the video below and fill out the ABC analysis form on Kira, the girl in the white shirt. (See page
4 Attach the completed ABC analysis form). What do you think is the function of Kira’s behavior?
(time: 0:58)
I think that the function of Kira’s behavior is to get attention from her peers. Each time she does
something inappropriately, the class starts laughing at her and she starts smiling. Towards the end of the
video when another student is answering, Kira looks around to see if people are still laughing at her.
4.
Nigel’s problem behavior includes cursing, making derogatory comments toward other students,
yelling, spitting, and shoving chairs. What type of a measurement system would you use to collect data
on Nigel’s problem behaviors? Explain your answer.
I would first start to collect data on Nigel’s problem behaviors by interviewing him. I would try to ask
questions that would give me some background information on the target of his behavior, possible antecedents
or consequences associated with the behavior that I could change, the time, place, and setting in which the
behavior is most likely to occur, and intervention strategies that I have not yet tried. Hopefully, Nigel will be
able to provide me some information to help me better understand the problem, whether it be something that is
going on at home, or something that I am doing in the classroom that he does not respond well to. If he for
some reason does not give me any helpful information, then I will begin direct observations on Nigel. I would
start with an ABC Analysis as opposed to collecting baseline data because I do not want to know the frequency
or duration of the behavior at this point, I just want to know what is causing it. With the ABC analysis, I can
chart what I have done as the teacher, what the student does in response, and what consequence I give. After
completing several of these charts, I should be able to see a pattern of what is triggering the misbehavior.
5. Look at the matrix below for Nigel. Use this information to determine a possible function of the
behavior and to develop a hypothesis statement.
The function of Nigel’s behavior is that he does not like attention and he likes to be by himself.
Hypothesis Statement: The primary motivator for Nigel’s outbursts and tantrums (cursing, yelling, spitting, and
shoving chairs) is that he does not like attention. He knows these outbursts will earn him independent work
time, which is why he continues doing so.
Functions of Behavior
Obtain
Avoid
• Teacher interview summary: Nigel is very bright
and has no problems academically. He does not
initiate contact with peers and, when they
initiate contact with him, he curses, yells, spits,
and shoves chairs at them.
• Student interview summary: I just like being by
myself.
• Parent interview summary: Nigel doesn’t like
playing with other kids after school. He prefers
solitary activities.
• Ranking on teacher behavior rating scales:
“Avoidance” ranked moderately high.
• A-B-C analysis: Function of behaviors #2, 3, 7,
and 8* appears to be peer avoidance.
• Direct observation: During independent and
group work, Nigel spends 85% of his time alone
and not participating (average of 3
observations).
• A-B-C analysis: Function of behaviors #1 and 5*
appears to be to obtain “quiet time”; Nigel gets
sent to the corner, where he is able to read a
book of his choice.
• Direct observation: Nigel had an average of 5
yelling incidents and 2 spitting incidents during
three, 20-minute group activities.
• Teacher interview summary: I let Nigel read a
book when he’s upset. It seems to calm him
down.
6. Look at the graph below. The objective of the function-based intervention was to reduce the instances of
Nigel’s problem behaviors (i.e., cursing, making derogatory comments toward other students, yelling,
spitting, shoving chairs) during a twenty-minute small-group activity. Is the intervention successful? If
you were the teacher, would you keep, modify, or discontinue the intervention? Explain your answers.
I believe that the intervention that was put into place for Nigel was not successful. If I were his teacher,
I would modify the intervention. I would do this because this intervention is clearly not working; before
the intervention, Nigel’s aggressive behavior never occurred more than 10 times in the 20 minute lesson.
However, when the intervention is implemented, his aggressive behavior doubles, reaching up to 20
instances of aggression. I do not want to completely re-write a new function-based intervention for
Nigel after all of the hard work that I put into his current one. Therefore, I would do my best to modify
the current intervention to see if it may work in a different way. If the modifications were still
unsuccessful then I would discontinue the intervention, look back at the FBA, and try to come up with a
new function-based intervention.
7. How would you go about evaluating an unsuccessful intervention? Include two specific factors that you
would examine and explain why they are important.
If I notice that an intervention was unsuccessful, the first thing I would due is analyze all of the data I
have collected on the student. I would compare the data from the intervention to the baseline data and
see if the desirable behaviors have increased and the undesirable behaviors have decreased. I will then
determine whether the intervention needs to be adjusted or not. Most likely, if I feel the intervention has
been unsuccessful, I will find in this evaluation that the intervention truly was unsuccessful and needs to
be adjusted. It is important to evaluate the data like this because sometimes, a teacher may feel as if the
behavior is still bad, but when looking at the data she may realize that the behavior has somewhat
decreased. Therefore, the intervention would not have been completely unsuccessful.
If I determined that the intervention truly was unsuccessful, the next thing I would do is an
implementation fidelity data analysis. I would have a professional come in to observe a lesson where I
am implementing the plan. This person would fill out an implementation fidelity observation form to
see if I am implementing the plan how it is supposed to be. After a percentage is calculated of the
number of steps that I completed with fidelity, I can see if I have been enforcing the plan correctly.
Although this can be hard to do, this factor is important to examine because sometimes it may not
always be the student. Teachers make mistakes and it is important to make sure that you as the teacher
are doing your job correctly before you change a plan due to the student. If you find that you are not
implementing the plan correctly, you can just try it again to see how the student reacts to it when the
intervention is done correctly. Then, if the intervention is still unsuccessful, you may want to try some
modifications.
A-B-C Observation Form
Student:____Kira____________________
Date:_4-1-14 ____________________
Class/ Teacher: _______________________________
Observer: __Ashley Boyd_______________
Instructional Activity: _Talking about stories________________ Other Relevant Information: _____________
Time
0-8
seconds
Antecedent

Teacher announces the
class will be talking
about stories and asks
a question
9-22
seconds

Teacher asks what
makes a good story
29-25
seconds

Teacher asks if story
has to be true.
37-48
seconds

Teacher asks how you
start a story
Behavior

Kira is whistling the
whole time.

Kira inappropriately
answers by saying: one
that has a girl with
blonde hair and blue
eyes, like me.

Kira is quiet and listens
attentively.

Kira inappropriately
responds: “With ‘The
End.’”
Consequences

Teacher ends behavior by
saying: “Kira, that’s
enough. Thank you.”

Teacher allows class to
laugh at Kira and does not
say anything.

Teacher says: “Okay, that’s
enough.”