Using Brief Functional Assessments to Identify Specific Contexts for Problem Behavior Maintained by Positive and Negative Reinforcement

We examined the use of brief outpatient functional assessment techniques to identify idiosyncratic discriminative stimuli for problem behavior maintained by positive and negative reinforcement in the form of access to tangible items and escape from specific academic activities. Two children participated in the assessment. Interviews with the parents prior to the functional assessment revealed that problem behavior occurred under very specific stimulus conditions. These specific stimulus conditions were incorporated within the outpatient functional assessment. The results of the functional assessments showed that problem behavior occurred almost exclusively during those assessment conditions that included the idiosyncratic stimuli identified in the prior interviews. The implications of these results for conducting brief outpatient functional assessments were discussed.