Long-term effectiveness and generality of practical functional assessment and skill-based treatment.

There are several considerations to address when conducting functional communication training for challenging behavior in a school setting, such as the need for schedule thinning and maintenance across staff and the need to establish a variety of appropriate classroom skills. There are several strategies for conducting schedule thinning following functional communication training and for transferring effects across people or settings. However, there are few examples of these processes in natural settings with relevant caregivers and with long-term maintenance of effects. We implemented a functional assessment and skill-based treatment process with six children with autism in a specialized school setting and extended treatment until challenging behavior was reduced to near-zero levels across multiple staff and settings. Follow-up data indicate that effects were still observed 1 year posttreatment and the use of crisis procedures (e.g., physical restraint) was eliminated for all participants.

Toward accurate inferences of response class membership.

In their review of synthesis within the functional analysis (FA) literature, Slaton and Hanley (2018) reported that most synthesized contingency analyses have included multiple topographies of problem behavior in the reinforcement contingency class. This leaves the question of whether one, some, or all forms of problem behavior are sensitive to the synthesized reinforcement contingencies in published analyses. To address this ambiguity, all topographies of problem behavior that were reported by caregivers to co-occur with the most concerning problem behavior were analyzed for 10 participants. We implemented extinction across one or more forms of problem behavior to determine whether all forms reported to co-occur were sensitive to the same synthesized reinforcement contingency. For nine of 10 participants, the most concerning topographies were sensitive to the same synthesized reinforcement contingencies as the less concerning topographies (results were inconclusive for one). Implications for inferring response class membership from single analyses are discussed.

Nature and scope of synthesis in functional analysis and treatment of problem behavior.

Functional analysis (FA) of problem behavior typically includes the contingent delivery of a single reinforcer following problem behavior. However, the FA literature also includes examples of analyses that have delivered multiple reinforcers, arranged multiple establishing operations in one or more test conditions, or both. These analyses have been successfully applied under heterogeneous conditions over several decades and with various synthesized establishing operations and reinforcers, but their qualitative details, outcomes, and contributions to the literature have never been described in a comprehensive manner. The purpose of the current review is to: (a) identify articles that have reported the use of synthesized FAs or treatments; (b) describe the nature and scope of synthesis as it has been applied in the FA literature; (c) analyze outcomes of synthesized FAs and treatments to determine general benefits and disadvantages of synthesis; and (d) offer recommendations for future areas of research.

Interview-informed functional analyses: A comparison of synthesized and isolated components.

Hanley, Jin, Vanselow, and Hanratty (2014) described a functional analysis (FA) format that relied on a synthesis of multiple contingencies described by caregivers during open-ended interviews. These interview-informed synthesized contingency analyses (IISCA) provided effective baselines from which to develop socially validated treatments, but the synthesis precluded a precise understanding of individual contingencies influencing problem behavior. We conducted IISCAs and standard FAs (Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, & Richman, 1982/1994) for nine children with autism to evaluate the likelihood of differentiation given a number of synthesized versus isolated variables. The IISCA was differentiated for all. The standard FA was differentiated for four; this number increased to six when we included precursors in the standard FA. We then compared treatments based on sets of differentiated analyses for four children. Treatment based on the IISCA was effective for all four; treatments based on the standard FA were effective for two. The role of synthesis in analysis is discussed.

Effects of multiple versus chained schedules on stereotypy and item engagement.

We evaluated rates of automatically reinforced stereotypy and item engagement for 2 children with autism under multiple and chained schedules in a multielement design. Each schedule included components during which stereotypy was blocked (S-) or allowed (S+), and we used colored cards as schedule-correlated stimuli. We report rates of stereotypy and item engagement during S- and S+ components, as well as the percentage of component time that elapsed before the first instances of stereotypy and item engagement. We observed less stereotypy and more consistent item engagement during chained-schedule sessions, and stimulus control of stereotypy and item engagement was established with the chained schedule. A subsequent concurrent-chains analysis revealed participant preference for the chained schedule. These results highlight the importance of contingent access to stereotypy when therapists attempt to gain stimulus control of stereotypy and increase functional item engagement.