An investigation of the functional approach to assessment and treatment

Abstract

Functional assessment and analysis has received a renewal of interest within the Applied Behaviour Analysis literature. Functional assessment is considered an important link between the assessment of behavioural problems and the selection and development of interventions for them. The effectiveness of the functional approach was demonstrated in this thesis in a case study of a seven year-old boy who was referred for displaying a range of aberrant behaviours in the classroom setting. All but one of the child's targeted behaviours were effectively reduced providing a demonstration of the potential utility of this tool. A number of important limitations about the technique were raised in the process. These included; concern over the length of time needed to conduct an assessment, the need for a more structured assessment technique, and the absence of validated assessment tools. Suggestions for further research included; conducting research into brief and simpler functional assessment methodologies; the need to compare the efficacy of tools used in functional assessment, with tools used in traditional clinical assessment; and the use of functional assessment with different age groups.