Dunlap, G., & Kincaid, D. (2001).
The widening world of functional assessment: Comments on four manuals and beyond.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
34, 365-377.
An escalating number of materials have been published recently on
the topic of functional assessment and assessment-based
behavioral interventions. We review four manuals that purport to
provide practical guidance for conducting functional assessments.
An examination of these manuals yields encouraging evidence that
the field of behavior support has made notable progress in
adopting a functional (behavior-analytic) approach to unwanted
behaviors. The content of the manuals, considered in the context
of emerging perspectives in behavioral support, suggests a number
of important issues and directions that should be addressed by
future functional assessment research and practice.
DESCRIPTORS: _functional assessment, functional analysis