John Northup, Tiffany Kodak, Laura Grow, Jennifer Lee, & Amanda Coyne (2004).
Instructional influences on analogue functional analysis outcomes.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
37, 509-512.
Analogue assessments were conducted with a common contingency (escape from tasks) that
varied only by three different instructions describing the contingency. In one condition, the
contingency was described as “taking a break,” in another condition it was described as “time-
out,” and no description of the contingency was provided in a third condition. The participant
was a typically developing 5-year-old child with a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder. Rates of inappropriate behavior varied substantially across the three conditions as an
apparent effect of the prior instructions. Some implications for conducting functional analyses
with verbal children are discussed.
DESCRIPTORS: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, functional analysis, instructions, rule-
governed behavior, verbal behavior
See the erratum in the Spring issue of JABA, 2005, 38, 116, which corrects the inadvertent
omission of Laura Grow’s name from the list of authors.