Sacha T. Pence, Eileen M. Roscoe, Jason C. Bourret, & William H. Ahearn. (2009).
Relative contributions of three descriptive methods:
Implications for behavioral assessment.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
42, 425-446.
This study compared the outcomes of three descriptive analysis methods—the
ABC method, the conditional probability method, and the conditional and
background probability method—to each other and to the results obtained
from functional analyses. Six individuals who had been diagnosed with
developmental delays and exhibited problem behavior participated. Functional
analyses indicated that participants' problem behavior was maintained by social
positive reinforcement (n = 2), social negative reinforcement (n = 2), or automatic
reinforcement (n = 2). Results showed that for all but 1 participant, descriptive
analysis outcomes were similar across methods. In addition, for all but 1 participant,
the descriptive analysis outcome differed substantially from the functional analysis
outcome. This supports the general finding that descriptive analysis is a poor
means of determining functional relations.
DESCRIPTORS: descriptive analysis, functional analysis, problem behavior