Attention function
A behavior has an attention function when it is maintained by social positive reinforcement in the form of other people's attention.
A behavior is attention-maintained when it reliably produces attention from others and that attention reinforces it. Attention includes far more than praise. Eye contact, comments, reprimands, explanations, being chased, physical contact and other people's reactions can all function as attention. That is why a reprimand such as "stop that" may actually strengthen the behavior it is meant to stop.
Attention-maintained behavior often occurs when attention has been low, for example when a caregiver is on the phone, the RBT is working with another student, or adults are talking to each other. In this case low attention acts as an establishing operation that makes attention more valuable. ABC data often show attention delivered right after the behavior.
Interventions for this function, designed by the supervisor, commonly include noncontingent attention on a schedule, teaching an appropriate way to get attention (functional communication training), reinforcing other behavior with attention, and attention extinction, in which the problem behavior no longer produces attention. An RBT implementing these procedures needs to control their own reactions consistently, including facial expressions and tone of voice, while keeping everyone safe.
Only the supervisor's assessment establishes that a behavior serves an attention function. The RBT's job is to record what happened before and after the behavior accurately, including who responded and how.
Example and non-example
| Example | When a parent sits down to answer emails, a child begins banging on the table. The parent says, "Please be quiet," and comes over each time. The child's banging increases in these situations and stops when the parent plays with them. |
|---|---|
| Non-example | Each time a teen throws their workbook, they are sent to the hallway, where nobody talks to them. The behavior reliably ends the work, which points to an escape function, even though adults reacted. |
Don't confuse it with
| Tangible function | Both are social positive reinforcement, but a tangible function involves access to items or activities rather than people's attention. |
|---|---|
| Automatic reinforcement | Attention-maintained behavior depends on another person's response, while automatically reinforced behavior continues when the person is alone. |
Test yourself
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Question 1In a functional analysis session, the RBT sits nearby reading a magazine. Each time the client screams, the RBT says, "Please stop, that's too loud," and then goes back to reading. Which condition is this?
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A: Attention condition. In the attention condition, the adult's attention is withheld until problem behavior occurs, and then brief attention, such as a reprimand or a statement of concern, follows it. This tests whether attention maintains the behavior.
- B: The escape condition presents tasks and removes them after problem behavior.
- C: In the alone condition, no one gives the client social consequences.
- D: In the play condition, attention and preferred items are freely available with no demands.
Task B.3 · 40-hour curriculum section D
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Question 2Which list contains the four common functions of behavior?
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A: Attention, escape, tangible and automatic. Problem behavior is most often maintained by social attention, escape from something unpleasant, access to tangible items or activities, or automatic (sensory) reinforcement.
- B: Punishment, extinction and shaping are procedures or processes, not functions.
- C: These are measurement dimensions.
- D: These are parts of ABC recording and context, not functions.
Task B.3 · 40-hour curriculum section D · Task D.1
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Question 3Which list names the four functions of behavior most commonly identified in ABA?
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B: Attention, escape, tangibles, automatic reinforcement. Problem behavior is most often maintained by social attention, escape from or avoidance of something aversive, access to tangible items or activities, or automatic (sensory) reinforcement the behavior produces itself.
- A: Punishment and extinction weaken behavior; they do not maintain it.
- C: These are parts of an ABC description, not functions of behavior.
- D: Stimulus control describes when a behavior is likely to occur, not the reinforcer that maintains it.
Task D.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
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On the RBT exam
This term belongs to task D.1 Functions of behavior in content area D, Behavior Reduction, which is 14 of the 75 scored questions.