Functional behavior assessment
A functional behavior assessment (FBA) is a set of methods for identifying the antecedents and consequences that reliably occasion and maintain a problem behavior.
The goal of an FBA is to find out why a problem behavior occurs: what reliably happens before it and what it produces for the person. Common functions include gaining attention, escaping or avoiding demands, getting tangible items or activities, and automatic reinforcement (the behavior produces its own reinforcing sensory consequence). Knowing the function lets the supervisor design a plan that addresses the function of the behavior and teaches another way to meet the same need.
An FBA can include three kinds of methods. Indirect assessment uses interviews, questionnaires and rating scales. Descriptive assessment involves direct observation in the natural setting, such as ABC data and scatterplots. Functional analysis experimentally tests different conditions to show which variables control the behavior. Many FBAs use a combination, and functional analysis is the only one of the three that can demonstrate a functional relation.
An FBA is designed and interpreted by the supervising behavior analyst. RBTs participate in parts of it: collecting ABC or scatterplot data, recording behavior during functional analysis sessions, running conditions as trained, noting environmental variables such as illness or schedule changes, and helping summarize data. RBTs do not decide the function on their own.
Example and non-example
| Example | Over two weeks, an RBT records ABC data on a client's screaming as part of an FBA, and the supervisor combines it with caregiver interviews and a functional analysis to identify an escape function. |
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| Non-example | Finding out which toys a client chooses most often is a preference assessment, not an FBA. |
Don't confuse it with
| Functional analysis | An FBA is the overall assessment process; a functional analysis is one experimental method that may be used within it. |
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| Descriptive assessment | An FBA can include several methods; descriptive assessment is the direct-observation part, which shows correlations but not causes. |
Test yourself
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Question 1What is the main purpose of a functional behavior assessment (FBA)?
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D: To identify the function of a problem behavior so a plan can be designed. An FBA identifies the conditions that set off a problem behavior and the consequences that maintain it. Knowing the function lets the supervisor design an intervention that addresses why the behavior happens.
- A: Choosing new skills to teach is the purpose of a skills assessment.
- B: Finding preferred items is the purpose of a preference assessment.
- C: Medication decisions are made by medical professionals, not through an FBA.
Task B.3 · 40-hour curriculum section D
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Question 2Which list names the three general types of functional assessment methods?
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A: Indirect assessment, descriptive assessment and functional analysis. Functional assessment includes indirect methods (interviews, rating scales), descriptive methods (direct observation in the natural setting, such as ABC data) and functional analysis (testing conditions directly).
- B: These are other kinds of assessments, not functional assessment methods.
- C: These are continuous measurement procedures.
- D: These are phases of intervention, not assessment methods.
Task B.3 · 40-hour curriculum section D
Answer every question to see your score.
On the RBT exam
This term belongs to task B.3 Functional assessment in content area B, Behavior Assessment, which is 8 of the 75 scored questions.