Tangible function
A behavior has a tangible function when it is maintained by social positive reinforcement in the form of access to preferred items or activities.
Tangible-maintained behavior is reinforced by gaining or keeping access to something the person wants: a toy, food, a tablet, a favorite activity, or being allowed to continue an activity rather than leave it. It is called social because another person delivers or allows the access. If a tantrum leads a caregiver to hand over the tablet, the tantrum is likely to happen again when the tablet is unavailable.
This function often shows up when a preferred item is removed, denied or out of reach, or when an activity has to end. Deprivation of the item is an establishing operation that makes the item more valuable. ABC data typically show the item being given back or provided soon after the behavior. Tangible and attention functions are both social positive reinforcement, and they can be hard to tell apart without careful assessment, since a person who hands over an item also gives attention.
Interventions the supervisor might write include warnings before transitions, visual schedules, noncontingent access to the item, teaching the client to request the item or more time (functional communication training), teaching tolerance for waiting or for hearing "no", and extinction, in which problem behavior no longer produces the item.
The RBT carries out the plan consistently, including not giving the item after problem behavior when the plan calls for extinction, and records exactly what was given and when.
Example and non-example
| Example | When an RBT tells a client that computer time is over, the client hits the table. The caregiver lets the client keep playing for five more minutes, and hitting at the end of computer time becomes more frequent. |
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| Non-example | A client rocks while sitting alone with no items or people nearby, and the rocking continues across settings. No item is gained, which suggests automatic reinforcement rather than a tangible function. |
Don't confuse it with
| Attention function | Both are social positive reinforcement, but a tangible function involves items or activities while an attention function involves people's responses. |
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| Automatic reinforcement | Tangible reinforcement is delivered by another person, while automatic reinforcement is produced by the behavior itself. |
Test yourself
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Question 1In a functional analysis session, the client plays with a tablet briefly, and then the RBT takes it away. Each time the client screams, the RBT gives the tablet back for 30 seconds. Which condition is this?
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D: Tangible condition. In the tangible condition, a preferred item is removed and returned briefly after problem behavior. This tests whether access to the item maintains the behavior.
- A: In the attention condition, problem behavior produces attention, not an item.
- B: In the escape condition, problem behavior produces a break from tasks.
- C: In the alone condition, problem behavior produces no social consequences.
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
Answer every question to see your score.
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.