D.1 Functions of behavior
Problem behavior that keeps happening is producing something for the person. The function of a behavior is that maintaining consequence: attention, escape from or avoidance of something unpleasant, access to tangible items or activities, or automatic reinforcement the behavior produces itself. RBTs need to recognize these functions because every function-based plan they carry out is built around them; the supervisor determines the function, and the RBT supplies the objective data that make that possible.
What the outline says
Task D.1 in content area D, Behavior Reduction (14 of the 75 scored questions): "Identify common functions of behavior."
What function means
The function of a behavior is the consequence that keeps it going. It answers the question "What does this behavior get or get rid of for the person?" rather than "What does it look like?" or "Why do we think they feel this way?"
Function is different from topography, the physical form of a behavior. Two clients can both hit, and one may hit because hitting produces adult attention while the other hits because hitting ends a hard task. The reverse is also true: screaming, throwing materials and running from the table can look very different and still all serve one function if each one ends the task. For this reason a behavior's form alone does not tell you its function. You learn function by looking at what happens before the behavior and, above all, what happens right after it.
The four common functions
Most problem behavior is maintained by one or more of these:
- Attention: other people look at, talk to, touch or react to the person after the behavior. Reprimands, lectures and comforting all count. The behavior tends to happen when attention has been unavailable, such as when a caregiver is on the phone.
- Access to tangibles: the behavior produces a preferred item or activity, such as getting a tablet back or more game time. It tends to happen when an item is taken away or denied.
- Escape or avoidance: the behavior ends (escape) or delays or prevents (avoidance) something the person finds aversive, such as a task, a demand, a noisy room or even social interaction. It tends to happen when the demand is presented or about to be.
- Automatic reinforcement: the behavior produces its own reinforcement, with no one else involved, such as the sensation from rocking or the relief scratching gives an itch. It tends to happen at similar rates whether or not anyone is around.
A single behavior can serve more than one function. Yelling may produce attention at some times and get chores removed at others, and the plan may need to address both.
Social or automatic, positive or negative
Functions can be sorted along two dimensions. A function is social when another person delivers or removes the consequence, and automatic when the behavior produces the consequence directly. It is positive when something is added and negative when something is taken away.
- Social positive: attention and access to tangibles.
- Social negative: escape from or avoidance of demands or other activities, ended by another person.
- Automatic positive: a sensation added by the behavior, such as the visual effect of flicking fingers in front of the eyes.
- Automatic negative: an aversive sensation removed by the behavior, such as scratching that relieves an itch.
Remember that "negative" does not mean bad. Negative reinforcement still strengthens behavior; it does so by removing something.
How functions are identified
The supervisor identifies function through a functional behavior assessment, which can include interviews and rating scales (indirect assessment), direct observation such as ABC recording and scatterplots (descriptive assessment), and in some cases a functional analysis.
In a functional analysis, the supervisor arranges test conditions and compares levels of problem behavior across them:
- Attention: the adult is busy and gives brief attention only after problem behavior.
- Demand (escape): tasks are presented and briefly removed after problem behavior.
- Tangible: a preferred item is removed and briefly returned after problem behavior.
- Alone or no interaction: no social consequences are available.
- Play (control): attention and preferred items are freely available and there are no demands, so problem behavior is usually low.
Behavior that is highest in one test condition suggests that function. Behavior that persists when the person is alone suggests automatic reinforcement. RBTs may help by running conditions exactly as written and recording data, while the supervisor interprets the results.
Why function matters for the plan
Interventions work best when they match the function. The same consequence can have opposite effects depending on what maintains a behavior. Sending a student out of class after disruptions may work as time-out for some students, but for a student whose disruptions are maintained by escape from reading, leaving the room delivers the very reinforcer that maintains them. Ignoring a behavior that is maintained by escape will not weaken it, because attention was never the reinforcer. Reprimanding attention-maintained cursing can increase cursing, because the reprimand is attention.
This is why the antecedent strategies (D.2), differential reinforcement and functional communication training (D.3) and extinction procedures (D.4) in a plan are each chosen to fit the function the supervisor identified.
Your role as an RBT
Describe what you see in observable terms: what happened right before, what the behavior looked like, and what happened right after. Avoid explanations based on feelings, intent or diagnosis, such as "they were frustrated" or "they were being manipulative."
Follow the plan written for the function the supervisor identified. If you notice a new pattern, such as behavior that now seems to occur mostly when a sibling gets attention, keep implementing the plan, record clear ABC data and report the pattern to your supervisor. Changing the function or the strategies is the supervisor's decision.
Examples and non-examples
| Example | Non-example |
|---|---|
| Behavior that occurs when a caregiver is busy and is followed by the caregiver turning to the child and saying "Stop that" is consistent with an attention function. | Behavior that occurs at the same rate when the person is alone and with others, with no one responding, is not consistent with attention; it suggests automatic reinforcement. |
| A teen sits on the floor when asked to push a grocery cart, and the caregiver then pushes it: the request is removed, which is consistent with escape. | A child cries when a tablet is taken away and stops only when it is handed back; nothing was demanded, so this pattern points to a tangible function, not escape. |
| "After the assignment was handed out, the student yelled, and the teacher took the assignment back" is an observable description of a behavior and its consequence. | "The student yelled because they were frustrated" names an inferred feeling, not an observable consequence. |
Common mistakes
- Guessing function from what the behavior looks like. Look at the antecedents and consequences instead.
- Assuming unpleasant responses cannot be reinforcers. Reprimands and lectures often work as attention.
- Thinking "negative reinforcement" means punishment. It strengthens behavior by removing something aversive.
- Assuming a behavior has only one function. Some behaviors are maintained by more than one consequence.
- Changing strategies on your own because you think the function has changed. Record data and report the pattern to your supervisor.
- Forgetting that tangibles include activities, and that escape can be from attention or social interaction, not only from tasks.
How it's tested
Expect short scenarios that describe what happens before and after a behavior and ask which function the pattern suggests. Read for the consequence: who did what right after the behavior, and did something get added or removed? Watch for reprimands that are really attention, for behavior that continues when the person is alone (automatic), and for consequences that look like discipline but give escape. Questions may also ask about functional analysis conditions, the social/automatic and positive/negative categories, and what an RBT does when they notice a new pattern: record and report, not change the plan.
Practice questions for task D.1
10 of our 41 questions on this task. The rest are in the Behavior Reduction practice sets and the mock exams.
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Question 1In applied behavior analysis, what does the "function" of a behavior refer to?
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A: The consequence that keeps the behavior going. The function of a behavior is the reinforcing outcome it produces for the person, which is what keeps it occurring. Functions are identified from the consequences that follow the behavior, not from how it looks.
- B: The physical form is the topography; two behaviors with the same form can serve different functions.
- C: Settings and antecedents give clues, but the function is the consequence that maintains the behavior.
- D: A diagnosis does not tell you which consequence in the environment maintains a behavior.
Task D.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
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Question 2At home, a 6-year-old screams soon after a caregiver starts a phone call. The caregiver usually covers the phone and says, "Stop that, I'm talking." The child rarely screams while the caregiver is playing with them. Which function does this pattern suggest?
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A: Attention. Screaming happens when the caregiver's attention is elsewhere and is followed by the caregiver turning to the child and talking, even though the words are a reprimand. That pattern points to attention.
- B: No task or demand is placed on the child before the screaming, so there is nothing to escape.
- C: No item is withheld or handed over in this pattern.
- D: The behavior depends on the caregiver's attention being diverted and is followed by a social response, so it is not likely automatic.
Task D.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
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Question 3In a middle-school class, a student tears up the math worksheet soon after it is handed out. The teacher then sends the student to the hallway to calm down. The behavior rarely happens during free time. Which function does this pattern suggest?
Show answer
D: Escape from the task. The behavior occurs when a demand is presented and is followed by removal from the task. Removal of an aversive task is negative reinforcement, so the pattern points to escape.
- A: Being sent to the hallway reduces contact with the teacher; the clear outcome is that the work ends.
- B: No preferred item is withheld or delivered in this pattern.
- C: The behavior is linked to demands and to a social consequence, not to sensation it produces by itself.
Task D.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
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Question 4At a clinic, a child cries and drops to the floor when a staff member takes the tablet away during free play so it can charge. Crying continues when an adult comforts the child without the tablet, and it stops as soon as the tablet is handed back, even if no one talks to the child. Which function does this pattern suggest?
Show answer
A: Access to tangibles. Crying starts when a preferred item is removed and stops when the item is returned, while comfort alone does not end it. That points to access to a tangible item.
- B: Comfort and talking did not end the crying, so attention is unlikely to be the reinforcer.
- C: No task is presented; the crying begins when the tablet is removed, and getting it back is what ends it.
- D: The behavior depends on an item another person controls, so it is socially mediated.
Task D.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
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Question 5In a group home, an adult often rocks and hums. Staff observe the same rate when the adult is alone in their room and when someone is with them, and no one responds to the rocking. Which function does this pattern suggest?
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B: Automatic reinforcement. The behavior occurs at similar rates with or without other people and produces no social consequence, which suggests the behavior is reinforced by the sensation it produces.
- A: No one responds to the rocking, and it happens just as often when alone.
- C: No demands are present when the rocking occurs.
- D: No item is withheld or delivered after the rocking.
Task D.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
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Question 6Two clients at the same clinic both hit staff. What can be concluded about the function of hitting from this information alone?
Show answer
D: Nothing yet, because the same behavior can serve different functions. Function is identified from what happens before and after the behavior, not from its form. Hitting may be maintained by attention for one client and escape for another, so more information is needed.
- A: Hitting can be maintained by attention, but nothing here shows that it is for either client.
- B: Hitting can be maintained by escape, but nothing here shows that it is for either client.
- C: Behaviors with the same topography can have different functions; form does not identify function.
Task D.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
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Question 7What does it mean when a behavior is maintained by automatic reinforcement?
Show answer
D: The behavior itself produces the reinforcing outcome. Automatic reinforcement means the behavior itself produces the reinforcing consequence, such as a sensation, so no other person needs to be involved.
- A: Reinforcing every response is continuous reinforcement, a schedule, not a function.
- B: Time-based delivery regardless of behavior is noncontingent reinforcement.
- C: Unintended reinforcement from staff is still social reinforcement, because another person delivers it.
Task D.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
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Question 8In a functional analysis run by the supervisor, problem behavior is highest in the condition where the therapist presents tasks and removes them for a short time after each instance of problem behavior. What do these results suggest?
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C: The behavior is maintained by escape from demands. The demand (escape) condition tests whether removing tasks reinforces the behavior. Behavior that is highest there suggests an escape function.
- A: Attention is tested in a condition where attention follows the behavior; that condition was not the highest.
- B: Tangibles are tested in a different condition, where a preferred item is returned after the behavior.
- D: Automatic reinforcement is suggested by behavior that persists in the alone or no-interaction condition.
Task D.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
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Question 9In the supervisor's functional analysis, a preferred toy is taken away at the start of one condition and returned for a short time after each instance of problem behavior. Behavior is highest in this condition. What function does this suggest?
Show answer
C: Access to tangibles. This is the tangible condition. High behavior when problem behavior produces the toy suggests the behavior is maintained by access to the item.
- A: Attention is tested in a different condition, where attention follows problem behavior.
- B: No tasks are presented in the tangible condition.
- D: The behavior was highest when it produced a socially delivered item, which points to a social function.
Task D.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
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Question 10A child starts crying as soon as the RBT walks toward the work table, before any instruction is given. When the child cries, the RBT waits quietly at the table until the crying stops, so the work starts later. Which function does this pattern suggest?
Show answer
A: Avoiding demands. The crying occurs before the task and delays it. Behavior that postpones or prevents an aversive event is maintained by negative reinforcement, here avoidance of demands.
- B: The RBT waits quietly, so crying does not produce extra attention; it delays the work.
- C: No preferred item is withheld or delivered.
- D: The crying is tied to the approach of work and to a delay in work, a social outcome.
Task D.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
Answer every question to see your score.
Key terms
| Function of behavior | The reason a behavior keeps happening, defined by the reinforcing consequence that maintains it, such as attention, escape, tangible items or automatic reinforcement. |
|---|---|
| Attention function | A behavior has an attention function when it is maintained by social positive reinforcement in the form of other people's attention. |
| Escape function | A behavior has an escape function when it is maintained by negative reinforcement: it ends, delays or avoids a task, demand, person or situation. |
| 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. |
| Automatic reinforcement | Reinforcement produced directly by the behavior itself, without being delivered or arranged by another person. |
| Sensory function | An informal name for behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement, meaning the sensory consequences the behavior itself produces rather than anything another person provides. |
| 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. |
| Functional analysis | A functional analysis systematically manipulates antecedents and consequences in test and control conditions to show which variables maintain a problem behavior. |
| ABC data | ABC data record the antecedent (what happened just before), the behavior, and the consequence (what happened just after) for each occurrence of a target behavior. |
| Positive reinforcement | Positive reinforcement occurs when a stimulus is added or presented right after a behavior and, as a result, that behavior becomes more likely in the future. |
| Negative reinforcement | Negative reinforcement occurs when a stimulus is removed or reduced right after a behavior and, as a result, that behavior becomes more likely in the future. |
| Avoidance | Avoidance is a form of negative reinforcement in which a behavior prevents or postpones an aversive stimulus, so that behavior becomes more likely in the future. |
| Motivating operation | An environmental variable that temporarily changes how reinforcing a stimulus is and changes how often behavior that has produced that stimulus occurs. |
| Reinforcement | Reinforcement occurs when a consequence that follows a behavior makes that behavior more likely to occur again in the future under similar conditions. |
| Behavior intervention plan (BIP) | A written plan, developed by the supervisor from assessment results, that describes how to prevent, respond to and replace a client's problem behavior. |
| Time-out (from positive reinforcement) | A negative punishment procedure in which access to positive reinforcement is removed for a specified period contingent on a behavior, decreasing that behavior. |
| Deprivation | A period without access to a reinforcer, which temporarily increases its value and makes behavior that has produced it in the past more likely. |
| Consequence | A consequence is a stimulus change that follows a behavior; depending on its effect, it can make that behavior more or less likely in the future. |
| Descriptive assessment | A descriptive assessment directly observes a problem behavior and the events around it in the natural setting, without changing anything, to find patterns. |
| Antecedent | An antecedent is an environmental condition or stimulus change that exists or occurs before a behavior. |