Nature, Prevalence, and Characteristics of Challenging Behavior

Abstract

The history of functional analysis, as both a concept and a procedure, can be traced back to the earliest days of the discipline of applied behavior analysis (ABA) and even to the earliest days of basic research in behavior analysis that formed the foundation for ABA. Indeed, it is not unreasonable to state that the history of functional analysis is inextricably linked to the history of the discipline of ABA. The general discipline of ABA and the concepts and methods of functional analysis have been built upon the conceptual foundation of operant conditioning, and as advancements have been made in the basic and conceptual arenas of behavior analysis, new refinements have been made in the area of application. In this chapter, we start by briefly outlining the history of behavior analysis, the development of ABA, and the origins of procedures designed to ascertain the function of challenging behavior. We then describe the landmark paper by Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, and Richman, the influence of which is evidenced in that, to date, it has been cited by 235 publications indexed in PsycINFO (plus an additional 533 publications that cite its 1994 reprint). The remainder of the chapter is dedicated to a brief overview of procedural refinements which have been developed up to the current day, the majority of which are described in greater detail in other chapters within this volume. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved). (chapter)