What to do when Descriptive Assessment is not Enough:

Choice Assessment

December, 2009School Social Worker

& School Psychology Discipline Days

Objective

Know Understand Do

The range and reliability of various behavior assessment practices

When a Choice assessment can be helpful

How to set up a choice assessment for function of behavior

The differences between a functional analysis and Choice Assessment

Understand the disadvantages of functional analysis

Link Choice Assessment data to a FBA and BIP

Advantages of Choice Assessment vs. Descriptive Assessment

Increasing Rigor And Increasing Accuracy

Choice Assessment

Current problems with Indirect and Descriptive methods

Indirect = 30% accurate functions identified

Descriptive assessments increase accuracy (60 – 80%) Steege and Northup, Journal of Proven Practice 1998

• Positive bias to attention in a school setting (Iwata)

• May appear to be Escape to Attention when the student might really be Escape

Functional AnalysisIn General:• Set up situations that allow you to

compare conditions– Attention– Demand– Alone– Play

• Take data on the problem behavior• Reliability and Validity are high

– Considered the “Gold Standard”

Functional Analysis Video

If the behavior is escape maintained the data might look

like this graph.Graph from Berg et al., 2007

If the behavior is attention maintained the data might look

like this graph.Graph from Berg et al., 2007

If it is the Gold Standard, why aren’t we doing more Functional Analysis?

• Potential risk to individual– elicit the behavior

• Complex• Requires control over environment• Hard to do it with elopement, low

frequency behaviors• Requires extensive Supervised

Experience– If you believe a Functional Analysis is

needed contact the CBAT

Paired Choice Assessment for Function

Also called Contingent Operant Assessment• Identifies relative preferences

• Can be done in a Classroom Setting

• Increase Teacher buy-in of function

• 3/4 determined the same function as Functional Analysis (Berg, Wacker, 2007)

• Not intended to elicit problem behavior

What is the difference?

Functional Analysis• Identifies conditions

that will increase problem behaviors

• Most reliable method

• Controls for attention

• Very controlled environment

Paired Choice• Identifies student

preferences• 3/4 indicated same

function as FA• Controls for

attention• Can be done in a

classroom

What do I get from it?• Information about antecedents that are more likely

to produce positive behavior• Likely to gain confirmation of function• Manage the influence of attention• Can get information on preferred materials, items,

settings, tasks• May take less time than a comprehensive

descriptive analysis – Paired choice –min. of 25 to 30 min– Descriptive assessment – min of 3 20 min

observations

How do I set up the space?• 2 age appropriate spaces (tables)• 3 to 5 feet apart• Different choices placed on each

table• Each session is 5 min.• Break between sessions

What are the rules?Adult• Adult explains

options before• The choice is

repeated every 90 seconds for 5 minutes

• Adult responds to child as indicated in the condition

Child• Starts between the

tables• Is Free to move

between both tables• Can’t take toys back

and forth

• If the behavior is mild– Prompt the child to make a

choice• If the behavior is severe

– End the session– Consider other assessment

techniques

What happens if the child demonstrates the problem

behavior?

5 min. Choice Session 1

Choice Table 1 Table 2

Attention and Toys VS Alone with Nothing

Teacher and preferred leisure items (positive reinforcement)

Empty Table (negative reinforcement)

Hypothesized Function:

Gain Attention/Tangible

Escape

BIP Strategies Gained: • Possible reinforcers• Type of attention

preferred

*Preferred leisure items and possible

reinforcers

5 min. Choice Session 2

Choice Table 1 Table 2

Attention VS Toys Teacher (positive reinforcement)

Preferred leisure items (positive reinforcement)

Hypothesized Function:

Gain Attention Gain Tangible

BIP Strategies Gained: • Type of attention preferred

*Preferred leisure items and possible

reinforcers

5 min. Choice Session 3

Choice Table 1 Table 2

Attention with task demands VS alone with nothing

Teacher and work task (positive reinforcement)

Empty Table (negative reinforcement)

Hypothesized Function:

Gain Attention Escape

BIP Strategies Gained: • Type of work not preferred and

preferred• Type of attention

preferred

*Preferred leisure items and possible

reinforcers

5 min. Choice Session 4

Choice Table 1 Table 2

Attention with task demands VS alone with toys

Teacher and work task (positive reinforcement)

Preferred leisure items (negative and positive reinforcement)

Hypothesized Function:

Gain Attention Escape/Gain Tangible

BIP Strategies Gained: • Type of work not preferred and

preferred• Type of attention

preferred

*Preferred leisure items and possible

reinforcers

What data should I collect?10 sec. Partial Interval

Recording– Records which side of the

midpoint the student is standing during each interval

– If student was in both sides, record the one that the student spent the most time

– Standing on the midline is not recorded

Duration Recording– Record total time on each

side

Escape Profile (Berg et al., 2007)

Child wants to be alone with or without toys

Escape Profile (Berg et al., 2007)

Child wants to be alone.But will tolerate Attention paired with Toys.

Attention Profile (Berg et al., 2007)

Higher Problem Behaviors

Prefers Attention,Less PB when not paired with a Demand

Not Fail Proof

(Berg et al., 2007)

Lyle

• Problem Behavior was maintained/reinforced by escape from demands

• Choice was maintained/reinforced by positive reinforcement such as teacher attention

Choice Assessment based instructional strategies reduced the problem behavior and Functional Analysis based strategies eliminated the problem behavior.

What if I want to know more than

just what the child prefers?

Collect more data• Problem behaviors

during choice activity

• Engagement or compliance while in preferred setting

Paired Choice—

Simplified

Paired Choice: Hypothesized Functions

1. Find a partner2. Go to the following SurveyMonkey

link:http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2B8BD2R3. Consider the possible function in

each scenario to answer each itemWe will go over each item at the end of the activity.

How can Paired Choice reduce time spent on FBA summaries?• 30-60 minutes compared to multiple

observations in multiple settings• May choose to do a paired choice

assessment early in problem analysis when escape and gain are both present as consequences for problem behavior.

How can Choice Assessment be used to complete an FBA

summary?(Graph from Berg et al., 2007)

Warren: Choice Assessment Results

• Aggression and property destruction• Warren chose teacher attention consistently• Problem behaviors:

– 36% of the intervals with attention and task demand

– 0-5% with attention or attention with toys• Chose attention with demands over alone with toys• He engaged in the leisure, attention and tasks a

median of 81% of intervals• Direct observations during independent work tasks

and leisure time alone show he has appropriate behavior for about 1 minute prior aggressing

Warren: FBA Summary Components

• Function of Problem Behavior: Gain Attention

• Summary Statement: – When Warren is left alone in leisure or

independent work he is more likely to aggress or have property destruction to gain attention from adults.

Warren: FBA Summary Components

• Summary Statement: – When Warren is given demands and

leisure time paired with adults he is more likely to engage in the activities appropriately and has less aggression.

Warren: BIP Recommendations• Prevention:

– Reduce independent work times/leisure times to less than 1 minute until tolerance for delay is gained. Include adults in leisure and work activities.

• Teach Alternatives/Replacement:– Warren should be taught to request a teacher

to help him during work tasks and engage with him during leisure time. He should also be taught increasing amounts of tolerance for delay.

Warren: BIP Recommendations• Response Strategies:

– Provide frequent social attention during all tasks

– Planned ignoring for minor off-task, disruptive, aggressive behaviors

– Time-out from attention for aggressive behavior

Your Turn: Jack’s Choice Assessment

(Graph from Berg et al., 2007)

Jack: Choice Assessment Results

• Self injury, aggression and noncompliance• Chose the alone side of the room with or

without leisure items• Chose leisure with teacher over alone• Problem behaviors:

– 3 problem behaviors occurred in the attention with demand and attention with toys conditions

• He engaged in the the side of the room he chose a 80% of intervals

Jack: FBA & BIP Components

At your table:• What is the hypothesized function of

Jack’s problem behavior?• Write a summary statement for

problem behaviors for Jack• Determine Prevention, Replacement &

Teaching, & Response strategies for Jack’s BIP

I’ll be floating by and will share out your work at the end of the activity.

When is consent for evaluation for choice assessment

necessary?• Get Consent for evaluation

– Initial FBA Summary during an evaluation– Collecting information intended to inform a

placement change– During a reevaluation

• Consent for Evaluation is typically not necessary when part of ongoing evaluation that is intended to inform instruction

• In General—You can never go wrong with telling the parent

Next Steps• Consider a choice interview with an older

student• Start with a choice assessment for the

purpose of determining preferred leisure activities

• Consider a choice assessment for a student you think might have problem behavior maintained by multiple functions

• Use a choice assessment to make recommendations for an EER

For Teachers & Parents:

For more information . . .

Berg et al., (2007). Comparing functional analysis and paired-choice assessment results in classroom settings. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 40, 545-552.