Date of Award

6-1999

Degree Name

Specialist in Education

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. Ruth Ervin

Second Advisor

Dr. Kristal Ehrhardt

Third Advisor

Dr. Howard Farris

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Campus Only

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the internal consistency of items designed to measure functions of behavior across two published functional assessment rating scales, inter-rater agreement across teachers and scales, and the effects of training on these indices of reliability. Information was obtained through two published rating scales designed to help identify behavior function as well as one brief unpublished rating scale. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups. Participants were randomly assigned to either a training group or control group. Participants in the training and control groups were randomly assigned to view a video vignette depicting a student whose behavior indicated a clear function, either escaping a task or gaining attention. The training group received training in the functional assessment process prior to observing the video and filling out the rating scales. The control group received training in functional assessment after viewing the video and filling out the rating scales. Overall, results indicated a minimal number of significant correlations across the functional assessment measures. Internal consistency, items designed to measure the same function, did not correlate. Results and implications for practice and future research are discussed.

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