Date of Award

6-2025

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Jonathan Baker, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Suzannah Avery, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Jeana Korber, Ph.D.

Fourth Advisor

Stephanie Peterson, Ph.D.

Keywords

Behavior analysis, functional behavior assessment, precursor analysis, precursor functional analysis, severe behavior

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

Functional analysis assessments are extremely useful tools in determining the function of challenging behavior and designing behavior intervention plans (Iwata et al. 1982/1994), but in the case of severe challenging behavior, can be dangerous to the individual or assessor. Precursor functional analyses place the contingencies onto a precursor to the severe challenging behavior and have been shown to be an effective assessment with high correspondence to a traditional functional analyses (Rahaman et al. 2024). This study utilized a probability analysis to identify precursor behaviors and assess the time required to identify precursors. We used a modified Functional Assessment Interview to identify potential precursors and times of days where severe behavior is more common. Then, we collected data across multiple days to determine precursors to severe challenging behavior by collecting data on potential precursors and their temporal relation to severe challenging behavior. This successfully identified a precursor for one participant and ruled out hypothesized precursors for two participants. We successfully completed a precursor functional analysis that supported hypothesized functions of the behavior. Subsequent analyses on behavior data provide implications for the total time necessary to use probability analyses to identify precursors.

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