Individualization and iterative design are essential components of the assessment and treatment of challenging behavior. Currently, there are few validated frameworks for engaging in iterative processes. Due to the nature of single-case design, empirically rigorous evaluations of decision-tree processes are particularly prohibitive. Notwithstanding, evaluations are needed. In this paper we first describe a function-informed and mechanisms-based (FIMB) framework for selecting treatment components employed by a university-based practicum experience designed to expose pre-service practitioners to a valid treatment process for challenging behavior. Then, we share a completed retrospective consecutive case series across a 6-year period in which we conducted a technique analysis to identify which procedures were most commonly selected in the practicum, and the impact of those choices on client outcomes. The results suggest that the model can be highly effective for some, but not all, cases. Implications are discussed.

No research has used latency-based functional analysis (FA) outcomes as baseline data from which to evaluate the effectiveness of subsequent function-based treatments. This approach to analysis calls for the continued collection of latency-based measures for all targeted variables throughout all phases of treatment. We tracked client progress during treatment using latency-based, rate-based, and percentage-ofopportunity measures of relevant behavior and compared graphical representations of each. Visual inspection of all data indicates that changes in variability level and trend of latencybased measures correspond well with said changes in more traditional measures. et al. 1984/1992) outcomes as baseline data from which to evaluate the effectiveness of subsequent treatments (e.g., Baker et al. 2006;Lloyd et al. 2014). Practitioners with limited time could benefit from replicating this approach to analysis because of its potential to increase the efficiency of service delivery (i.e., they do not need to conduct additional baseline sessions after an FA has been completed). For similar reasons, this approach has the potential to decrease caregiver objection to essential pretreatment activities. Specifically, it allows practitioners to spend less time determining the degree to which problem behavior occurs given the presence of countertherapeutic contingencies, relevant establishing operations (EO; Laraway et al. 2003), and discriminative stimuli (S D ), potentially reducing the need to justify this difficult-tounderstand yet important practice. KeywordsAnother way that practitioners might decrease caregiver objection to important pretreatment activities is by selecting a variation of traditional FA methodology that requires fewer instances of problem behavior to establish functional relationships. For instance, latency-based FAs occasion a small fraction of the problem behavior commonly seen during traditional FAs but produce results whose interpretations closely align with those of traditional FAs (Thomason-Sassi et al. 2011).Latency-based FA data allows practitioners to say with confidence that, in the absence of treatment, specific EOs and S D s will evoke problem behavior within (for instance) 40 s of their initial presentation. Thus, if practitioners continue to track latency to first response per unit of time during treatment, then they can determine how exposure to said treatment alters these latencies across time.Generating latency-based measures of progress during treatment requires only slight changes to baseline session protocol. Whereas therapists end sessions contingent upon the first occurrence of problem behavior during latency-based FAs, therapists continue to conduct sessions for a prespecified period of time (e.g., the maximum session duration of the latency-based FA) during treatment and only end data Implications for Practitioners • Decrease probability of high rates of problem behavior during assessment • Potentially decrease caregiver objection to pretreatment activities • Increase e...

Three participants whose problem behavior was maintained by contingent attention were exposed to 45-min presessions in which attention was withheld, provided on a fixed-time (FT) 15-s schedule, or provided on an FT 120-s schedule. Following each presession, participants were then tested in a 15-min session similar to the social attention condition of an analogue functional analysis. The results showed establishing operation conditions increased problem behavior during tests and that abolishing operation conditions decreased problem behavior during tests.

Challenging behaviors involving food are common for individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) and often lead to obesity and other chronic health conditions. Efforts to decrease these behaviors, such as isolation during meals and strict monitoring of food consumption, can be stigmatizing. To decrease the food stealing of a 7 year-old girl with PWS, therapists conducted a latency-based functional analysis in a clinic setting before implementing a function-based intervention to facilitate her inclusion at the family dinner table. Intervention components entailed differential reinforcement procedures which incorporated a token board and schedule thinning. The intervention successfully generalized to the home setting and across food preferences and implementers.

In theory, the principles, processes, and concepts of applied behavior analysis are universally applicable. In practice, clinicians commit their lives to serving specific populations in specific settings for which specialization is needed. The purpose of this 6-year retrospective consecutive case series was to describe and evaluate the quality and validity of a practicum experience tailored to develop specialized expertise in the assessment and treatment of challenging behavior for pre-service practitioners enrolled in a department of a special education program.