AStudyofUsingFunctionalAssessment.doc

A Study of Using Functional Assessment on Improving Job-Related Social Skills Ming-Jiun Sung Providence University Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research, University of Hamburg, 17-20 September 2003 ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of using functional assessments to improve the job-related social skills of the students with mental retardation. Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence observations and interviews were used to collect functional assessment data. These data were classified into several types of problem behaviors and possible hypotheses about the problem behaviors. Then functional analysis procedures were taken to test the hypotheses. The subject was exposed to four different conditions in an experimental design that used a multi-element manipulation. The results of the testing were used to build behavior support plans. These plans were conducted through multiple-baseline design across behaviors. The experiment data are analyzed by visual inspection, level of data analysis, and trends in the data analysis. The result showed that all target behaviors were improved and the improvement can be lasted. Key Terms: Functional Assessment, Job-related Social skills, ABC Analysis, Multiple-element Design, Multiple-baseline Design Introduction 1. Preface A lot of experts use functional assessment to deal with problem behaviors of students with mental retardation. For example, self-injurious behavior (Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, Richman, 1982), aggressive behavior (Mace, Page, Ivancic, O’Brien, 1986), disruptive behavior (Slifer, Ivancic, Parrish, Page, Burgio, 1986), bizarre speech (Mace Lalli, 1991), stereotypic behavior (Durand Carr, 1987), severe pica (Mace Knight, 1986), and violent behavior (Carr Newsom, 1985). After using functional assessment, those experts have found that it has great effects for students with mental retardation. Sasso, Peck, and Garrison-Harrell (1990) think that functiona