ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the assessment techniques used to identify a behavior and its environmental determinants. In addition to operationalizing the target behavior, this technique emphasized an assessment of the environmental stimuli that entered into functional relationships with that behavior. It is no accident that the majority of the chapter focuses on the strategies used to develop a clear identification of the target behavior. The chapter outlines specific examples of functional assessment and functional analysis strategies, and examines their strengths and weaknesses. Frequency measures have been used to assess a variety of behaviors in applied settings. Functional assessment and functional analysis protocol examine the relationship between behavior and its environmental determinants. Functional assessment protocols describe a set of techniques which include interview and observational methods to identify environmental events that evoke and maintain the aberrant responding. These functional assessment techniques produce correlational information regarding the controlling variables. Applied behavioral assessment involves selecting and defining the behavior to be changed.
