Implementation of interventions informed by precursor functional analyses with young children: A replication

Three preschoolers kept hitting, screaming, or throwing things.

The team watched for tiny signs that came right before the big blow-ups—like whining or pushing toys away.

They ran a short functional analysis on those early signs, then built a treatment that matched the function.

When the kids got what the precursor was “asking for” in a nicer way, the severe behavior stayed at zero.

Precursor behavior also dropped and stayed low for all three children.

O'Reilly et al. (2008) already showed that regular FA plus function-based intervention works. Hoffmann et al. (2018) simply moved the lens earlier—treating the warning signal instead of waiting for the explosion.

Jones et al. (1992) proved FCT plus extinction lasts. The new study copies that package but starts with precursors, giving teachers an even earlier handle.

Torres‐Viso et al. (2018) used the same FA-FCT-extinction recipe for older kids who wanted objects moved. The 2018 preschool data say the recipe still works when you target the very first squeak or whine.

You no longer need to wait for a bite or a head-bang. Map the function of the small stuff, teach a replacement that does the same job, and the big stuff rarely shows up. Next time you see a client fidget or grunt, run a five-minute precursor FA and start teaching the communicative swap—session time drops and everyone stays safer.