Evaluating the function of social interaction using time allocation as a dependent measure: A replication and extension

Morris et al. (2020) watched how seven autistic children spent free time.

Kids could play alone or with an adult. The team tracked minutes in each zone.

They used this simple count to decide if social time felt good or bad to the child.

Every child showed a clear preference. Some stayed near the adult; others walked away.

The time-allocation score matched later test results for all seven kids.

Lancioni et al. (2008) ran long functional analyses and still missed social reinforcers for one child. Time allocation spotted the function in minutes, not hours.

Cullinan et al. (2001) used full analog conditions to find why kids hit. Morris gives a quicker ruler for the same question.

Coffey et al. (2021) moved from assessment to full treatment for autistic kids with anxiety. Morris offers the first, fast step in that pipeline.

You can start therapy sooner when you know in ten minutes if social attention helps or hurts. Run the mini-observation while the parent fills out paperwork. If the child avoids you, plan escape extinction. If the child hovers, use praise and paired reinforcement. Either way, you skip a long FA and get to teaching faster.