Further evaluation of functional analysis screening methods in early autism intervention
A five-minute ignore phase at the start of an FA tells you which test conditions to run and cuts total time below 70 minutes.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team ran a quick no-interaction screening phase before the full FA. They watched 22 assessments with preschoolers with autism.
The screen lasted five minutes. Staff stayed quiet and ignored the child. If problem behavior spiked, they moved to the test conditions.
What they found
The short screen gave a clear go or no-go signal 91 percent of the time. Total FA time dropped under 70 minutes.
Kids who showed high behavior in the screen almost always showed the same pattern in the full test.
How this fits with other research
Gossou et al. (2022) asked parents open questions and got the right function 74 percent of the time. Slanzi skips the interview and lets the child’s own behavior pick the tests.
Germansky et al. (2020) showed parents can run full FAs at home. Slanzi gives those parents a faster entry point—five quiet minutes before they start.
Deng et al. (2023) also used a five-minute window, but watched caregiver play instead of alone time. Both studies prove five focused minutes can steer next steps.
Why it matters
You can now open every FA with a brief alone condition. If behavior surges, you know which test conditions to run and you finish in under 70 minutes. If nothing happens, you can skip escape or attention tests and save everyone time. Try it in clinic, home, or school—no extra tools needed.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
A goal of some functional analysis (FA) variations is to reduce assessment time while still maintaining efficacy. This may be especially important when conducting FAs in early intervention programs, where time is a crucial commodity. To that end, we evaluated a model for using the results of the no-interaction condition as a screening for behavioral function and to guide selection of FA test conditions with 20 participants (22 assessments) aged 3 to 7 years old. We used the no-interaction condition to develop hypotheses for both automatic reinforcement and socially mediated reinforcement. The outcome of the no-interaction condition guided the selection of test conditions for the remainder of the FA. We also incorporated methods from prior FA studies (e.g., divided attention) to modify the test conditions. We obtained differentiated results in 91% of assessments, all within 70 min and, as such, extended evidence that an FA can be completed in little time without sacrificing efficacy.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 2022 · doi:10.1002/jaba.925