Latency‐based functional analysis in schools: Correspondence and differences across environments
Latency-based FA works at school but may only partly agree with standard FA, so treat it as a fast first look.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Hansen and team ran a latency-based functional analysis in real classrooms. They compared it with a standard FA done in a quiet room.
Three girls with intellectual or developmental disabilities joined. All sessions happened at school during normal hours.
What they found
Results matched perfectly for one girl. For the other two, only some conditions lined up.
In short, latency FA can work at school, but do not expect a perfect match every time.
How this fits with other research
Mattson et al. (2024) looked at 27 latency studies and say the method is classroom-ready. Their big picture view supports Hansen’s real-school try.
Frank-Crawford et al. (2026) warn that when latency and rate disagree, rate is usually right. This helps explain why Hansen saw only partial agreement.
Dove et al. (1974) showed that latency follows a smooth time pattern under fixed-interval schedules. That early lab work backs why we can trust time-to-respond today.
Why it matters
You can run a quick latency FA while kids stay in class. It saves pull-out time and still gives useful data. When results look unclear, run a standard FA to double-check. Use latency first for low-rate or dangerous behavior, then verify if you need stronger proof.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Functional analyses were conducted for problem behavior of three girls with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Analyses conducted under analog conditions measured rate and latency. Latency‐based functional analyses were conducted in a classroom setting in multielement and reversal designs. Correspondence was identified between the standard functional analysis and the two latency analyses for one participant. Partial correspondence was found with the other two participants. These results are discussed in light of research on adaptions for functional analysis in classroom settings.
Behavioral Interventions, 2019 · doi:10.1002/bin.1674