Use of latency to problem behavior to evaluate demands for inclusion in functional analyses.
Time how fast problem behavior starts after each caregiver demand; the quickest times point to the tasks most likely to make the escape function pop in your FA.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team asked caregivers to list demands that often trigger problem behavior.
They then timed how quickly problem behavior started after each demand.
Shorter times meant the demand was more aversive.
These times built a hierarchy that guided which tasks were later used in a standard escape functional analysis.
What they found
Demands that sparked behavior fastest also produced the clearest escape patterns in the full FA.
The latency ranking predicted the results, saving time and reducing extra exposure to tough tasks.
How this fits with other research
Lambert et al. (2017) later used the same latency idea with autistic kids on an inpatient unit.
They got clear functions in under an hour, showing the 2009 method works when safety rules out long sessions.
Sullivan et al. (2020) also watched non-targeted problem behavior and found it pops up together with the target response.
Both papers echo the 2009 warning: track everything, because one topography may signal a whole response class.
Why it matters
You can build a demand list in ten minutes and test each item once.
Time the first problem response, rank fastest to slowest, and drop the top three into your escape condition.
You run a shorter, safer FA and still get a clean answer about what is really driving avoidance.
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Join Free →Ask the parent for five hated demands, present each once, start a stopwatch, and note the seconds until problem behavior; rank shortest to longest and use the top three in your escape condition.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Few direct-assessment procedures are designed to identify potential negative reinforcers (e.g., including demands in the escape condition of functional analyses). Two participants were systematically exposed to a series of demands nominated by caregivers as potential negative reinforcers. Sessions ended following the first instance of problem behavior, and a hierarchy of demand aversiveness was created based on the latency to the first problem behavior. Subsequent functional analyses confirmed the predictive value of the hierarchy, with shorter latency demands consistently producing more differentiated functional analysis outcomes.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 2009 · doi:10.1901/jaba.2009.42-723