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All behavior occurs because the individual gets something out of it. In Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), the reason a behavior continues is called the function of that behavior. These functions are reinforcers for the child. If the behavior no longer works for that purpose, the behavior will stop and a new behavior will take its place.
In this article we will use examples related to challenging behavior; however, the information here can be applied to teaching new skills. Once the appropriate function of a child’s behavior has been identified, you can use this information to identify potential reinforcers for more appropriate behaviors.
Function (Why) vs. Topography (What) If a child hurts themselves and we describe that behaviour as “self-injury” then we are describing the topography of the behaviour. Topography only describes “what” behaviour is occurring but it says nothing about “why” the behaviour occurs; this is where the function of the behaviour is needed because the function will describe “why” it is occurring (Cooper et al, 2007).
Another example would be if we said the person is “talking”. To say someone is talking is describing the topography of the behaviour but tells us nothing about the function. Someone might talk to another person to ask for directions, another person might talk to teach a class of students while another person might talk to chat up someone they want to date.
Accurately identifying function allows you to make informed decisions on how to change undesired behavior(s). Understanding why a behavior occurs leads to meaningful change. You can then use this information to alter the conditions surrounding the behavior.While there are many factors that motivate behavior, there are four common functions of behaviour.
Four common functions of behaviour
#1 Social Attention
A person may engage in a certain behaviour to gain some form of social attention or a reaction from other people. For example, a child might engage in a behaviour to get other people to look at them, laugh at them, play with them, hug them or scold them.
While it might seem strange that a person would engage in a behaviour to deliberately have someone scold them it can occur because for some people it’s better to obtain “bad” attention than no attention at all (Cooper, Heron & Heward, 2007).
#2 Tangibles or Activities
Some behaviours occur so the person can obtain a tangible item or gain access to a desired activity. For example, someone might scream and shout until their parents buy them a new toy (tangible item) or bring them to the zoo (activity).
#3 Escape or Avoidance
Not all behaviours occur so the person can “obtain” something; many behaviours occur because the person wants to get away from something or avoid something altogether (Miltenberger, 2008).
For example, a child might engage in aggressive behaviour so his teachers stop running academic tasks with him or another child might engage in self-injury to avoid having to go outside to play with classmates.
#4 Sensory Stimulation
The function of some behaviours do not rely on anything external to the person and instead are internally pleasing in some way – they are “self-stimulating” (O’Neill, Horner, Albin, Sprague, Storey, & Newton, 1997). They function only to give the person some form of internal sensation that is pleasing or to remove an internal sensation that is displeasing (e.g. pain).
For example, a child might rock back and forth because it is enjoyable for them while another child might rub their knee to sooth the pain after accidentally banging it off the corner of a table. In both cases, these children do not engage in either behaviour to obtain any attention, any tangible items or to escape any demands placed on them.
Behaviours Occur for a Reason
A behaviour that a person engages in repeatedly will typically serve some kind of purpose or function for them (O’Neill, et al, 1997). Note the word “repeatedly” is used because we all engage in all kinds of behaviour but typically wouldn’t repeat such behaviour unless it serves a certain purpose -
When we say the “function” of a behaviour we basically mean “why” the behaviour is occurring. While it might be difficult to understand why a person does something (e.g. challenging behaviours such as self-injury or aggression) there will always be an underlying function (O’Neill, et al, 1997).
It’s worth noting that a particular behaviour can serve more than one function (Miltenberger, 2008). For example, a child might learn to hurt themselves during class to get out of having to complete academic tasks and then also hurt themselves in the playground to get attention from the teachers. Here the same behaviour – self-injury – serves two different functions depending on the environment the child is in.
With that being said, having to understand the Function is more important than the typography. Most behaviourial specialists in Illuminate Brilliance identify and describe the function of the behaviour through a Functional Behaviour Assessment (FBA). Without understanding the function of a behaviour any intervention put in place could be ineffective and/or make the behaviour worse (O’Neill et al, 1997).
We will touch on how parents can use a simple Functional Behaviour Assessment (FBA) to help reduce any behaviour that they are having trouble managing in our next article.
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