Question: In this original condition of an FA, attention is initially withheld.
Answer: Social disapproval.
What is often overlooked when we study functional analysis, especially if we don’t have the experience of conducting an actual functional analysis, is the “how” component. Let’s talk specifically about the social disapproval condition, which is the original name for what can be called the attention condition, meaning the condition that tests for the attention function of a behavior.
In this condition, social attention is deliberately diverted from the client. If and when that client engages in the targeted behavior, attention is given contingent on the targeted behavior. Something that gets forgotten or overlooked is that the form of attention is called social disapproval because most often, problem behaviors are attended to with corrective or negative feedback.
The takeaway is that attention comes in all forms. If any sort of feedback, positive or negative, that follows the behavior in an FA results in that behavior’s increase, then we know that that behavior’s function should be noted as attention.
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