Cipani and shock chapter 1

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3The Cipani Behavioral Classification System

Objectives

• Students will be able to identify the four major diagnostic categories of problem behavior, and define each in terms of the establishing operation (EO) and functional relationship between behavior and its relevant abolishing operation (AO)

• Students will be able to identify the two Direct Access (DA) functions, and define each in terms of the EO, and functional relationship between behavior and its relevant AO

• Students will be able to identify the three Socially Mediated Access (SMA) functions, and define each in terms of the EO, and functional relationship between behavior and its relevant AO

• Students will be able to identify the four Direct Escape (DE) functions, and define each in terms of the EO, and functional relationship between behavior and its relevant AO

• Students will be able to identify the four Socially Mediated Escape (SME) functions, and define each in terms of the EO, and functional relationship between behavior and its relevant AO

• Students will be able to identify the factors involved in deciding the function and diagnostic category of problem behavior, that is, reliable relation between problem behavior and relevant outcome under a given EO, as well as the efficiency of such behaviors relative to other behaviors in producing such an outcome

• Students will be able to delineate how a given topography or form of behavior can be multi-functional

Chapter 3 Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB) Task List

4th edition 5th edition • I-05 Organize, analyze, and interpret

observed data

• I-06 Make recommendations regarding behaviors that must be established, maintained, increased, or decreased

• I-02 Define environmental variables in observable and measurable terms

• F-6 Describe the common functions of problem behavior.

• F-9 Interpret functional assessment data.

Cipani, E. P. (2017). Functional behavioral assessment, diagnosis, and treatment, third edition : a complete system for education and mental health settings. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com Created from snhu-ebooks on 2018-10-18 20:51:04.

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92 Functional Behavioral Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment

This chapter presents a function-based diagnostic classification system for target problem behaviors: The Cipani Behavioral Classification System (BCS). There are four major categories in this system, previously delineated in this text in Chapter 1 and historically (Cipani, 1990, 1994; Cipani & Cipani, 2017; Cipani & Schock, 2007, 2011). These are: (a) Direct Access (DA) 1.0, (b) Socially Mediated Access (SMA) 2.0, (c) Direct Escape (DE) 1.0, and (d) Socially Mediated Escape (SME) 4.0. The Cipani BCS delineates 13 different classifications of behavioral functions under these four major functional classification categories. Each of the 13 individual categories contain either a different behavioral function under a specified establishing operation and/or a different manner in which such a function is produced (direct vs. socially mediated).

The Cipani BCS is a classification system for behavioral functions; it does not categorize forms of behavior or “symptoms.” How is a function-based BCS differ from a more traditional classification system for problem behaviors? The following section identifies the basic characteristics of a function-based classification system.

WHAT IS A FUNCTION-BASED CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM? The characteristics of a function-based diagnostic classification system are the following (Cipani, 1994):

ll Diagnosis of behavior problem characteristics, not child characteristics ll Prescriptive differential treatment derived from a differential diagnosis ll Assessment data collected provides information on context variables, not just rate of

behavior ll Assessment phase concludes with diagnosis phase, in which a function-based category

is selected that best fits the problem behavior’s putative function under the specific EO

Diagnose Behavior, Not Client A function-based diagnostic classification system examines the contextual nature of the problem behavior. It does not presume that the exhibition of behavior is driven by characteristics inherent in the client or child. This sharply contrasts with the current psychiatric approach to diagnosing client behavior (e.g., Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [5th ed.; DSM-5]). In a function-based diagnostic classification system, the form of the behavior (in many cases) does not dictate a particular function.

Let us say you have three different children with whom you are involved as a behavioral consultant. Each child engages in a topographically (form) different set of target behaviors. In the traditional psychiatric diagnostic system, each child may receive a different diagnosis because the form of the problem behaviors is different. Because the behaviors or symptoms are different, their presumed cause is assumed to be different. In contrast, a function-based classification of the problem behaviors may reveal that the problem behaviors exhibited by these three children are similar in function, even though topographically dissimilar. Therefore, the classification of these behaviors function using the Cipani BCS could be the same. Using this hypothetical example, let us presume that the functional behavioral assessment obtained data that indicates that all three children’s behavior produces the same reinforcer (i.e., access to tangible reinforcers such as preferred activities). Hence, the function-based diagnosis for all three sets of problems might be subsumed in the same major category. Therefore, despite the obvious individual differences between these children, the prescription for behavior- analytic treatment for this problem area will be similar in composition.

Prescriptive Differential Treatment As just alluded to, a function-based diagnostic classification system also has implications for differential prescriptive treatment. The behavioral intervention designed takes into consideration the function of the problem behavior(s). It is the case that different topographies