Answer these questions to earn one CE hour after reading:

 

Towards a Molecular Analysis of Function

William Marsh, Michael Weinberg & Andrew Houvouras

BAT 6.2, pp 128 - 136

URL: http://www.behavior-analyst-online.org/newBAT/VOL-6/BAT-6-2.pdf

 

  1. State the basic difficulty with the use of the term “function” in the context of a functional assessment.

 

  1. What terminology do the authors suggest to identify different reinforcers that may maintain the same behavior that would be identified via functional analysis?

 

  1. In this article, what do the authors pose as the difficulties with respect to discovering multiple reinforcers that maintain a single response or behavior?

 

  1. What solutions are proposed by the authors to solve this problem?

 

  1. Identify the “original” and “current” functional relationship for the 15-year-old student used in the example.

 

  1. How is our knowledge from the basic research about reinforcement histories used to identify or isolate overlaid functions?

 

  1. For Jimmy, what do the data indicate to be the function of his aggressive behavior?

 

  1. Why do the authors believe it to be important to identify multiple functions?

 

  1. Explain the authors’ meaning and intent for use of the term “molecular” functional analysis.  How is it different from existing FA methods?

 

  1. What roles may Establishing Operations have with respect to multiple or overlaid functions?