From Hypotheses to Interventions: Applied Challenges of Intervening with Escalating Sequences of Problem Behavior

It is generally accepted that behavioral interventions must follow systematic hypotheses regarding variables that maintain problem behavior. Hypotheses-based interventions are more likely to address behavioral functions and decrease or eliminate all problem behavior, often by teaching functionally equivalent appropriate responses as replacement behaviors. However, in some cases initial functional assessment/analyses may not lead to hypotheses that result in effective interventions. In such cases, it is important to continue functional analysis procedures to look more precisely at behavioral functions. This case study discusses how behavioral interventions were modified for a 27 year-old woman with severe disabilities, following systematic analyses of behavioral functions when initial interventions were ineffective.