Ao ingressar no ambiente escolar, a criança se depara com novas demandas e desafios que requerem a ampliação de seu repertório comportamental, sejam esses acadêmicos ou sociais. Com isso, as habilidades e/ou déficits sociais desta irão se evidenciar neste ambiente, uma vez que os repertórios comportamentais - como cumprimento de regras, respeito ao próximo, tolerância à frustação, resolução de conflitos, entre outros - serão exigidos com maior frequência. Devido a estas peculiaridades, é comum, em alguns casos, que a interação social com os colegas apresente certas limitações, entre elas a rejeição entre pares. Essa experiência pode agravar dificuldades emocionais e comportamentais na criança, gerando prejuízos a curto, médio e longo prazo em sua vida. Neste sentido, o presente estudo teve como objetivo geral caracterizar a rejeição social entre crianças do Ensino Fundamental I e formular hipóteses funcionais sobre a emissão e manutenção de comportamentos relacionados ao status sociométrico de rejeição. Participaram 105 alunos de três escolas públicas do interior do Paraná, com idade média de 7,48 anos (DP= 0,52), sendo 49% do sexo feminino e 51% do sexo masculino. Para verificar o status social dos participantes, realizou-se a entrevista sociométrica por nomeação, individualmente, na qual se solicitou a indicação de três colegas da turma que a criança entrevistada escolheria para brincar (nomeações positivas) e três crianças da turma que não escolheria para brincar (nomeações negativas). Para cada nomeação, solicitaram-se os motivos para tal escolha. Uma vez identificados os alunos com status social de rejeição, foram realizadas as observações dos comportamentos desses alunos, declarados como motivos para as nomeações negativas. Dos 105 alunos participantes do estudo, 13,3% foram classificados como rejeitados pelos pares; destes, 57,1% eram do sexo masculino. As justificativas mais citadas para nomeações negativas para os alunos com status de rejeição foram agressividade e perturbação do ambiente. As hipóteses funcionais levantadas para os comportamentos agressivos e que perturbavam o ambiente em geral, eram reforçados positivamente com a atenção dispensada pela professora e/ou pelos pares, e, em outras situações, reforçados negativamente com a retirada de situação aversiva (p. ex. interação com os colegas, execução da demanda). Os resultados obtidos no presente estudo, quanto aos comportamentos indicativos de rejeição social, coadunam-se com a literatura nacional e internacional. Entretanto, destaca-se neste cenário a ausência de estudos que abordem, além das topografias comportamentais, a avaliação funcional de tais comportamentos, lacuna esta que o presente estudo procurou preencher. Avaliar funcionalmente os comportamentos que se expressam nos relacionamentos interpessoais pode contribuir para aprofundar a compreensão dessas interações e delinear intervenções preventivas com foco nas alterações do ambiente do aluno. A partir dessas considerações, sugerem-se novos estudos sobre a avaliação e análise funcional de comportamentos envolvidos nos relacionamentos entre crianças e implicados nos diferentes status sociométricos, especialmente no âmbito nacional / When the child entering the school environment they have new demands and challenges that require the expansion of their academic and social repertoire. Thus, the social skills and/or deficits of it will be evident in this environment, once behavioral repertoires such as rule compliance, respect for others, tolerance for frustration, conflict resolution, among others aspects, will be required more frequently. Due to these peculiarities it is common in some cases limitations on social interaction with colleagues, as peer rejection. This experience may exacerbate emotional and behavioral difficulties in the child, producing losses in the short, medium and long term in their life. Therefore, the present study aimed to characterize social rejection among elementary school children and formulate functional hypotheses about the emission and maintenance of behaviors related to the sociometric status of rejection. A total of 105 students from three public schools in the interior of Parana, with a mean age of 7.48 years (SD = 0.52), 49% female and 51% male. In order to verify the social status of the participants, a sociometric interview was conducted individually, in which interviewed were asked to indicate three classmates who do they would choose to play (positive nominations) and three classmates from the group who would not choose to play (negative nominations). For each appointment, the reasons for were requested. Once students rejection status were identified, observations of behaviors reported as reasons for the negative appointments were made. Of the 105 students participating in the study, 13.3% were classified as rejected by peers, of whom 57.1% were male. The most cited justifications for negative nominations for students with rejection status were aggressiveness and environmental disruption. The functional hypotheses raised for the aggressive behaviors that disturbed the environment in general were positively reinforced with the attention given by the teacher and/or the peers, and in other situations negatively reinforced with withdrawal from the aversive situation (e.g. interaction with classmates, performing tasks). The results obtained in the present study regarding behaviors indicative of social rejection are consistent with the national and international literature. However, in this scenario, we highlight the absence of studies that address, in addition to behavioral topographies, the functional evaluation of such behaviors, a gap that the present study sought to fill. The functional evaluation of the behaviors expressed in the interpersonal relations can contribute to deepen the understanding of these interactions and to delineate preventive interventions focused on changes in the student\'s environment. Based on these considerations, we suggest new studies on the evaluation and functional analysis of behaviors involved in relationships between children and those involved in different sociometric statuses, especially at the national level

Title: Functional assessment after experiemantally induced focal cerebral ischemia in rat. Objectives: The aim of this diploma thesis was to design and test a set of motor tests, which provide an effective assessment of motor deficit, which forms after small ischemic lesion of primary motor cortex. Methods: Experiment was performed in 16 Long Evans rats from breeding in Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. Rats were devided into two groups (experimental and control). Ischemic lesion was induced by a photothrombotic stroke model to affect a small area - a motor cortex. For functional assessment we used five motor tests - Reaching test, Bar holding test, Rotarod test, Ladder rung walking test and Oper field test. For data analysis we used program Sigma Stat3.5®SPSS and Microsoft Excel 2010. Results: Our findings demonstrate that a small lesion of motor cortex is objectively measurable by Reaching test, which focuses on grip and fine motor skills. Other tests assess mainly gross motor skills and there we did not find a significant difference between experimental and control group. Our findings show that functional deficit manifests mostly in funkction of upper limb. During the time of the experiment we can see an improvement and increasing success in Reaching test and...

This study evaluated the utility of a structured descriptive assessment (SDA) as an alternative method of functional assessment. Initially, an analogue functional analysis, conducted to assess the problem behavior of two adults with developmental disabilities, produced inconclusive results. Subsequently, SDAs was conducted in the individuals' natural environment with the direct-contact caregivers acting as therapists. This assessment manipulated antecedent variables similarly to the analogue functional analysis but allowed for consequences to occur naturally. The results from SDAs suggested that problem behaviors, for both participants, were occasioned by removal of personal items and maintained by their return. Treatments based on the results of SDAs were implemented in a reversal design and resulted in a notable reduction in the occurrences of problem behavior for both participants. These outcomes suggest that SDA procedures may be useful when results from the analogue functional analysis are inconclusive.

The research investigation reported herein examined the quality and experience of the functional behavioral assessment (FBA) process as reported by educators working with students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD). The data accrued is based on a 30-item survey and participant telephone interviews examined the overall knowledge of the FBA process by educators and their general experience when conducting a FBA, specifically the procedural timeline, types of education professionals involved, and typical outcomes and results. Survey responses indicated two common barriers in the FBA implementation which often inhibit best practice: lack of true collaborative teamwork and insufficient communication among FBA team members. Survey responses also indicated a level of statistical significance from education professionals working in elementary school settings who self-rated positively higher when conducting a FBA than those education professionals working on either a secondary or special campus. Additionally, participant interviews indicated a growing awareness of the advantages of using the FBA as an early intervention process when dealing with challenging behaviors.

A functional analysis (FA) is the most commonly used assessment methodology for identifying maintaining variables influencing problem behavior. However, if an FA does not produce clear differentiation, researchers and practitioners often then modify procedures to include additional individualized variables. The interview-informed synthesized contingency analysis (IISCA) provides a marked departure from FA methodology and aims to include individualized factors at the initiation of the assessment in order to more rapidly produce differentiation and clear results. We sought to further evaluate and compare the outcomes of two different functional analysis methods: the single-contingency functional analysis (FA) and the interview-informed synthesized contingency analysis (IISCA) to determine the function of problem behavior and evaluate the subsequent function-based treatment determined from the functional analysis results with two children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Both participants engaged in problem behavior maintained by single-contingencies of reinforcement identified within the single-contingency FA and emphasized by the effectiveness of each single-contingency function-based treatment.

We assessed the implementation accuracy and fidelity of two board certified behavior analysts (BCBAs) using the open-ended interview from Hanley. Participants interviewed a confederate using the open-ended interview, and were then asked to use information gathered from the interview to create operational definitions of target behaviors as well as test and control condition procedures for a subsequent matched test-control functional analysis as is characteristic of the interview-informed synthesized contingency analysis (IISCA) strategy. Brief behavioral skills training (BST) was then implemented with all participants to increase the accuracy of constructing both target behavior definitions and functional analysis procedures. Preliminary results show moderate rates of accuracy of target behavior definitions and functional analysis procedures prior to BST, and high rates of accuracy following BST. The results also suggest high implementation fidelity on the open-ended interview may not be necessary to achieve high accuracy when constructing target behavior definitions and functional analysis procedures.

The individual functional analysis (FA) is the most widely used method to identify variables that influence the occurrence of problem behavior. Researchers often modify the FA after the analysis reveals undifferentiated responding. The interview-informed synthesized contingency analysis (IISCA) is one of the most substantial variations of the FA that builds upon the FA modifications. We evaluated the use of the two different functional analytic methods, the FA and IISCA, and the subsequent function-based treatment to reduce problem behavior for three children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The individual FA and the IISCA demonstrated differentiated responding for all participants. The treatment based on the results from the traditional FA was effective for all children. We discuss the implications of these findings.

While descriptive assessment outcomes show limited correspondence with experimental analysis outcomes, they are still often used in the treatment of problem behavior. The most effective way of treating problem behavior is by manipulating its controlling variables; however, if descriptive analyses are not depicting accurate environment-behavior relations, then treatments based off of descriptive analysis results have a higher chance of failing. The current study looks to replicate and extend the literature on utility descriptive assessments by analyzing three different data analysis methods. Three children with a diagnosis of autism were exposed to two types of experimental analyses. Following experimental analyses, descriptive assessments were completed and analyzed to determine correlations between the behavior and environmental events. The results from the three investigated data analysis methods were then compared to the outcomes of the experimental analyses.

The purpose of the study is to evaluate if the effectiveness of a check-in, check-out (CICO) intervention varies based on the function maintaining students’ target behaviors as determined by functional analyses prior to the implementation of the intervention. Participants in the study consisted of 6 children enrolled in general education Kindergarten classes across 6 teachers in the Southeastern United States. Upon completion of a functional analysis, participants were determined to fit into functional groups (i.e., combined attention and escape, attention, and escape), then a modified between groups design with a component of a multiple-baseline across participants design was completed. Overall, the current study found that the CICO intervention increased desired behavior as measured by points earned on the daily behavior report card ratings across baseline to intervention phases. All functional groups displayed an increase in average points earned from baseline phase across intervention phases. The results of the current study have implications within the educational systems for selecting interventions within the response to intervention framework, utilizing functional analysis for the CICO intervention, and acceptability of evidence based interventions. Limitations and recommendations for future research are presented.

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