Combining descriptive and experimental analyses of young children with behavior problems in preschool settings

This investigation shows the merits of preceding experimental analyses with descriptive analyses of functional variables with preschool children who e ngage in problematic behavior. A two-phase descriptive analysis was conduct ed in daycare settings with three children. In Phase 1,the authors assessed the relation between child behavior and structural events. During Phase 2, the same behavior was replotted by functional variables. The results showe d that when the descriptive data were plotted via functional variables, spe cific hypotheses could be generated regarding the variables controlling app ropriate behavior. This procedure permitted the subsequent use of very brie f experimental analyses to further identify functional relations. The use o f descriptive analyses of functional rather than structural variables may b e an important component in the assessment of problem behavior in community settings.