Some relationships between informant assessment and functional analysis ofproblem behavior

The strengths and limitations of informant assessment of problem behavior w as investigated through examination of such behavior across seven situation s and 3 participants. The results of informant assessment were compared to those obtained from functional analysis to determine some of the parameters under which informant assessment might provide a practical alternative to functional analysis. The results showed that informant hypotheses about the function of problem behavior were validated by subsequent functional analy ses only when informants identified their hypotheses as involving situation s likely to evoke problem behavior. Hypotheses involving situations that in formants rated as less likely to evoke problem behavior were not validated by subsequent functional analyses. The implications of these findings for i mproving the validity of informant assessment are discussed.