Using antecedent manipulations to distinguish between task and social variables associated with problem behaviors exhibited by children of typical development

In the antecedent functional assessment literature, researchers have introd uced task demands and social attention simultaneously while varying the lev el of task difficulty. Though research has demonstrated situations in which a combination of social and task antecedents occasion socially avoidant re sponses from children with disabilities, no current studies have been offer ed to assess the impact of high levels of adult attention devoid of task de mands on problem behaviors exhibited by children of typical development. A multiple element design was used to assess the specific effects of task and social antecedents on the problem behaviors of four children of typical de velopment. Results identified two children whose behavior was associated wi th a combination of difficult task demands and attention in the form of com mands and redirections and two children whose behavior was associated only with high levels of adult attention that did not include commands or redire ctions. These results suggest that antecedent functional assessment procedu res can assess the impact of high levels of attention without the presence of task demands.