EDPD5012 Chap.9 Matching Interventions to Function
Matching Interventions to Function
Function-based intervention checks the maintaining outcome, distinguishes skill from performance deficits, then combines teaching, environmental adjustment and contingency change. This chapter tests whether a replacement behaviour serves the same function, requires manageable effort and produces a reliable outcome.
It also examines safe, planned extinction, implementation consistency and broader outcomes such as participation, access and quality of life. A skill deficit means the learner cannot yet perform the response fluently enough and therefore needs explicit teaching, modelling, rehearsal and feedback. A performance deficit means the response exists but current conditions make another behaviour faster, easier or more reliable.
Many cases contain both, so coherent plans coordinate instruction with environmental and consequence changes. The replacement must preserve the legitimate outcome while changing the route. Telling a learner to stay seated does not replace escape from inaccessible work; an efficient help or break request paired with achievable task entry can.
Adult response time, effort, social acceptability and consistent availability determine whether the new route can compete. Planned extinction means the old behaviour no longer reliably produces its maintaining outcome, not that a person or legitimate communication is ignored. It requires a taught alternative, preparation for temporary escalation, safety planning and consistent implementation.
Monitoring extends beyond incident reduction. Teams examine independent replacement use, access to learning, relationships, wellbeing and the learner's view. A quiet but withdrawn student does not demonstrate successful positive support, and contradictory outcome data should trigger a revised functional account.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Maintaining function
- 02
Skill and performance deficits
- 03
Teaching replacement behaviour
- 04
Environmental adjustment
- 05
Shifting contingencies
- 06
Monitoring participation and quality of life
Worked example · free
Replace attention-seeking call-outs
- 1Identify peer attention as a plausible outcome.
- 1Recognise an existing participation skill.
- 1Teach a contribution signal and saved-comment routine.
- 1Shorten talk and schedule partner interaction.
- 1Shift peer and teacher attention toward appropriate contribution.
Key terms
- Maintaining Function
- Maintaining function is the gain or avoidance outcome that keeps behaviour effective over time.
- Environmental Adjustment
- An environmental adjustment changes antecedent conditions to improve access or reduce predictable difficulty.
- Contingency Shift
- A contingency shift changes which responses reliably produce valued outcomes.
- Extinction
- Extinction is planned discontinuation of reinforcement for a behaviour, paired with teaching and safety planning.
Matching Interventions to Function FAQ
How do skill and performance deficits differ?
A skill deficit means the learner cannot yet perform the response reliably, so teaching is central. A performance deficit means the response exists but current cues, effort or consequences do not support its use, so conditions must change.
Why must replacement behaviour serve the same function?
A different outcome leaves the original need unmet. The replacement must provide an acceptable route to the same useful outcome, such as help, attention, access or a brief escape, while supporting return to participation.
Is extinction the same as ignoring a learner?
No. It means the problem behaviour no longer reliably produces its maintaining outcome. Teams must continue care, teach and reinforce an alternative, manage safety and avoid withholding legitimate communication or necessary support.
Which features make a replacement response usable?
It must achieve the same legitimate outcome with manageable effort, acceptable form, short delay and reliable adult response. Teaching alone is insufficient if the old behaviour still works faster. Measure response latency, independent use and access to the outcome alongside any reduction in the original behaviour.
Assessment move
For each case, complete three headings: maintain, deficit and intervention. Then test the replacement for same function, effort, speed and adult reliability. Add a quality-of-life outcome so reduction is not mistaken for success. Draw two competing paths from the same antecedent: the current behaviour and the proposed replacement. Label the outcome, effort, delay and adult response on each route.
If the new path is weaker, repair the plan before expecting use. Decide whether the evidence indicates a skill deficit, a performance deficit or both, and assign teaching, adjustment and contingency actions accordingly. Trace every action back to the functional hypothesis and remove generic strategies with no link.
Write how adults will honour the new response, how prompts will fade and how the original outcome will stop following the problem behaviour safely. Anticipate temporary escalation and state the protection required. Build a review set that includes opportunities, response latency, independent replacement use, learning access, relationships, wellbeing and learner feedback.
If reduction occurs without participation or if the outcome pattern changes, revisit the hypothesis rather than intensifying the same intervention automatically.
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