A Preliminary Descriptive Assessment on Problem Behavior and Appropriate Behavior in a Preschool Classroom

This study examined the extent to which peers in a preschool classroom provide the typical antecedents and consequences that are manipulated in experimental functional analyses. Ten children who attended a half-day preschool program were included in this study. A descriptive assessment was carried out in which data were collected in a natural preschool environment on the antecedents (e.g., demand), behaviors (e.g., aggression), and consequent events (e.g., escape) of child–peer interactions. Conditional and response-independent probabilities were calculated to analyze the relation between the behavior of the target child (participant) and peer. Results show that peer attention was the most common consequence following problem behavior and appropriate behavior for all participants (100%), followed by material presentation (90% of participants for problem behavior; 80% of participants for appropriate behavior) and escape from demands for 20% of participants (both for problem behavior and appropriate behavior)