The Initial Blueprint: Understanding ABA Indirect Assessments

When a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) begins a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA), their goal is to understand why a behavior is occurring—its function. Before they ever collect real-time data or set up experimental conditions, they need context. This initial deep dive into the client's history and environment is achieved through ABA indirect assessments. These methods are essential because they provide a quick, broad picture of the behavior, allowing the clinical team to form educated guesses, or hypotheses, that will guide the subsequent, more intensive phases of the assessment.

What Defines an Indirect Assessment?

In the context of behavioral analysis, an assessment is considered "indirect" because the analyst is not directly observing the behavior when it happens. Instead, the information is gathered through third-party reporting. Indirect assessments rely heavily on the memories, records, and perceptions of those who interact with the individual most frequently—parents, teachers, paraprofessionals, and caregivers.

The purpose of this phase is to gain a descriptive understanding of the target behavior, its common antecedents (what happens immediately before the behavior), and its typical consequences (what happens immediately after). Essentially, it helps the team develop an initial narrative about the behavior and its environmental relationship.

Core Methods Used in Indirect Assessments

ABA practitioners utilize several structured tools to standardize the information gathering process:

1. Structured Interviews: This is the most common method. The analyst conducts detailed interviews with key stakeholders using standardized formats, such as the Functional Assessment Interview (FAI). These interviews aim to clarify the definition of the target behavior, pinpoint common times or settings where the behavior occurs, and identify potential setting events (broader, background conditions like sleep deprivation or illness). The information gathered is descriptive and often historical, giving the analyst a chronological perspective.

2. Checklists and Rating Scales: Standardized forms are used to quickly gather information about the likely function of the behavior. Examples include the Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS), the Functional Analysis Screening Tool (FAST), and the Questions About Behavioral Function (QABF). These scales prompt respondents to rate how likely the behavior is to occur under various conditions (e.g., when denied access to an item, when given an academic task). The results generate immediate, testable hypotheses (e.g., “The behavior is most likely maintained by access to tangibles”).

3. Record Review: The analyst meticulously examines any available documentation, including medical records, educational reports (IEPs), incident reports, and previous behavior intervention plans. This provides objective, non-interview-based data that can corroborate or contradict information gathered from interviews.

The Foundation for Functional Analysis

The most significant advantage of aba indirect assessments is their efficiency; they provide a wealth of information in a short amount of time. However, it is critical to remember their biggest limitation: they are subjective. Because they rely on human recall and interpretation, the data collected is treated only as a hypothesis about the behavior’s true function.

The data gathered during the indirect phase forms the indispensable blueprint for the next steps: direct observation (taking ABC data) and, potentially, experimental functional analysis. By starting with the insights gained from indirect assessments, the BCBA can ensure that their subsequent, more time-intensive direct observations are focused, efficient, and relevant, ultimately leading to a more effective and durable intervention plan.