The rationale for Functional Communication Training (FCT) states that behavioral problems can be usefully viewed as a form of communication and are purposeful in nature. Descriptors of FCT include: (a) specifies the reinforcer, (b) requires minimal response effort, (c) is reinforced on a dense schedule, and (d) can be used to obtain reinforcement across environmental contexts.
Functional assessment and functional analyses are necessary to identify the operant function of the behavior of concern. Socially mediated reinforcement must be assessed (functions of attention, escape and accessing tangibles). Since the primary principle of the model is functional equivalence, functional analysis must be the basis for choosing communicative forms to teach. It is necessary that the new communicative forms be more efficient and effective than the problem behavior that it is to replace. Ease of performance and ease of interpretability are two major influences on response efficiency.
On a practical level, one person assesses the current ability and skills of another person in a particular environment. FCT also seeks to identify behaviors that currently result in reinforcement but which are less than optimal and for which the substitution of a new form of communication would result in greater reinforcement and more effective interaction with that environment.
Once communicative forms have been chosen, there must be structured opportunities for those forms to be taught, displayed and reinforced. Typically, training begins in highly controlled, carefully orchestrated environments and gradually moves toward less controlled settings as success is achieved.
Carr, E. G., Levin, L., McConnachie, G., Carlson, J. I., Kemp, D. C., & Smith, C. E. (1994). Communication-based intervention for problem behavior: A user's guide for producing positive change. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.
Durand, V. M. (1990). Severe behavior problems: A functional communication training approach. New York: Guilford Press.
