The use of time base lag sequential analysis to look at the relationship between environmental events and challenging behaviour in people with learning disabilities

Although low frequency challenging behaviour (that which occurs less than once a
day) is common, very little research has been done into its analysis or treatment. It is suggested
that the methods of analysing high frequency challenging behaviour, such as experimental
functional analysis, will not be applicable with low frequency challenging behaviour. The use
of correctional analysis of case records is considered as a method for generating hypotheses
as to why a client is showing low frequency challenging behaviour. It is noted that using
simple correlations is a method that can provide only limited information as to the relationship
between a challenging behaviour and other events. A method that can reveal more about the
temporal relationship between environmental events and challenging behaviour is time base
lag sequential analysis. Three case studies are presented in which time base lag sequential
analysis was used