Association for Behavior Analysis International

The completion of the human-genome map holds great potential for extending our understanding of gene-environment-behavior relations and behavior disorders. However, this potential can be fully realized only if the advances in genetic diagnostics are accompanied by advances in behavioral analyses that accurately characterize behavioral phenotypes. For example, in behavioral genetic studies, important behavioral phenomena seen in children with autism (e.g., echolalia, stereotypy, self-injurious behavior) are often phenotyped by a small number of items on a behavioral rating scale. This simplistic and structural approach to behavioral phenotyping often lacks precision and, more importantly, it overlooks the extent to which genes interact with environmental contingencies to influence the expression of aberrant behavior in autism (e.g., genetically mediated sensitivity to social escape as negative reinforcement for problem behavior). Functional analysis, on the other hand, provides a precise method of quantifying both the topographical and functional properties of aberrant behaviors. The accurate characterization of behavioral phenotypes using functional analysis methods should increase the power of analyses designed to identify genes that affect aberrant behavior in autism. This presentation will focus on how functional analysis methods may be used to better characterize behavioral phenotypes in autism and related disorders.