The Project
As you begin work on your Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) Project, you may find it useful to read research articles which used or discussed FBA.
This page will provide guidance on how to use the University Libraries' database called APA PsycInfo so that you have the background information to succeed on this project.
You're unlikely to find an article which outlines the use of a functional behavior assessment for the specific behavior you want to change. But it can still be useful to read through the various ways that researchers have employed the FBA process to bring about behavior change.
Learning more about Functional Behavior Assessment
- APA PsycInfo This link opens in a new window
Key database in the field of psychology. Includes information of use to psychologists, students, and professionals in related fields such as psychiatry, management, business, and education, social science, neuroscience, law, medicine, and social work.
APA PsycInfo will be a great database to use to find information on FBA.
You can click on the link (above) to get there, or, from the libraries' homepage at www.bsu.edu/library, you can scroll down to the "Databases" page and navigate alphabetically to 'APA PsycInfo.'
You can start by typing "functional behavior assessment" with quotation marks in the top search box.
TIP: Using quotation marks around a phrase or two or more words keeps the words together in the database search.
To bring up the most complete set of results, I recommend also searching on the phrase "functional behavioral assessment," because it seems that some authors prefer one phrase over the other -- but both phrases refer to the same thing.
Here's how you can search for both of those phrases: use OR between them, as shown here:
TIP: Don't forget those quotations marks, even thought the database autofill might suggest searching differently!
You'll have a big set of results at this point.
If you type another search term in the second box, your results will be narrowed to only those documents which include that word also.
For example, to search for those entries which have to do with Functional Behavior Assessment and sleep, you could do this search:
Also: Consider searching in ERIC (EBSCOhost) for information about FBA - you'll find many results there, too!
Place limits on your search
Notice that in ERIC and APA PsycInfo you can limit your search by date and to journal articles using the Filters options.
Find It @ Ball State: Helping you find the full text of the title you want
When you'
re using a database, and can't find a link to the full text of an article, look for a Find It @ Ball State button, sometimes under "Access Options."
Find It helps you to search the Libraries' other databases and subscriptions to see if the full text is available through another resource.
- If it is available, Find It provides a link to the text of the article.
- If it cannot find the full-text, Find It provides a link to Interlibrary Loan so that you can request that we get a copy of the article from another library.
To use Find It, click on the red Find It @ Ball State button. (Sometimes you must click on "Access Options" to see "Find it @ Ball State.")
If we DO have full text access to the article, a page will be displayed with options for access under "Full Text Format Options." The typical options are:
- PDF: the file format reflecting the formatting for a printed page
- Link: taking you to the webpage version of the article
If we do NOT have immediate full text access to the article, the OneSearch record for the article will be displayed.
- Look under "Links" for "Request this item with InterLibrary Loan / ILLiad."
- Click there, and log in with your Ball State username and password.
- More information about placing an Interlibrary Loan request.
