Multiple-respondent anecdotal assessments: an analysis of interrater agreement and correspondence with analogue assessment outcomes.

We evaluated interrater agreement across multiple respondents on anecdotal assessments and compared cases in which agreement was obtained with outcomes of functional analyses. Experiment 1 evaluated agreement among multiple respondents on the function of problem behavior for 27 individuals across 42 target behaviors using the Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS) and the Questions about Behavioral Function (QABF). Results showed that at least 4 of 5 respondents agreed on the primary maintaining consequence for 52% (22 of 42) of target behaviors with the MAS and 57% (24 of 42) with the QABF. Experiment 2 examined correspondence between the anecdotal assessment results and functional analysis results for 7 individuals for whom at least 4 of 5 respondents showed agreement in Experiment 1. Correspondence with functional analysis results was observed in 6 of 7 cases with the QABF and in 4 of 7 cases with the MAS. Implications of these outcomes for the utility of anecdotal assessments are discussed.