The function of the behavior usually describes why the behavior takes place in the first place. It usually refers to the contingencies that determine the occurrence of the behavior, especially the environmental factors. Therefore, the function describes the purpose of the behavior ( Lloyd, Weaver, & Staubitz, 2016) . The functional description is open to interpretation. For example, a child became angry, started swinging her arms, striking other children as well as the teacher while also raising her voice, which is a common occurrence. The implication is that the functional description offers an interpretation, whereas the topographical description only provides an analysis of what was observed.
The topography describes the behavior in its native form with a focus on the physical aspects. This helps us understand what the behavior looks lie in regards to the form. For example, a child may ask a set of seven questions. If the child is engaged in a conversation after the person has answered all the questions, he or she will start to re-ask the questions that the person answered ( Lloyd, Weaver, & Staubitz, 2016) . The same child may start by greeting a member of staff by saying ‘hi’ and then when he or she has been acknowledged; she will proceed to engage the individual in a continual conversation by calling them my name until the adult has acknowledged them again. This will lead to her repeating herself with the questions that she knows to ask. The difference between the two creates the need to have various professionals observe the same behavior and giving both the functional and topographical descriptions.
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Reference
Lloyd, B. P., Weaver, E. S., & Staubitz, J. L. (2016). A review of functional analysis methods conducted in public school classroom settings. Journal of Behavioral Education , 25 (3), 324-356.
