Re:clarification of attention seeking and manipulation

Robyn,
A good description of behavior should include those elements of the behavior that you can observe directly. If you can't see it, how can you describe it? Use objective terms. Don't infer causes or feelings and emotional states on the part of the behaver unless they can tell you. Your description should be such that if someone else read it, they would be able to identify that exact behavior when they saw it. Now, a description doesn't say anything about the behavior other than what it looks like. To go further, you need to explain the behavior. Behavior should be explained in terms of the conditions under which it occurs and subsequent changes in the environment or the behavior of others. I'm not sure what kind of behaviors you are trying to describe, but here's an example.

Whenever Mary is sent to her room (condtions under which the behavior occurs), she screams (behavior), hits the wall with her fist (behavior), and pulls her own hair with both hands (behavior). After she does this, her mother enters the room and tells her to stop (subsequent change in the environment or behavior of another).

I know this isn't short or simple. Unfortunately, accurate descriptions and explanation can't be short and simple. Labels, such as those supplied by the DSM simple aren't sufficient. Hope this helps.

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