Chapter 3 Flashcards
Define behavioral assessment.
Behavioral assessment involves the collection and analysis of information and data in order to
(a) identify and describe target behavior;
(b) identify possible causes of the behavior;
(c) select appropriate treatment strategies to modify the behavior; and
(d) evaluate treatment outcome.
List the five phases of a behavior modification program.
A successful behavior modification program typically involves five phases during which the target behavior is identified, defined, and recorded:
(a) a screening or intake phase;
(b) a defining-the-target-behavior phase;
(c) a pre-program or baseline-assessment phase;
(d) a treatment phase; and
(e) a follow-up phase.
What are the five functions of the intake phase of a behavior modification program?
- One function of the screening phase is to determine whether a particular agency or behavior modifier is the APPROPRIATE one to deal with a potential client’s behavior.
- A second function is to INFORM the CLIENT about the agency’s or practitioner’s POLICIES and procedures for the services provided.
- A third function is to SCREEN for a crisis condition, such as child abuse or suicide risk, that might require immediate intervention.
- A fourth function, in some cases, is to gather sufficient information to DIAGNOSE the client according to the standardized categories of mental disorder, such as those listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th ed. As indicated in Note 1 of Chapter 1, clinics, hospitals, schools, and other agencies might require such diagnoses before treatment can be offered, and health insurance companies often require them before treatment can be paid for.
- A fifth function of the screening phase is to provide initial information about which behavior(s) should be ACCESSED. To achieve this initial assessment, applied behavior analysts and behavior therapists use all of the above information plus other information—teachers’ reports, various traditional test results, and other assessment devices—to aid in pinpointing specific target behaviors to address.
*What does the term target behavior mean? What were the target behaviors in Darren’s case?
A target behavior is a behavior to be improved in a behavior modification program. In Darren’s case, the target behaviors were increasing his cooperative behavior and decreasing his commanding behavior.
*What two things typically occur during the baseline phase of a behavior modification program?
To determine the level of the target behavior prior to treatment, and to try to identify possible controlling variables of the target behavior.
*In what types of settings are the terms training program and intervention strategy or therapy program typically used?
The term training program is typically used in an educational setting. The terms therapy program and intervention strategy are typically used in community or clinical settings.
What is the purpose of the follow-up phase of a behavior modification program?
Finally, a follow-up phase is conducted to determine whether the improvements achieved during treatment are maintained after the program’s termination. When feasible, this will consist of observations in the natural environment—i.e., the home—or under circumstances in which the behavior is expected to occur.
*What is prerequisite to the design and implementation of a behavior modification program?
Defining target behaviors clearly, completely, and in measurable terms.
Briefly distinguish between direct and indirect assessment procedures.
Applied behavior analysts and behavior therapists regard thoughts and feelings as covert behaviors. For such target behaviors, applied behavior analysts and behavior therapists make use of indirect assessment procedures—assessments for which the behavior modifier or a trained observer does not directly observe the target behavior in the situation in which the behavior occurs. Direct assessment procedures are assessments in which the behavior modifier or a trained observer directly observes and records the target behaviors in the actual settings in which the behavior occurs.
*Describe two circumstances that might lead to the use of indirect assessment procedures.
Indirect assessment procedures are likely to be used if it is impractical or you to observe clients regularly in the situations in which the target behaviors occur, or if your clients want to change some of their thoughts and feelings that are difficult to observe.
Briefly describe the advantages and disadvantages of indirect assessment procedures.
Indirect assessment procedures have the advantages of being convenient, not requiring an inordinate amount of time, and potentially providing information about covert behaviors.
However, they suffer from the disadvantages that those providing information might not remember relevant observations accurately or have biases that would influence them to provide inaccurate data.
List the five main types of indirect assessment procedures.
The most common of these indirect procedures are interviews with the client and his or her significant others, questionnaires, role-playing, and client self-monitoring.
*List and describe briefly four types of questionnaires used in behavioral assessments.
Life history questionnaires, problem checklists, survey schedules, and third-party rating scales. These are briefly described in the section on indirect assessment.
Briefly describe the main advantage and the three disadvantages of direct assessment procedures.
The main advantage of direct assessment procedures is that they are more accurate than indirect assessment procedures, which is the main reason that applied behavior analysts prefer to use direct assessment procedures whenever possible.
Disadvantages of direct assessment procedures are that they are time consuming, require that observers be appropriately trained, and cannot be used to monitor covert behaviors.
What does the topography of a behavior mean? Describe an example that is not in this chapter.
The topography of a response is the specific movements involved in making the response. For example, Stokes, Luiselli, and Reed (2010) analyzed the movements of effective tackling in high school football as 10 distinct components (e.g., head up, wrap arms around ball carrier’s thighs, etc.).
Picture prompts are sometimes useful for helping observers to identify variations in the topography of a response. One of the authors developed detailed checklists with picture prompts for evaluating swimming strokes of young competitive swimmers. See Figure 3.2 for the backstroke checklist.
What does the frequency of behavior mean? Describe an example that is not in this chapter.
Frequency or rate of behavior refers to the number of instances of a behavior that occur in a given period of time. If you want to improve the practice performance of figure skaters, you might examine the frequency with which the skater performed various jumps and spins. at was the approach taken by Michelle Hume, a figure skating coach at St. Anne’s Figure Skating Club in Manitoba (Hume, Martin, Gonzales, Cracklen, & Genthon, 1985). Coach Hume first defined jumps and spins in such a way that student observers could decide when either of those responses occurred. A jump was defined as any occasion when a skater jumped in the air so that both skates le the ice, a minimum of one complete revolution occurred in the air, and the skater landed on one foot, facing in the opposite direction without falling. A spin was defined as spinning on one skate for a minimum of three revolutions while maintaining a balanced, stationary position. When the observers knew what behaviors to look for, Coach Hume’s next step was to take a baseline of the number of jumps and spins each individual skater performed during several practices. e observers used the data sheet shown in Figure 3.3.
*What was plotted on the vertical axis and the horizontal axis of the frequency graph of a figure skater?
Vertical axis – number of elements (jumps and spins) attempted.
Horizontal axis – sessions.
What are two common measures of the amount of behavior?
While frequency or rate is the most common measure of the amount of a given behavior, another common measure is its duration.
What do we mean by the duration of a behavior? Give and explain an example in which duration might be more appropriate than frequency.
The duration of behavior is the length of time from the beginning to the end of an episode of behavior. In dealing with a behavior such as a tantrum, you may be more concerned with its duration than with its frequency. In fact, frequency can be ambiguous when trying to apply it to something like temper tantrums (Pear, 2004). What should be counted as a separate response? Each cry, scream, or kick on the floor? Or should we count each episode of a tantrum as a separate response? Because it is usually difficult to answer these questions, we can generally avoid them by focusing on the duration of the behavior. Other examples of behavior for which duration may be more appropriate than frequency are listening attentively, sitting in one’s seat in a classroom, watching television, talking on the telephone, and taking a break. Duration of behavior is measured using timers, stopwatches, or clocks.
What is another word for the intensity of a response? Describe an example in which it would be important to measure the intensity of behavior.
Sometimes we are concerned with measuring the intensity, magnitude, or force of a response. Assessments of intensity often utilize instrumentation. For example, when voice loudness is the behavior of concern, decibel level can be measured by a device called a voice meter. To measure the strength of grip pressure—such as during a handshake—a device called a dynamometer can be used. Measures of force are common in the skills involved in various sports. For example, devices are available that assess the speed at which a pitcher can throw a baseball, a hockey player can shoot a puck, or a tennis player can perform a serve (e.g., Robinson & Robinson, 2016). e speed of an object as determined by such devices is used to deduce the force with which it was propelled.
*Define stimulus control. Give an example of it that is not in this chapter.
Stimulus control refers to the degree of correlation between the occurrence of a stimulus and the occurrence of a response. For example, there is typically good stimulus control between a traffic light turning red and the cars stopping at the intersection.
What do we mean by the latency of a response? Describe an example that is not in this chapter.
The latency of a behavior, o en called reaction time, is the time between the occurrence of a particular event or cue and the start of that behavior. For example, suppose a child in a classroom works effectively once started, but seems to fool around forever before starting. is child has a long latency getting started. Like duration, latency is assessed using timers, stopwatches, or clocks.
Using an example, explain how the quality of a behavior is a refinement of one or more of the other dimensions of behavior.
Concern about the quality of a behavior is frequently encountered in everyday life. Teachers might describe the quality of a child’s handwriting as good, average, or poor. In judgmental sports—i.e., sports in which human judgement regard- ing the occurrence of the desired response is required—such as specific dives off a diving board, gymnastic movements, and figure skating jumps, athletes receive points based on the quality of their performances. We all make resolutions to do various activities “better.” But quality is not a characteristic additional to those mentioned previously. Rather, it is a refinement of one or more of them. Sometimes differences in judgments of quality are based on topography, as when a figure skating jump that is landed on one foot is considered better than one that lands on two feet. Sometimes it is a combination of frequency and stimulus control. For example, someone who is considered a good student is likely to show a high frequency of studying and answering test questions correctly. A child who is said to be “good” shows a high frequency of following instructions from parents and teachers. In terms of latency, a runner who leaves the blocks very quickly a er the firing of the starter’s pistol might be considered to have a “good” start, while a runner who shows a lon- ger latency had a “poor” start. us, quality of response is essentially an arbitrary—and o en subjective—designation of one or more of the previously mentioned characteristics of behavior that has functional or social value. An important aim of behavior analysis is to make measures of behavior more objective, as the effectiveness of behavior modification procedures depends critically on the precise specification of the behavior to be treated.
Define continuous recording. Describe an example that is not in this chapter.
Continuous or event-frequency recording is the recording of every instance of a behavior during a designated observation period. A continuous recording system is commonly used when successive responses are quite similar in duration, such as the number of cigarettes smoked, instances of a child pinching another child, or frequency of saying “you know.” But what if successive responses are of variable duration, such as time spent being on social media or exhibiting off-task behavior in a classroom? In such cases, interval recording is commonly used.