Derivate and Definitional Measures of Behavior Flashcards
What are the two frequently used derivate measures?
Percentage and trials-to-criterion are the two derivative measures of dimensional quantities of behavior.
What is percentage?
Percentage is a ratio formed by combining the same dimensional quantities.
Why is percentage used?
Report participants’ response accuracy, proportion of observation intervals in which the target behavior occurred.
How are percentages used improperly?
Percentage measures based on small divisors are unduly affected by small changes in behavior and may erroneously suggest improving performance.
Why is percentage’s use as a behavioral quantity limited?
Percentage has no dimensional quantities and sets upper and lower limits on the data.
What is trials-to-criterion?
Trials-to-criterion is a measure of the number of response opportunities to achieve a predetermined level of performance.
What is an example of trials-to-criterion?
The number of trials required for a learner to tie their shoe.
How are trials-to-criterion reported?
Trials-to-criterion data are often calculated and reported as
an ex post facto (retroactive) measure of one important aspect of the “cost” of
a treatment or instructional method
What are the definitional measures of behavior?
Topography and magnitude
How are trials-to-criterion data used?
compare the
relative efficiency of two or more treatments or instructional
methods , collected and analyzed as a dependent variable, assessing a learner’s increasing competence.
Why are definitional measures important?
Behavior
analysts measure the topography or magnitude of a response to determine whether the response represents an occurrence of the
target behavior.
What is topography?
Topography is the physical form or shape of a behavior.
How is topography a measurable?
Responses of varying form can be detected from one another.
How is topography malleable?
Responses of varying form are shaped and selected by their consequences.
Why is topography important?
In activities which form is valued in its own right and when the functional outcomes of the behavior correlate highly with specific topographies.
