Final - Behavioral Observation (Frick et al)

Question 1

(T/F) personality traits don’t count as behaviour

Answer 1

TRUE

Question 2

Behavioral observation draws heavily on theory and research tradition of ___

Answer 2

behaviorism

Question 3

Behavioral observation puts emphasis on ____, ____, low levels of ___, and assumptions of _____

Answer 3

• overt behavior, quantification, low levels of inference, and assumptions of environmental causality

Question 4

Define molar vs molecular behavior

Answer 4

• molar: broad units of behavior (requires inferences)
• molecular: specific sequences of motor movements

Question 5

What 3 things are required to guarantee adequacy of operational definitions of behavior?

Answer 5

• objective and focus on directly observable components of behavior
• clear, unambiguous, and easily understood
• require little or no inference

Question 6

What are 3 pros and 1 con of behavioral observation in naturalistic settings?

Answer 6

• no constraints on behavior
• multiple kinds of situations
• multiple kinds of behaviors
• need access (can be challenging)

Question 7

What are 2 pros and 2 cons of behavioral observation in laboratory/analog settings?

Answer 7

• greater control over stimuli
• increased chance of observing infrequent behavior
• possible sample biases
• limitations on sampling of situations and behaviors

Question 8

What are the 4 recording techniques for behavioral observation?

Answer 8

• real-time observation
• event recording
• duration recording
• interval recording

Question 9

What is real-time observation? What are pros/cons?

Answer 9

• recording event frequency and duration as they naturally occur without interruption
• most powerful/rigorous insights
• BUT low feasibility

Question 10

What is event recording? What are pros/cons?

Answer 10

• aka frequency recording or tally method
• recording each occurrence of target behavior during observation session or within specified intervals
• might miss infrequent behaviors

Question 11

What is duration recording?

Answer 11

• recording length of time from beginning to end of each occurrence of target behavior

Question 12

What is interval recording? What are pros/cons?

Answer 12

• aka time sampling
• dividing observation session into brief intervals and recording target behavior if it occurs within any part of each interval
• probably most feasible method
• BUT less ideal bc provides less info vs event or duration recording

Question 13

What are the 3 subcategories of interval recording?

Answer 13

• whole-interval: behavior scored only if occurs throughout entire interval
• partial-interval: scored if occurs only partially within interval
• momentary: scored if occurs during moment when recording ends

Question 14

What are the 3 types of observer effects/errors?

Answer 14

• reactivity
• observer bias
• observer drift

Question 15

What is reactivity? What are the 5 contributing factors to this effect?

Answer 15

• change in subject behavior due to presence of an observer
• valence/social desirability of behavior
• subject characteristics
• conspicuousness of observation
• observer attitudes
• rationale for observation

Question 16

What is observer bias? How can we reduce it?

Answer 16

• systematic error in assessment stemming from observers’ expectancies, prejudices, etc
• can be reduced by rigorous training and use of low-inference observation codes

Question 17

What is observer drift? How can we reduce it?

Answer 17

• decrease in observer consistency and accuracy after training
• recording-interpretation bias evolves, definitions or measurement procedures altered to suit changes in target behavior, or observers bored/inattentive
• can reduce by providing training and calibrating all observers simultaneously

Question 18

What are the 2 forms of reliability we can have for observation data?

Answer 18

• interobserver agreement (coefficient kappa: agreements btw observers corrected for chance)
• intraobserver reliability (test-retest, equivalent-forms, split-half, Chronbach’s alpha)

Question 19

What types of validity are hard to establish for observational data?

Answer 19

• criterion validity (concurrent/predictive)
• construct validity (covergent/divergent)