Methods for Measuring Behavior Flashcards
What are the common methods of measuring behavior?
Event recording, timing, and time sampling are the common methods of measuring behavior.
What is event recording?
Event recording encompasses a wide variety of procedures
for detecting and recording the number of times a behavior of interest occurs.
How is event recording used?
Event recording is also used to measure discrete trial
behaviors, in which the count for each trial or opportunity to
respond is either 1 or 0, representing the occurrence or nonoccurrence of the target behavior.
What are the considerations for event recording?
Must have a discrete onset and endpoint, is difficult for behaviors defined without specific discrete action or object relations such as free-play, high-rate behaviors may be difficult to measure, and does not produce accurate measures for target behaviors that occur for extended time periods.
What dimensions of behavior do you use timing for?
Behavior analysts use a variety of timing devices and procedures
to measure duration, response latency, and IRT.
How do you time duration?
Researchers might use computer systems while practitioners should use a stopwatch to start and stop the timing during the behavior of interest with resetting.
how do you measure latency?
Measuring latency requires the precise
detection and recording of the time that elapses from the onset of
each occurrence of the antecedent stimulus event of interest to the
onset of the target behavior
How do you measure IRT?
Measuring IRTs requires recording
the precise time that elapses from the termination of each occurrence of the target behavior to the onset of the next response.
What is time sampling?
Time sampling refers to a variety of methods for observing and recording behavior during intervals or at specific moments
in time.
What is the procedure for time sampling?
The basic procedure involves dividing the observation
period into time intervals and then recording the presence or absence of behavior within or at the end of each interval.
What are the three forms of time sampling?
Whole-interval, partial-interval, and momentary time sampling.
What is whole-interval recording?
At the end of each interval, the observer records whether the target behavior occurred throughout the interval.
When is whole-interval recording used?
Whole-interval recording is often used to measure continuous behaviors (e.g., cooperative play) and behaviors that occur
at such high rates that observers have difficulty distinguishing one response from another (e.g., rocking, humming) but can detect whether the behavior is occurring at any given
time.
What is a common problem of whole-interval recording?
Data obtained with whole-interval recording usually underestimate the overall percentage of the observation period
in which the behavior actually occurred.
What does whole-interval recording estimate?
Total duration
