observing and recording behaviour Flashcards

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1
Q

in a behaviour assessment, what are the three steps to measure the baseline of a target behaviour?

A
  1. determine if treatment is necessary
  2. provide information to choose the best treatment
  3. determine if treatment is successful
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2
Q

what is indirect assessment?

A

tries to measure target behaviour with interviews, questionnaires, and/or rating scales
- may rely on other people’s testimony
- requires recall of an individual’s behaviour
ex. at the end of the week, how often this this action occur

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3
Q

what are some concerns with indirect assessment?

A
  • incomplete
  • unreliable
  • inaccurate
  • biased
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4
Q

what is a direct assessment?

A

target behaviour is measured as it occurs
- can be difficult to always measure once something happens

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5
Q

who can measure the behaviour as it occurs in direct assessment?

A

can be a person, camera, or another recording device (app)

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6
Q

can direct assessment be done through self-monitoring?

A

yes! client can be trained to report own behaviour

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7
Q

when is self-monitoring useful?

A
  • independent observers are not available
  • target behaviour is infrequent
  • target behaviour does not occur in the presence of other people
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8
Q

what are the steps to direct assessment: recording a behaviour (what should we pay attention and watch for

A
  1. define the target behaviour
  2. identify who, when and where to record
  3. choose a recording method (what to record)
  4. choose a recording instrument (how to record)
  5. consider the reactivity of the recording
  6. interobserver agreement assessment
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9
Q

what is an operational definition of target behaviour?

A

definition that specifies the operation by which a term will be measure
- this is what i’m interested in, this is my behaviour, and this is how i am going to measure it

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10
Q

how do we make a target behaviour precise?

A
  • tell people what they are watching for
  • people could replicate
  • transparent
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11
Q

how do we make a target behaviour quantitative?

A
  • give it a number if we can
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12
Q

how do we make a target behaviour objective/unambiguous?

A
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13
Q

how do we make a target behaviour not reference internal states, feelings or motivation

A
  • if we add something more abstract by adding emotions, we are adding extra complexity
  • more abstract, the harder it is to include a model
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14
Q

how do we make a target behaviour practical?

A
  • reasonable measure that works for you and your situation
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15
Q

how do we make a target behaviour important/significant?

A
  • can have better or worse measures based on your environment
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16
Q

who is the individual recording the study?

A

the observer

17
Q

what is an independent observer?

A

someone besides the person exhibiting target behaviour

18
Q

what is an observational period?

A

when the target behaviour is recorded

19
Q

what will timing depend on?

A

when the behaviour occurs

when the observer is available
- having phone in pocket turn on and off is very reliable
- a teacher observing behaviour can be hard during recess
- behaviour within a class, much easier
- practical limitations !!!
(this can shift depending on what we are trying to observe)

20
Q

where are the two setting that a behaviour can occur / be observed?

A

natural or analogue settings

21
Q

what is a natural setting?

A
  • places in which the target behaviour occurs typically
  • a more representative sample of target behaviour
22
Q

what is an analogue setting?

A
  • lab or clinical
  • out of natural environment
  • out of daily routine
  • a more controlled environment (easy to manipulate variables that influence behaviour)
23
Q

what are the possible recording methods?

A

frequency, duration, intensity, and latency

24
Q

what is frequency

A

number of times behaviour occurs in observation period
- six times today they took a deep breath

25
Q

what is duration

A
  • total amount of time occupied by the behaviour
  • how long they take the deep breath
26
Q

what is intensity

A
  • amount of force, energy or exertion involved
  • child throwing a temper tantrum (screaming, flailing on floor, volume in decibels of how loud the scream was
27
Q

what is latency

A
  • time from some stimulus/event to the onset of behaviour
  • throwing a hand up and the teacher hasn’t called on them yet, how long is it before the child starts to lash out
28
Q

do recording methods have limited or many choices?

A

many!

29
Q

what are some examples of the choices we have to make when recording behaviour?

A
  • natural or analogue
  • indirect or direct
  • structured or unstructured observation
  • continuous (8 hours straight) vs sample (30 seconds every couple hours until we have 100 samples) recording
  • frequency vs duration vs intensity
30
Q

what are some potential recording equipment items?

A

paper and pencil
laptop
stopwatch
small video cameras
phone
apps
google home or amazon alexa

31
Q

recordings of a particular behaviour should be..?

A

Immediate!

31
Q

what is reactivity?

A

process of recording behaviour may cause behaviour to change based on different environments/settings

32
Q

how can reactivity be problematic even before treatment?

A
  • we often begin with baselines for most treatment methods
  • to get a baseline, we still need to record someone’s behaviour, already causing them to adjust
  • hard to study humans and unsure you are getting an unbiased action
33
Q

what are some ways we are able to reduce reactivity?

A
  • wait until the person being observed becomes accustomed to the observer
  • use a one-way observation window or participant observer (a person who is usually in the setting where target behaviour occurs)
  • self-monitoring may lead to behaviour changes (can be used as treatment)
34
Q

why can measuring reactivity be difficult?

A

we need informed consent!

35
Q

what is the interobserver agreement (IOA)?

A

is a behaviour being recorded consistently?

36
Q

how do you evaluate an IOA?

A
  1. two people independently observe and record the same target behaviour during the same observation period
  2. compare recordings of two observers
  3. calculate percentage or agreement
37
Q

if more than one person is recording a behaviour, what do we need to make sure of?

A

all observers are recording in the same way

38
Q

if interjudge reliability is high…

A

that means that our reports are all in agreement and we are all recording behaviour according to the rules