Part 2 - Selecting/Defining/Measuring Bx Flashcards
What are behavioral assessment methods?
observation, interviews, checklists, tests
What are systematic interventions?
assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation
What are the 5 phases/functions of behavioral assessment?
screening and general disposition; defining and generally quantifying problems or desired achievement criteria; pinpointing target behavior/s to be treated; monitoring progress; following up
Which types of questions are most important for behavioral assessment interviews?
What and When questions are most important.
What is an ecological assessment?
great amount of information gathered about person and her living and work environments
What is reactivity?
effects of assessment procedure on behavior being assessed
What is habilitation?
degree to which repertoire maximizes reinforcement and minimizes punishment
What is the relevance of behavior rule?
target behaviors should be selected only when behavior is likely to produce reinforcement in the natural environment
What are important questions regarding potential target behaviors?
Is it a necessary prerequisite for a useful skill?
Will it increase access to environments where other important behaviors can be learned and used? (behavioral cusp; pivotal behavior)
Will changing it predispose others to interact in a more appropriate and supportive matter?
Is it an age-appropriate behavior? (normalization)
If it’s to be reduced/eliminated, what adaptive behavior will replace it?
Does it represent the actual problem/goal, or is it only indirectly related?
Is this just talk or the real behavior of interest?
What if the goal of the behavior change program isn’t a behavior?
What is a behavioral cusp?
behavior with consequences beyond the change itself; e.g., crawling opens up a person to new environments where new contingencies can be learned
What is a pivotal behavior?
behavior that, once learned, produces corresponding modifications/covariations in other adaptive, untrained behaviors; e.g., “self-initiating” is an important skill that can be used across areas
What is normalization?
use of progressively more typical environments, expectations, and procedures to establish/maintain personal behaviors that are as culturally normal as possible
What are important questions regarding the order of addressing behaviors?
Does it pose danger to the client/others?
Will changing it lead to higher reinforcement rates?
What will be its relative importance to future skill development and independent functioning?
How many opportunities will the client have to use this new behavior? or How often does the problem behavior occur?
How long-standing is the problem or skill deficit?
Will it produce reinforcement for significant others?
Will changing it reduce negative/unwanted attention from others?
How likely is success in changing this target behavior?
How much will it cost to change this behavior?
How can target behaviors be defined?
functionally (best for ABA) or topographically
What are 3 characteristics of a good operational definition?
it should be:
objective
clear, technological, unambiguous, and readable by an experienced observer
complete, delineating “boundaries” of what is and isn’t the behavior
What is social validity?
behaviors that positively/meaningfully change one’s life
What are the 2 approaches to determining socially validated performance criteria?
assessing performance of highly-competent people; experimentally manipulating different levels of performance to determine which produces optimal results
What is measurement?
process of assigning numbers and units to particular features of objects or events
What is a dimensional quality?
the particular feature of an object/event that is measured
What are the 3 levels of scientific knowledge?
description, prediction, control
What is summative evaluation?
evaluation of overall effects of behavior change programs
What is a formative assessment?
frequent measures of behavior during treatment
What are dimensional qualities of behavior?
repeatability, temporal extent, temporal locus
Which measures are based on repeatability?
count, rate/frequency, celeration
What are rules/guidelines to obtain, describe, and interpret count and rate data?
- always reference counting time
- calculate in/correct rates of response when assessing skill development
- take into account the varied complexity of responses
- use rate of responding to measure free operants
What are free operants?
behaviors with discrete beginning and end points, require minimal displacement of organism in space and time, require little completion time, can be emitted any time, wide rate range
When should rate recording not be used?
measuring behaviors occurring in discrete trials; continuous behaviors occurring for extended time periods
What is celeration?
measure of how response rates change over time; count per unit time per unit time OR rate per unit of time
What is a celeration trend line?
shows a factor by which rate of responding is multiplying/accelerating or dividing/decelerating across the celeration time period
What are measures based on temporal extent?
duration per session; duration per occurrence
What are measures based on temporal locus?
latency, IRT
What are derivative measures?
percentage, trials to criterion
What are definitional measures?
topography, magnitude
What are procedures for measuring behavior?
event recording, timing, time sampling, measurement by permanent product
What is event recording, and how is it done?
procedures to detect/count behaviors; wrist counters, hand-tally digital counters, abacus wrist and shoestring counters, masking tape, coins/buttons/pocket calculators
What is timing?
measuring duration, response latency, and IRT
What is time sampling?
methods for observing/recording behavior in intervals/certain times whole interval, partial interval, MTS (including planned activity checks)
What is an artifact?
something appearing to exist due to examination/measurement method
What are advantages of measurement by permanent product?
practitioner free to do other tasks; makes possible measurement of some behaviors that occur in inconvenient/inaccessible times; measurement may be more accurate, complete, and continuous; facilitate data collection for IOA and treatment integrity; enables measurement of complex behaviors and multiple response classes
When is measurement by permanent product appropriate?
Is real-time measurement needed?
Can the behavior be measured by permanent product?
Will obtaining a contrived permanent product unduly affect the behavior?
How much will it cost to obtain/measure the permanent product?
What are 3 indicators of trustworthy measurement?
validity, accuracy, reliability
What is validity?
yields data directly relevant to the phenomenon measured and to the reason/s for measuring it
What is accuracy?
extent to which observed value matches actual value
What is measurement bias?
nonrandom measurement error, likely in one direction
What is reliability?
consistency over time and repeated measures
What is necessary for trustworthy data?
validity and accuracy
What are threats to measurement validity?
indirect measurement, measuring the wrong dimension of target behavior, measuring artifacts (discontinuous measurement, poorly-scheduled measurement periods, insensitive/limited measurement scales)
What are threats to measurement accuracy and reliability?
poorly-designed measurement system, inadequate observer training, unintended influences on observers
How do you get adequate observers?
select carefully, train to objective standard of competency, provide ongoing training to minimize observer drift
What are unintended influences on observers?
observer expectations and observer reactivity
What is observer drift?
unintended changes in data collection procedures
What is observer reactivity?
measurement error resulting from observer’s awareness that others are evaluating the data she reports
What is calibration?
systematically adjusting data to compensate for data error in a consistent direction of a consistent value
What are requisites for obtaining valid IOA measures?
observers must use same measurement system, measure the same events, and do so independently of one another
