assess behavior

Question 1

why should we measure behavior?

Answer 1

• see if the treatment works
• see gradual improvement overtime
• helps to make us more accountable
• provides the opportunity for precise feedback
• helps us to better understand a problem and its causes

Question 2

what is the purpose of assessment?

Answer 2

to see if a program either works, not works, or does nothing.

Question 3

what is applied behavioral analysis?

Answer 3

study that attempts to change the problematic behavior of a person.

Question 4

what is an analytic experiment?

Answer 4

good design that shows experimental control and the relation between the independent (the treatment) and dependent variables (the behaviors we are observing).

Question 5

what is behavioral anaylsis?

Answer 5

empirical, focuses on a behavior that is important.

Question 6

what is conceptual behavioral analysis?

Answer 6

study is related to an accepted principle of behavior or discovers a new one.

Question 7

what is effective behavioral analysis?

Answer 7

• must produce clinically (behaviorally) significant effects
• did this really make things better?

Question 8

what is technological behavioral analysis?

Answer 8

treatment is described in detail so that others can repeat it.

Question 9

what is generality behavioral analysis?

Answer 9

results can be applied in multiple areas, times, problems, clients, etc.

Question 10

what are the goals of a program?

Answer 10

• defining the behaviors we want to implement
• ask if it would positively impact a person’s life
• ask what behaviors we want to increase or decrease
• ask when should these positive behaviors occur
• see if the problem be reduced or go away if we introduce these behaviors
• define the behavior
• need to be able to observe the behavior
• see if we can produce the desired behavior, the target behavior

Question 11

what is the criteria for intervention?

Answer 11

• departure from normal functioning (is behavior significantly different from others)
• impairs daily functioning
• dangerousness of behavior
• illegal/rule-breaking behavior
• concern to themselves or others
• developing behaviors that prevent problems from happening
• developing behaviors that promote adaptive, high-functioning behavior

Question 12

what are positive opposites?

Answer 12

• those adaptive and prosocial behaviors that denote how the individual is to behave instead of engaging in the maladaptive behavior
• useful in behavioral interventions to put in place behaviors we do not want happening
• example: encouraging someone to share instead of stealing

Question 13

what are the reasons for many problem behaviors?

Answer 13

failure to perform behaviors in the presence of an antecedent, like a prompt.

Question 14

what is operational definitions?

Answer 14

• defining a concept on the basis of the specific operations used for assessment
• basically means how we are going to measure a particular behavior

Question 15

why are direct observations emphasized?

Answer 15

they are focused on overt, physical behavior.

Question 16

what is momentary time sampling?

Answer 16

• involves only recording whether a behavior occurs at a particular points in time.
• look to see if the behavior is occurring at regular intervals and only record at those times
• could be at the end of each minute or every 5 minutes
• provides a good estimate of the percentage of time the behavior occurs

Question 17

what is partial interval time sampling?

Answer 17

• involves dividing a session into intervals of a fixed duration and recording whether the behavior occurred during the interval.
• often overestimates the percentage of time the behavior occurs

Question 18

what is whole interval time sampling?

Answer 18

• involves dividing a session into fixed interval and the behavior has to occur throughout the entire interval to be scored as occurring.
• often underestimates the percentage of time the behavior occurs

Question 19

why are experts important for assessing behavior?

Answer 19

they are knowledgeable in the field and know advice/tips that regular people do not.

Question 20

why are outside sources important for assessing behavior?

Answer 20

sometimes it is necessary to talk to people in the client’s life to guide target behaviors.

Question 21

what does direct observation look like for client’s in their environment?

Answer 21

asking if the target behavior look like when performed correctly?

Question 22

what is task analysis?

Answer 22

• way of proceeding from the general goal of the program to a number of small, trainable, and highly concrete behaviors
• helpful in identifying specific behaviors that are required and to specify the sequence in which these component behaviors are performed
• can be extremely helpful when training complex behaviors
• example: CPR training

Question 23

what is the criteria for defining behavior?

Answer 23

definitions should have objectivity (things we can observe about a behavior), clarity (need to be understandable by everyone), and completeness (behavior that should or should not be considered)

Question 24

what is the baseline/operant rate?

Answer 24

the rate of pre-program behavior.

Question 25

why should scientific methods used to measure behavior over human judgement?

Answer 25

it is more accurate as human judgements are often wrong.

Question 26

what are the cons of direct observation?

Answer 26

not entirely free from human judgment.

Question 27

what is automated measurement?

Answer 27

measuring behavior with a machine.

Question 28

what is frequency measurement?

Answer 28

- frequency counts of the behavior and rate of the behavior - frequency divided by time - specific behaviors are tallied

Question 29

what is discrete categorization?

Answer 29

- a list of multiple responses each relating to some overall goal - each is scored as having occurred or not occurred each day

Question 30

what is interval recording?

Answer 30

- a block of time is delineated for observation (ex. 30 minutes) - that period is divided into small intervals (ex. 10 seconds) - the behavior of interest is scored as having occurred or not occurred in that small interval - behaviors with unclear endings are scored based on how many intervals they last for - intervals that are too short can make it hard to understand if a certain behavior was performed in that interval - ex. time sampling

Question 31

what is duration?

Answer 31

- recording how long or the amount of time the response is performed - useful in responses that are continuous - might be helpful for interventions that was to decrease or increase the length of a response (ex. amount of time spent doing homework)

Question 32

what is latency?

Answer 32

- recording the amount of time before the response occurs - not difficult to measure - useful in applied settings

Question 33

what is intensity?

Answer 33

- recording the magnitude, strength, or force of the response - often not use to assess a program as preciseness can be hard to measure - ex. volume of one’s voice

Question 34

what is the number of people who perform the behavior?

Answer 34

- count of everyone who engages in the behavior - usually used in group situations - individuals are counted, not the behaviors they perform

Question 35

what is response specific measures?

Answer 35

assessment procedures that are unique to the particular behaviors under investigation.

Question 36

what are biological measures?

Answer 36

measures of arousal.

Question 37

what are self-reported measures?

Answer 37

- can be useful, but are often skewed by the person’s judgments of themselves - may be the only method of assessment available

Question 38

what are reports by others?

Answer 38

reports by people who know the client well.

Question 39

identifying the goal of behavior modification programs first involves:

Answer 39

defining the behavior to be changed in precise terms.

Question 40

as a general rule, a response definition should meet three criteria:

Answer 40

objectivity, clarity, and completeness.

Question 41

*blank* measures require merely noting instances in which behavior occurs.

Answer 41

frequency.

Question 42

the amount of time that elapses between a cue and the response is referred to as:

Answer 42

latency.

Question 43

what measure is constituted by the total number of behaviors ors steps that have been performed correctly?

Answer 43

discrete categorization.

Question 44

in using an interval scoring method, an observer looks at the client during each interval and usually:

Answer 44

records whether or not the behavior of interest has occurred.

Question 45

counting the number of people who use the elevator vs. stairs at the local shopping mall without telling people their behavior is being assessed is an example of:

Answer 45

unobtrusive assessment.

Question 46

usually, the purpose of the *blank* is to see whether the behavior carries over to another setting, is maintained over time, or whether another behavior (other than the target behavior) has changed.

Answer 46

probe.

Question 47

the formula for computing point-by-point agreement consists of:

Answer 47

a/(a+d) x 100

Question 48

periodic retraining sessions of observers can be used to *blank*.

Answer 48

minimize observer drift.

Question 49

acceptable agreement should be approximately what percentage?

Answer 49

80-100%.