BACB Task List Section C.3-D.7

Repeatability, temporal extent, temporal locus

three fundamental and measurable dimensional quantities

Repeatability

describes the countability of behavior

Temporal extent

describes the measure of a behavior's duration

temporal locus

describes the point in time that a behavior is measured

occurrence measures

Quantitative facts representing the repeatability and countability of behavior

count, rate, celeration

three types of repeatability/occurrence measures

Count

Measurement of the number of occurrences of a specific behavior; how many times a behavior occurs; used when measuring discrete behaviors

rate

a measurement of the number of occurrences in a given period of time; unit of time must be standard for data comparisons

celeration

a measurement of the changes in rate over time; acceleration= increase, deceleration= decrease; associated with fluency building to measure increases in response rates, precision teaching

Fluency

a combination of accuracy and response rate

derivative measures

measurement that is derived from the repeatability dimensional quantities

percentage and trials to criterion

two types of derivative measures

percentage

measurement that is derived from count; proportion of ratio formed to compare correct responses divided by total opportunities

magnitude

definitional measure; a measurement that depicts the strength, force, intensity, and/or severity of behavior; requires constant recording; used for measuring the force of behavior when intensity is needed for successful responding and measuring severity of dangerous behaviors

topography

definitional measure; a measurement that depicts the physical form and shape of behavior; measurable and changeable dimension of behavior; shape and form a behavior takes in the result of a consequence; used for behaviors that require a specific form, style, or physical skill to be correct

temporal dimensions of behavior

measuring behavior using timing; measuring the length and/or point in time of a behavior

temporal extent and temporal locus

two categories of temporal dimensions

duration

temporal extent; a measurement that depicts the length of time that a behavior occurs from its onset to its offset; how long a behavior lasts from start to finish

total duration-per-session and duration-per-occurrence

two procedures to calculate duration

total duration-per-session

add up the cumulative amount of time a client engages in the response across the total session

duration-per-session

measure the duration of time that each episode of the response occurs

latency

temporal locus; a measurement that depicts the duration of time between the presentation of a SD and the onset of behavior; how long does it take a student to follow an instruction; used when primary concern is decreasing or increasing latencies

interresponse time (IRT)

temporal locus; a measurement that depicts the duration of time that elapses between two consecutive instances of behavior; used when primary concern is the time in between behaviors

continuous measurement

when behavior is measured in such a way that it details every instance of the target behavior during a specified period of time; used when behaviors don't occur at high rates and behavior has a clear start and stop

discontinuous measurement

a type of measurement in which some instances of the target behavior are not detected/measured; recording a behavior's occurrence or non-occurrence during an interval to estimate the overall occurrence of that behavior; used for behaviors that occur at high rates, limited resources, and does not have a clear start and stop

whole interval, partial interval, and momentary time sampling

three types of time-sampling/interval recording

whole interval recording

a method used to estimate the overall occurrence of a behavior by measuring the number of intervals during which the behavior occurs throughout the entire interval; measure behaviors for increase; underestimates percentage

partial interval recording

a method used to estimate the overall occurrence of a behavior by measuring the number of intervals during which the behavior occurred at any time within the interval; percentage of intervals in which the behavior occurred; overestimates the percentage; underestimates the rate of high-rate behaviors; measures behavior for decrease

momentary time sampling

method used to estimate the overall occurrence of a behavior by measuring the number of intervals during which the behavior is occurring at the end of the interval; can miss alot of behavior; used when not able to measure behavior throughout the interval and for easily identifiable behaviors

planned activity check

method used to estimate the overall occurrence of group behavior by measuring the number of individuals who are emitting the behavior at the end of the interval

trials to criterion

measure the number of response opportunities required to achieve a pre-specified level of performance; can be measured as count, rate, duration, and latency; comparing two or more procedures

cost-benefit analysis

weighing the difference the cost of implementing an intervention and the benefit; resources for planning; cost of behavior change

training duration

refers to the (predicted) time that will be needed for training to occur and for independence/mastery to be reached; part of cost-benefit analysis; conducted before beginning a skill acquisition or behavior reduction program

validity, accuracy, reliability

three indicators of trustworthy measurement

validity

when measurement that produces data is applicable and specific to the target behavior and why that behavior is being measured

relevant dimension, direct measurement, and conditions of interest

three fundamentals of validity

indirect measures, measuring the wrong dimension of the target behavior, measurement artifacts

three threats to validity

measurement artifacts

data that represent an unwarranted and misleading picture of behavior because of how it was measured

poor scheduled measurement periods, limiting measurement scales, time-sampling and interval recording

three causes of measurement artifacts

reliability

the degree to which repeating a measurement procedure produces the same result; dependability of measurement; can vary from low to high; produces the same result with repeat use

human error

threats to reliability

poorly created measurement systems, bad observer training, unintended influences

three causes of human measurement error

observer drift

when observers collecting data have a shift/drift in how they interpret the operational definitions of the target behavior

measurement bias

when observers' measurement is influenced by an expectation or belief rather than what actually occurs

observer reactivity

when data are influences by the observer's awareness that they are being monitored and evaluated

interobserver agreement (IOA)

a measurement of the degree to which two or more observers report the same values when measuring the same behavior; high ioa= hight reliability; implying that changes in data actually reflect changes in behavior

total count, mean count-per interval, exact count-per interval, trial-by-trial

four repeatability measure IOAs

total count IOA

percentage of agreement regarding total number of responses; simplest measure; overestimates the extent of actual agreement

mean count-per- interval IOA

calculates the average agreement between the counts of two observers for each interval

exact count-per-interval IOA

strictest IOA, percentage of intervals in which the recorders both record the same count

trial-by-trial IOA

the agreement between two recorders measuring the occurrence or nonoccurrence of behavior

total duration IOA and mean duration-per-occurrence IOA

two temporal measures of IOA

total duration IOA

percentage of agreement regarding total duration; overestimates the extent of actual agreement

mean duration-per-occurrence IOA

most precise temporal/duration IOA

interval-by-interval, scored interval, unscored interval

three time-sampling measures of IOA

interval-by-interval IOA

match data for each interval to another observer's data for the same interval; overestimate actual agreement; subject to random or accidental agreement

scored interval IOA

scored= behavior occurred in the interval; both observers scored an occurrence

unscored interval IOA

unscored= behavior did not occur in the interval; minimizes the effects of chance agreements; stricter for high-rate behaviors

data

the product of measurement, the material that empirically guides our work; the quantitative results of measurement that are used to assess behavior and to influence and evaluate behavior-analytic services

graph

reveal relations between a series of measurements and relevant variables; allows visual examination

communication, analysis, functional relation between dependent variable and independent variable

three purposes of graphs

equal-interval graph

graphs in which the distance between any two consecutive points on both the x-axis and y-axis are always the same; all axis intervals are the same size

line graph, bar graph, cumulative record, scatterplot

equal interval graphs

Standard Celeration Chart

non-equal interval graphs

line graph

a chart used to display the amount of behavior that occurs across specific periods of time; displays the level of some quantifiable feature of the dependent variable in relation to the independent variable in effect when the data was recorded ; most common

x-axis, y-axis, axis labels, condition change lines, condition labels, data points, data path, figure caption

parts of line graph

x-axis (horizontal axis)

time passage and values of the independent variable

y-axis (vertical axis)

the full range of values of dependent variable/the quantifiable aspect of the target behavior; numerical data being recorded

axis labels

x-axis and y-axis

condition change lines

the vertical lines drawn upward from the x-axis to show points in time at which changes in the independent variable occurred

condition labels

a label written at the top and parallel to the x-axis, which describes the experimental conditions in effect during each phase of research

data points

symbols on a graph that represent a quantity recorded during a specific observation period

data path

a straight line connecting successive data points within specific phases of treatment

figure caption

a short statement that identifies the independent and dependent variables; explains symbols and unplanned events; located under the graph

bar graph

a chart that displays data using rectangular bars or columns that represent quantitative data for each bar category; no successive time displayed on the x-axis

cumulative record

a continuous graph to which new data are added, measuring the cumulative total of behavior over time; will never do down; slope of the data path reveals the rate of responding

overall response rate and local response rate

two types of cumulative record response rates

overall response rate

the generated average rate of response over a given time period

local response rate

average rate of response during periods of time smaller than that for which an overall response rate has been given

scatterplot

a chart and measurement system that displays patterns related to behavior and specific setting variables; features are unconnected data points; identifies time period when the challenging behavior occurs

standard celeration chart

standardized way of charting and analyzing how the frequency of behavior changes over time

data points, level, trend, variability

four fundamental properties of behavior change

level

on a line graph, the degree to which data on the y-axis converge; established by calculating the mean or median of the graphed data

mean level line and median level line

two level line calculations

mean level line

a level line that represents the average value of the successive data points in a specific condition; moderate variability

median level line

a level line that represents the median value of the successive data points in a specific condition; extreme outliers in the data

trend

overall direction taken by the data path on a line graph; ascending, descending, or stable

trend line

a line drawn through the data path on a line graph to depict the overall direction of the data point

variability

the degree to which data "bounce around" on a line graph; sharp angles= high variability and little control; flat angles= low variability and more control; determine how steady the data are

accuracy

indicators of trustworthy measurement; the degree to which what was quantitatively measured is representative of what actually occurred; true value

measurement bias, complicated and poorly designed measurement system, inadequate training, observer reactivity

human error threats to accuracy

calibration

after comparing measured date to true values, identify the patterns of errors and make the necessary adjustments

dosage

refers to the recommended, requested, and/or approved number of ABA hours that will be provided, usually on a weekly basis

environmental constraint

any circumstance of a person's situation or environment that discourages the development of skills, independence, social competences, or adaptive behavior

dependent variable

the target behavior of interest, being measured in an experiment; the behavior is dependent on the manipulation of the independent variable

independent variable

the particular aspect of the environment that is manipulated to assess its effects on the target behavior

internal validity

the extent to which an experiment strongly shows that changes in behavior are a direct results of the IV and not the result of some other uncontrolled/unknown variables; experimental control

external validity

the extent to which the results of a student can be generalized to other settings, behaviors, or subjects; generalizability; relies on direct replication

direct replication and systematic replication

two types of scientific replication

direct replication

researchers exactly replicate a previous study