Module 10 EDDF

What is measurement?

The process of applying quantitative labels to observe properties of events using a standard set of rules.

Why do applied behavior analysts measure behavior?

To obtain answers to questions about the existence and nature of functional relations between socially significant behavior and environmental variables.

What are the measurable dimensions of behavior?

Repeatedly (countability), temporal extent, temporal locus

What is repeatability (countability)?

Instances of a response class can occur repeatedly through time. BEHAVIOR CAN BE COUNTED.

What is temporal extent?

Every instance of behavior occurs during some amount of time. THE DURATION CAN BE MEASURED.

What is temporal locus?

Every instance of behavior occurs at a certain point in time with respect to other events. WHEN BEHAVIOR OCCURS CAN BE MEASURED.

What is count?

A simple tally of the number of instances of the behavior.

What are the measures based on repeatability?

Count and rate

What is rate?

The number of responses per unit of time Always reference the counting time Calculate both correct and incorrect rates of response when assessing skill development.

When taking into account the varied complexity of responses, you should always take into account…

Some behavior’s response requirements are essentially the same from one response to the next, other behaviors may involve several step,

use rate of responding to measure…

free operants

What are free operants?

Behaviors that have discrete onsets and offsets, do not depend on discriminative stimuli, involve minimal displacement of the organism in time and space (so another can be emitted immediately after emitting one) and can be emitted over a wide range of response rates.

When should you not use rate?

To measure behaviors that occur within discrete trials and continuous behaviors that occur for extended periods of time

What is celeration?

The measure of how rate of response changes over time.

What is a celeration trend line?

A straight line drawn through a series of graphed data points on a standard celeration chart.

What is celeration time period?

1/20th of the horizontal axis of all standard celeration charts

What is duration?

The amount of time in which a behavior occurs.

What is total duration per session?

Total duration is a measure of the cumulative amount of time in which a person engages in the target behavior

What is the duration per occurrence?

Duration of time that each instance of the behavior occurs.

Count and duration can be ____

combined

What are measures based on temporal locus?

Response latency and Interresponse Time

What is response latency?

A measure of the elapsed time between the onset of a stimulus and the initiation of a response.

Response latency is typically reported by ____

Mean, median, and range of individual latencies measures per observation period.

What is interresponse time (IRT)?

The amount of time that elapses between two consecutive instances of a response class.

What are the measures based on temporal extent?

Duration.

What are the derivative measures?

Percentage and trials-to-criterion

What is percentage?

A ratio formed by combining the same dimensional quantities such as count or time/

Percentage is used frequently to report what?

The proportion of observation intervals in which the target behavior occurred.

What is trials-to-criterion?

A measure of the number of response opportunities needed to achieve a predetermined level of performance.

What is topography?

The physical form or shape of behavior, is both measurable and malleable dimension of behavior.

What is magnitude?

The force or intensity with which a response is emitted.

What is event recording?

Procedures for detecting and recording the number of times a behavior of interest occurs

What is time sampling?

A variety of methods for recording behavior during intervals or at specific moments in time.

What is whole-interval recording?

Whether the behavior occurs through out the interval.

What is partial-interval recording?

Whether the behavior occurred at any time during the interval

What is momentary time sampling?

Whether the target behavior is occurring at the moment each time interval ends.

What is planned activity check?

When observing a group of students a teacher records how many students are engaged in the target activity.

What are some time sampling issues?

artifacts.

What is an artifact?

Something that appears to exist because of the way it is measured.

What is measuring by permanent products?

Measuring behavior after it has occurred by measuring the effects the the behavior produced on the enviornment.

What is validity?

Data is directly relevant to the phenomenon measured and to the reason for measuring it.

What is accuracy?

The extent that the observed value matches the true value of an event. Measurement bias

What is measurement bias?

When error is likely to occur in a certain direction.

What is reliability?

Measurement produce yields the same value with repeated contact with the same state of nature.

What are some threats to measurement validity?

Indirect measurement, measuring the wrong dimension of the target behavior, measurement artifacts

What is indirect measurement?

When what is actually measured is in someway different from the target behavior

What are measurement artifacts?

Discontinuous measurement: some instances may be missed, poorly scheduled measurement periods, incentive and/or limited measurement scales.

What are some threats to measurement accuracy and reliability?

Poorly designed measurement system, inadequate observer training. Unintended influences of observers (observer expectations and observer reactivity)

What are observer expectations?

Target behavior should occur at a certain level under particular conditions, or change when a change in the environment has been made.

What is observer reactivity?

Measurement error resulting from an observer’s awareness that others are evaluating the data they report.

How do you use interobserver agreement (IOA)?

Observers must use same measurement system, measure same events, and be independent. IOA for event recording data (TOTAL COUNT IOA): small count/larger count X 100 = total count IOA ) Mean count per-interval IOA: Int 1 IOA + Int 2 IOA + Int N IOA/ n intervals = mean count-per interval IOA  Exact count per-interval IOA: Number of intervals : number of intervals of 100 percent IOA/ n intervals x 100 Trial by Trial IOA: number of trials (items) agreement/ total number of trials (items) x 100 =

How to use IOA for timing data?

Total duration IOA: shorter duration/longer duration x 100 = total duration IOA Mean duration per -occurence IOA: Dur IOA R1 + Dur IOA R2 + Dur IOA Rn/ n responses with Dur IOA x 100

How to use IOA for recording/time sampling?

• Interval-by-interval IOA: number of intervals agreed/ number of intervals agreed + number of intervals disagreed x 100

• Scored interval IOA: number of scored intervals agreed/ number of intervals where at least one observed scored.

• Unscored-Interval IOA: Number of unscored intervals agreed/number of intervals where at least one observer did not score

What are some IOA considerations?

IOA should be assessed during each condition/phase of a study The frequency of IOA will vary of the measurement code, the number and experience of the observers, the number of conditions phases, and the IOA results Researchers should obtain and report IOA at the same levels as the result of their study The most stringent and conservative methods should be used APA expects a mean of no less than 80%  IOA IOA can be reported in narrative, table, and graph form.