Chapter 3 Selecting and Defining Target Behaviors

What is behavioral assessment?

A process using indirect and direct procedures to identify and define specific target behaviors and environmental variables related to behavior.

What are the four general phases of systematic instruction?

Assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation.

What is a target behavior?

The specific behavior selected for change.

Why is selecting the right target behavior important?

The target behavior should improve the person's quality of life and provide access to new reinforcers or reinforcing environments.

What types of behaviors are typically socially significant in ABA?

Behaviors such as language, social, motor, and academic skills.

What are the two broad types of behavioral assessment?

Indirect assessment and direct assessment.

What is indirect assessment?

Assessment based on information from interviews, checklists, rating scales, recollections, or reports rather than direct observation.

What are examples of indirect assessment?

Interviews, checklists, rating scales, questionnaires, and reports from clients, parents, teachers, or caregivers.

What is direct assessment?

Assessment based on direct observation or measurement of behavior in the natural environment.

What is a behavioral interview?

An interview that focuses on environmental conditions before, during, and after behavior to help identify possible controlling variables.

What questions are especially useful in a behavioral interview?

Questions about what happens and when it happens, especially environmental events before, during, and after behavior.

What is an open-ended indirect assessment?

An assessment that allows the informant to describe events freely without restricting the number, rate, intensity, or duration of responses.

What is a closed-ended indirect assessment?

An assessment in which the informant rates responses using a structured scale, such as a Likert scale.

What is a Likert scale?

An ordinal rating scale used to rate the frequency, intensity, or other characteristics of behavior.

What is a behavior checklist?

A list describing specific behaviors and the conditions under which they occur, including possible antecedents and consequences.

What is a rating scale?

A scale, often using numbers such as 1–5 or 1–10, used to describe or quantify a target behavior using ordinal ratings.

What is a limitation of ordinal rating scales?

They provide rankings but can be difficult to interpret and easy to misuse.

What is self-monitoring?

When a client collects data about their own behavior or situations related to the behavior.

Why might self-collected data be useful?

It can provide information about antecedent conditions correlated with the target behavior.

What is a direct observation?

An observation in which the practitioner directly observes behavior in the natural environment.

Why should direct observations occur across different settings when possible?

Behavior may appear differently depending on the setting, people present, time of day, or other environmental conditions.

What is ABC recording?

A direct observation method that records antecedents, behavior, and consequences in temporal sequence.

What is another name for ABC recording?

Anecdotal observation.

What does ABC recording document?

Antecedent conditions, the behavior, and consequences as they occur in the natural environment.

Why is ABC recording useful?

It provides a detailed description of behavior patterns and helps identify potential target behaviors and variables related to behavior.

What is ecological assessment?

Gathering information about the person and the environments in which the person lives and works.

What types of information may be included in an ecological assessment?

Physiological conditions, physical environmental factors, interactions with others, and reinforcement history.

Is a complete ecological assessment necessary for every ABA program?

No. Cooper states that a complete ecological assessment is neither necessary nor warranted for most ABA programs.

What is reactivity?

The effect that an assessment procedure has on the behavior being assessed.

How should behavior analysts address reactivity?

Use unobtrusive assessment methods, repeat observations until reactive effects decrease, and consider reactivity when interpreting results.

What is habilitation?

The degree to which a person's repertoire maximizes short- and long-term reinforcers and minimizes short- and long-term punishers.

What is the goal of habilitation?

To improve the person's adjustment, competence, and quality of life by increasing access to reinforcers and reducing exposure to punishers.

What is the relevance of behavior rule?

A target behavior should be selected only when it is likely to produce reinforcement in the person's natural environment after intervention ends.

Why is the relevance of behavior rule important?

It increases the likelihood that the new behavior will be maintained after treatment ends.

What does social significance mean in ABA?

The extent to which a target behavior is important to the person's quality of life and meaningful in their everyday environment.

What is a socially significant target behavior?

A behavior that meaningfully improves a person's life or increases habilitation.

What should happen when a behavior is targeted for reduction?

A desirable, adaptive replacement behavior should be selected and taught.

What factors can help determine whether a target behavior is socially significant?

Reinforcement in daily life, prerequisite value, access to environments, supportive interactions, cusp or pivotal status, age appropriateness, and relevance to the actual goal.

What is a behavioral cusp?

A behavior change that exposes the learner to new environments, reinforcers, contingencies, responses, or stimulus controls.

Why are behavioral cusps important?

They can produce consequences and learning opportunities that extend far beyond the behavior itself.

What is a pivotal behavior?

A behavior that, once learned, produces changes or covariations in other untrained adaptive behaviors.

What is the difference between a behavioral cusp and a pivotal behavior?

A cusp provides access to new environments or contingencies; a pivotal behavior produces changes in other untrained behaviors.

What is an example of a pivotal behavior?

Self-initiation in children with autism may lead to improvements in other social behaviors.

What are access behaviors?

Behaviors taught because they can provide access to environments where other important behaviors can be learned or used.

How should target behaviors be prioritized when there are several possible targets?

Consider danger, frequency, duration or long-standing nature, reinforcement potential, future skill development, independence, effects on others, likelihood of success, and cost.

Who should participate in selecting and prioritizing target behaviors?

The person receiving services, parents or family members, staff, and administration when appropriate.

Why should the client and important others participate in selecting target behaviors?

Participation can reduce conflicts about goals and increase the relevance of the intervention.

Why are explicit target behavior definitions important?

They allow accurate and reliable measurement, consistent implementation, meaningful comparison, and accountability.

What are the two types of target behavior definitions?

Function-based definitions and topography-based definitions.

What is a function-based definition?

A definition that identifies responses as members of a response class based on their common effect on the environment.

What is a topography-based definition?

A definition that identifies behavior based on its observable form or shape.

Why are function-based definitions preferred when possible?

They can include all relevant forms of a response class and are often simpler and easier to measure reliably.

What is a response class?

A group of different responses that produce the same effect on the environment.

Why is function more important than topography when selecting behavior?

The meaning and importance of behavior are determined by its function, not simply by how the behavior looks.

When should a topography-based definition be used?

When the functional outcome cannot be directly or reliably observed or when function cannot reliably identify every instance of the response class.

What is a function-based definition by proxy?

A function-based definition used when the natural outcome cannot safely or reliably be observed, using a measurable behavior that represents the functional outcome.

Why might a function-based definition by proxy be useful for elopement?

The natural outcome could be becoming lost, so a measurable movement-away criterion can be used safely instead.

What makes a good target behavior definition?

It should be objective, clear, complete, accurate, and concise.

What should a good behavioral definition specify besides what counts as the behavior?

It should also clarify what does not count as an instance of the behavior.

What does objective mean in a behavioral definition?

The definition describes observable behavior without relying on interpretations, assumptions, or inferred states.

What does clear mean in a behavioral definition?

The definition is understandable and unambiguous so different observers interpret it the same way.

What does complete mean in a behavioral definition?

The definition includes all relevant examples of the target behavior and excludes nonexamples.

What is a valid target behavior definition?

A definition that captures every aspect of the behavior of concern and excludes behaviors that are not part of the concern.

Why should target behavior definitions be operational?

They allow observers to determine whether the behavior occurred and apply measurement and intervention procedures consistently.

What is the difference between topography and function?

Topography describes what behavior looks like; function describes what effect the behavior has on the environment.

What is social validity?

The extent to which a behavior change produces an important and meaningful improvement in the person's life.

When should outcome criteria be determined?

Before efforts to modify the target behavior begin.

What are two ways to determine socially validated performance criteria?

Compare performance with highly competent people or experimentally evaluate different performance levels to identify which produces optimal results.

What is normalization?

The principle that people with disabilities should have access to lifestyles, environments, and opportunities that are as typical or valued as possible within their culture and community.

What is the relevance of behavior rule concerned with?

Whether the target behavior will continue to produce reinforcement in the person's natural environment after treatment ends.

Why should behavior analysts not select behaviors solely because they look unusual?

The function and social significance of behavior must be considered rather than topography alone.

What is an important ethical consideration when selecting target behaviors?

The behavior change should benefit the person directly or indirectly.

What should behavior analysts consider before conducting an assessment?

Whether they have the authority, permission, resources, and skills to conduct the assessment and intervene.

What is one professional limitation behavior analysts should recognize?

They should not assess beyond their training or licensing capabilities.

When should an assessment be declined or postponed?

When conditions are poor, such as when the learner is ill, the environment is distracting, or the practitioner is rushed.

What is confidentiality in behavioral assessment?

Keeping assessment information private and sharing results only with people authorized to receive them.

What type of assessment should behavior analysts use?

Assessment methods that are reliable, valid, appropriate, and consistent with professional and ethical standards.

What is the central question when selecting a target behavior?

To what extent will changing the behavior improve the person's life experience?

What is the first major question when evaluating social significance?

Will the behavior produce reinforcement in the person's natural environment after treatment ends?

Why might a prerequisite skill be selected as a target behavior?

Because learning it may be necessary for acquiring a more useful functional skill.

How can a target behavior increase access to environments?

Teaching the behavior may allow the person to participate in settings where additional important behaviors can be learned or used.

Why might changing a behavior improve how others interact with the person?

A behavior change may make interactions easier or more supportive for family members, teachers, peers, or caregivers.

Why should age appropriateness be considered when selecting a target behavior?

Target behaviors should support development and participation appropriate to the person's age and context.

Why should verbal reports not automatically be treated as the behavior of interest?

A person's description of a problem is not necessarily the actual observable behavior that needs to be measured.

What should be selected if a person's goal is not stated as a specific behavior?

One or more observable target behaviors that will produce the desired result or outcome.

What factors should be considered when prioritizing several target behaviors?

Danger, frequency, duration or chronicity, reinforcement potential, future development, independence, social effects, likelihood of success, and cost.

What is the main purpose of behavioral assessment?

To identify environmental variables related to increases or decreases in target behavior and guide effective intervention.