Area 7: Displaying and Interpreting Behavioral Data Flashcards Preview

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Flashcards in Area 7: Displaying and Interpreting Behavioral Data Deck (16)
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1
Q

What are the 6 benefits of graphic display and visual analysis of behavioral data?

A
  1. Provides immediate access to an ongoing visual record
  2. Enables exploration of interesting variations in the behavior as they occur
  3. Serve as judgement aids that are easy and do not require data to conform to certain mathematical properties
  4. It’s a conservative method for determining the significance of behavior change
  5. Encourage independent judgments and interpretations
  6. Effective sources of feedback
2
Q

Name the 5 types of visual formats most often used in ABA:

A
  1. Line graphs
  2. bar graphs
  3. cumulative records
  4. semilogarithmic charts
  5. scatterplots
3
Q

What are the 2 major functions of bar graphs in ABA?

A
  1. displaying and comparing discrete sets of data that are NOT related to one another
  2. give a visual summary of the performance of a participant or group of participants during the different conditions
4
Q

What do bar graphs sacrifice?

A

the presentation of the variability of trends

5
Q

When are cumulative graphs preferable to a noncumulative line graph? (4)

A
  1. When the total number of responses made over time is importante or when progress toward a specific goal can be measured in cumulative units of behavior.
    * Example: # of new words learned, dollars saved, miles trained, etc.
  2. When the graph is used as a source of feedback for the participant
  3. When the target behavior is one that can occur or not occur only once per observation session
  4. Can reveal the intricate relations between behavior and environmental variables
6
Q

Scatterplot recording is a procedure for recording the extent to which a target behavior ___ more often at particular ___ than others.

A

Scatterplot recording is a procedure for recording the extent to which a target behavior occurs** more often at particular **times than others.

7
Q

What are the advantages of scatterplots? (2)

A

+ They identify time periods during which the problem behavior occurs.

+ Useful in pinpointing periods of the day when more focused ABC assessments might be conducted to obtain additional info regarding the function of the problem behavior

8
Q

What are limitations of scatter plots? (3)

A
  • little is know about their utility
  • obtaining accurate data with scatterplots may be difficult
  • The subjective nature of the ratings of how the behavior occurs (“a lot” vs. “some”) can contribute to difficulties with interpretation
9
Q

Visual analysis of data from an ABA study is conducted to answer 2 questions:

A
  1. Did behavior change in a meaningful way?
  2. If so, to what extent can that change in behaivor be attributed to the IV??
10
Q

Data within a given condition are examined to determine: (4)

A
  1. the number of data points
  2. the nature and extent of variability in the data
  3. the absolute and relative level of the behavioral measure
  4. the direction and degree of any trend(s) in the data
11
Q

Visual analysis is considered a(n) ________ method for determining the social significance of behavior change.

A

Conservative

12
Q

Logarithmic scales are an appropriate graphing format when _______ change is of particular interest.

A

Proportional

13
Q

A scatterplot shows the _________ distribution of individual measures in a data set with respect to the variables depicted by the both the x- and y-axes.

A

Relative

14
Q

Equal interval line graphs are used for:

A

Tracking daily changes in rate within and across conditions

15
Q

When one has a discrete variable on the horizontal axis of a graph one should use a:

A

Bar graph

16
Q

What is typically found on the horizontal axis of a graph?

A

Time