Chapter 3 Flashcards
(19 cards)
Define behavioral assessment.
○ Behavioral Assessment: involves the collection and analysis of information and data in order to
- (a) identify and describe target behavior;
- (b) identify possible causes of the behavior;
- (c) select appropriate treatment strategies to modify the behavior; and
- (d) evaluate treatment outcomes
List the five phases of a behavior modification program.
- A screening or intake phase
- A defining-the-target-behavior phase
- A pre-program or baseline assessment phase
- A treatment phase
- A follow up phase
What is the purpose of the follow-up phase of a behavior modification program?
To determine wether the improvements achieved during treatment are maintained after the programs termination
Briefly distinguish between direct and indirect assessment procedures.
- Indirect assessment procedures—assessments for which the behavior modifier or a trained observer does not directly observe the target behavior in the situation in which the behavior occurs.
- Direct assessment procedures are assessments in which the behavior modifier or a trained observer directly observes and records the target behaviors in the actual settings in which the behavior occurs
Briefly describe the advantages and disadvantages of indirect assessment procedures.
- Indirect assessment procedures have the advantages of being convenient, not requiring an inordinate amount of time, and potentially providing information about covert behaviors.
- However, they suffer from the disadvantages that those providing information might not remember relevant observations accurately or have biases that would influence them to provide inaccurate data.
List the five main types of indirect assessment procedures.
- Interviews With the Client
- Interviews with Significant Others
- Questionnaires
- Role-Playing
- Client Self-Monitoring
Briefly describe the main advantage and the three disadvantages of direct assessment procedures.
○ The main advantage of direct assessment procedures is:
- they are more accurate than indirect assessment procedures, which is the main reason that applied behavior analysts prefer to use direct assessment procedures whenever possible.
○ Disadvantages of direct assessment procedures are:
- they are time consuming, require that observers be appropriately trained, and cannot be used to monitor covert behaviors.
What does the frequency of behavior mean? Describe an example that is not in this chapter.
○ Frequency or rate of behavior refers to the number of instances of a behavior that occur in a given period of time.
E.G Person says “um” 30 times in 20 minute presentation
What are two common measures of the amount of behavior?
- Frequency/rate
- Duration
What do we mean by the latency of a response? Describe an example that is not in this chapter.
○ latency of a behavior, often called reaction time, is the time between the occurrence of a particular event or cue and the start of that behavior.
- Example: Dial up internet, once you actually open the program to access the internet it is severely delayed for when you can actually use it.
Using an example, explain how the quality of a behavior is a refinement of one or more of the other dimensions of behavior.
Sometimes quality behaviour is a combination of frequency and stimulus control. For example, someone who is considered a good student is likely to show a high frequency of studying and answering test questions correctly.
Define continuous recording. Describe an example that is not in this chapter.
○ Continuous or event-frequency recording is the recording of every instance of a behavior during a designated observation period.
- Example: Child getting out of their seat during class lecture
When would one likely select an interval recording system over continuous recording?
if successive responses are of variable duration, such as time spent being on social media or exhibiting off-task behavior in a classroom? In such cases, interval recording is commonly used.
Define time-sampling recording. Describe an example that is not in this chapter.
○ Time-sampling recording scores a behavior as occurring or not occurring during very brief observation intervals that are separated from each other by a much longer period of time.
- Example: If you have an aggressive child(2 y/o) who is constantly getting into altercations with peers record behavior in 15 second intervals approximately every hour to get a good sample of what the child’s behavior is like in a day.
Briefly describe momentary time-sampling recording.
momentary time sampling, in which a behavior is recorded as occurring or not occurring at specific points in time, such as every hour on the hour rather than during specific brief intervals
Describe three relatively simple methods for recording behavior.
- transfer a small item such as bean from one pocket to another each time the behavior occurs and then count the number of these items that end up in the second pocket at the end of the session.
- use a golf counter.
- a hand-held calculator and press +1 each time the behavior occurs.
In a sentence or two, explain what we mean by inter observer agreement. (Describe the process, but don’t give the procedures for calculating IOA.)
Two independent observers might record observations of the same behavior of the same individual during a given session. The observers are careful not to influence or signal each other while they are recording.
What is procedural reliability or treatment integrity? What is an acceptable level of procedural reliability in a behavior modification program?
Procedural reliability is assessed as a percentage of instances the components were carried out correctly relative to the instances the components were carried out correctly plus the instances the components were carried out incorrectly. It is generally desirable for procedural reliability scores to be at least 95%
Give six reasons for collecting accurate data during an assessment or baseline phase and throughout a program.
- an accurate behavioral pre-program assessment helps the behavior modifier to decide whether he or she is the appropriate one to design a treatment program.
- an accurate baseline will sometimes indicate that what someone thought to be a problem is actually not one.
- data collected during the baseline phase often helps the behavior modifier identify both the causes of a behavior and the best treatment strategy, as discussed in subsequent chapters.
- provides a means for clearly determining whether the program is producing the desired change in behavior.
- publicly posted results—preferably in the form of a graph or a chart—can prompt and reward behavior modifiers for carrying out a program.
- displayed data might lead to improvements by the learner separately from any further treatment program.
