Role of Assessment in Applied Behavior Analysis

Chapter 3

Role of Assessment in Applied Behavior Analysis – Methods to identify and define ______for behavior change – Identify relevant factors that may inform or influence ______

Five Phases of Assessment 1. Screening 2. Defining problem or criteria for ______3. Pinpointing target behaviors 4. ______progress 5. Following-up

Pre-assessment Considerations – Ethical considerations  Authority  ______ Resources  Social ______

Assessment Methods – ______measures  Interviews  Checklists

– ______measures  Tests  Direct observation

Interviewing the Individual – Identify list of potential target behaviors  ______and ______ Avoid “why” – Identify primary concerns – Verified through further data collection  Direct ______ Use of questionnaires or self-monitoring

Interviewing Significant Others – Develop behavioral descriptions  What, when, how  Avoid “why”  Move from ______to ______– Determine participation Checklists – Descriptions of ______behaviors and conditions under which each should occur – Alone or with interview – Typically Likert-scale assessments – Ask about ______and ______ Child Behavior Checklist  Adaptive Behavior Scale - School  Adaptive Behavior Scale - Residential and Community

Standardized Tests – ______administration  Compares performance to specified criteria  Norm-referenced – Limitations  Do not specify target behaviors  Do not provide ______of behavior  Licensing requirements

Direct Observation – Direct and repeated – ______environment – Identifies potential target behaviors – ______method

Anecdotal observation Features of ABC recording – Descriptive – Temporally sequenced – Description of behavior ______ Full attention, 20 - 30 min – Observations only, no ______– Repeat over several days

Ecological Assessment – Data on ______and ______ Physical features  Interactions with others  Home  Reinforcement history – Evaluate amount of descriptive data required to ______current need Reactivity – Effects of ______on ______being assessed  Obtrusive assessment great impact  Self-monitoring most obtrusive – Reduce reactivity  ______methods  Repeat observations  Take effects into account

Assessing Social Significance – Consider whose behavior is being assessed and why  Unacceptable to change behavior ______– To what extent will proposed change improve the person’s life?

Habilitation – Degree to which a person’s behavior repertoire ______short and long term ______and ______short and long term ______– Use to assess meaningfulness of behavior change

Determining Habilitation – Relevance of behavior ______intervention – Necessary prerequisite skills – Increased access – Impact on behavior of ______– Behavior cusp – Pivotal Behavior

Behavior Cusp – Behaviors that open person’s world to new ______ Crawling, reading – Socially valid – Generativeness – Competes with inappropriate responses – Degree that others are ______

Pivotal Behaviors – Once learned produces changes in other ______behaviors  Self-initiation, joint attention – Advantages for both interventionist and client Determining Habilitation – Age appropriateness  Normalization  Philosophy of achieving greatest possible ______of people with disabilities into society – Replacement behaviors  Cannot eliminate or reduce a behavior without teaching a ______

Determining Habilitation – Actual target goal or indirectly related  ______vs. work ______– Talk v. Behavior of interest . Primary importance is ______behavior – Focus on behavior, not ______product  Weight loss or exercise and diet?

Prioritizing Target Behaviors 1. ______to health or safety 2. Frequency – Opportunities to ______new behavior – Occurrence of problem 3. Longevity 4. Potential for higher rates of ______5. Importance – Skill development – Independence 6. Reduction of negative attention 7. Reinforcement for significant others – Social validity – Exercise caution when considering 8. Likelihood of success – ______– Practitioner’s experience – Environmental variables – Available resources 9. Cost-benefit – Costs include client’s ______and ______

Target Behavior Ranking Matrix – Numerical ______of potential target behaviors – Increase client, parent, and staff participation  Resolve conflict  Build consensus Sample Ranking Matrix

Behaviors # 1 # 2 # 3

Does this behavior pose a danger? 0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4

How long-standing is this problem 0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4 or deficit? Will changing this behavior produce0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4 higher rate of reinforcement?

How likely is success in changing 0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4 this behavior?

Defining Target Behaviors

– Role and Importance of Definitions  Definitions required for ______ Replication required to determine usefulness of data in other situations  Necessary for research

Importance of Definitions to Practitioner – Accurate, on-going evaluation requires explicit definition of behavior – ______definition  Complete information – Accurate and believable evaluation of effectiveness

Two Types of Definitions – ______-based  Designated according to effect on the environment

– ______-based  Identifies the shape or form of the behavior

Reasons to Use Function-based Definitions – Includes all members of ______– The function of behavior is most important feature – Simpler and more concise definitions  Easier to measure accurately and reliably Other Uses – When ______is not within control of behavior analyst  Logistical, ethical, or safety reasons  e.g., Function of elopement is a lost child – In these cases, function-based definition by proxy  More restrictive definition that keeps behavior within control of analyst

Reasons to Use Topography-based Definitions – Behavior analyst does not have direct, reliable, or easy access to functional outcomes – Cannot rely on function of behavior because each occurrence does not produce relevant outcome

Other Uses – When the relevant outcome is sometimes produced by undesirable variations of the response class  e.g., A basketball player scores with a sloppy shot from the free throw line – Definition should encompass ______that produce relevant outcomes

Writing Target Behavior Definitions – A______– C______– C______– Inclusions – Exclusions

Characteristics of Good Definitions – Objective  Refer only to the ______– Clear  Readable and ______– Complete  Delineate ______of definition

Purpose of Good Definitions – Precise and concise description – ______observation – Accurate recording – Agreement and ______Testing a Definition – Can you count number of occurrences?  Should answer “______” – Will a stranger know what to look for based on definition alone?  Should answer “______” – Can you break the target behavior down to smaller, more specific components?  Should answer “______”

Setting Criteria for Behavior Change – Selected because of ______to clients o Increase, maintain, generalize desirable behaviors o Decrease undesirable behaviors – Valued and meaningful behaviors have ______

Set Criteria Before Modifying – Setting criteria as important as defining – Range of ______– Must identify optimum range prior to modifying – Must know when to ______treatment – Eliminate disagreements on effectiveness

Two Approaches for Setting Criteria – Assess performance of highly ______people – Experimentally manipulate different ______to determine optimal results