Ch 10/ measuring beh

Directly observed beh

monitor beh stream- identify/monitor dimensions of beh -b record these over time

skinner 1953 p.92ch10 beh complex changing fluid/ scientist needs ingenuity/ ie beh stream / cause
and effect relations between beh and enviro

4 major probs with summary labels imprecise ambiguity in labels labels stick,wrongly create
explan fictions Grant & Evans 1994 p.93ch

Questionnaires inappropriate to measure beh psychologist uses identifies something inside

important mistake to address findings of quest as IV, contingencies are the IV p.93ch10

Director/actor relationship ie beh shaped on stage/film choregraphed// similar to ‘real-life- Bas

DV Beh IV enviro contingencies coldness over success p.94

Dimensions/techniques frequency how of beh occurs…. Duration length of time beh lasts begin to
end… latency time from onset to occurannce of beh//Labourous/to translate beh
dimensions/streams

Questions on ethics social validity p.95

BAs specifying goals of intervention// choreographs new beh aided by principles of BA Baer wolf
risley analytic technological systematic effective etc

Time sampling observation different times of day// can be any duration// broken up into number of
diff intervals of same duration ie BINS partial interval/ measured by an 1 or 0 to cal overall score as
percentage/ doesn’t cal duration

Easy to jump to wrong conclusions observing beh 10.2 video p.96 beh taken for grante

Summary labels unreliable // BA precise ie systematically probes phenomena(DV) across time(IV) ie

behave x a function of condition y // dependant on ‘magnification’ of microscope to construct
precise definition

Baseline initial rate of ongoing beh/provides info on likely beh reoccurance// select IV to change
baseline rate via SSRD

Beh can be measured in all senses ie seen heard tasted smelled felt etc

Beh def should be written clearly so repeatable by unknown observer/ specify boundary of def/ be
objective

IOA agreement/ FBAnal FBA/inconsistencies/ issues identifying what beh to measure

Indirectly meas beh

Private/feelings thoughts or privacy of someones home ie reliance on verbal reports/summary

labels/mentalis// Bas need to rely on behavioural interview to combat this with precision data

What, where, how questions

1st establish beh topography

2nd identify beh measures freq durat laten// if you don’t have infoo- caregiver to record beh
accurately

3rd where beh occurs/ what happens immed before beh/who is present at time beh/ ie
antecedents//consequences influence beh imp to identify them as maintain effect

4th target beh ie what does caregiver want to change//records kept in case intervention needs
changing

Impor ethical reasons for this non judgemental recording ie social enquiry reports on offenders
p.100

Parental involvement particularly impor in beh measure

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….. Ch 11 Functional assessment

Sometimes diff to locate antec/conseq

Explanations of beh boil down to statements describing relations between DV IV ie funct relation

Probelems mentalistic views what data collection to implement ie direct/indirect obser

contingencies more diff to recognise in real world

Def FA range of methods used to help address issues on data collection .p.103// func relat identified
by systemat examining the ante/conseq maintaining beh/ used to ident individ tailored interventions

3 FA methods

1st direct obser

2nd indirect informant methods

3rd Fun Analysis

Focal segment in beh sequence example/provides framework to understand beh components of

stream are interrelated: Distal antec-task ie homework// proximal antec caregiver instruction //
current/under microscop doing homework// proximal consequence caregiver checks homework/
positive reinf ch/ distal cons teacher sees homework and reinforces// used to examine whether
issues are anteced or conseq of beh// goal setting/contingency contracting/parent involvment p.104
& Millar & Kelly 1994

Issues with childcare skills ie young parents/ parenting issues Green et al 1995

Func/what purpose the beh serves the indiv and why// analysis

Some anteced acquire SD and some conseq have reinf or punis effects SIB beh

Traditional sib ~ headgear restaraint arm braces etc

DEF a func anal is a systematic app developed to identify individual beh antec and conseq// data
collect involves detailed interactions of sib beh across time to establish antec conseq

If not easily recog// need to look closely at beh stream ie distal antec to distal conceq/
experimental/or funct analys ie test conditions by manipulating variables//cause-effect
1 attention seeking

2demand condition

3play

4low stimulation/bored p.116

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Seminal paper: Toward Funct analysis sib l iwata

Research assess differential effects of environ on sib beh

Motivation for SIB// 9 develpmentally-0disabled subjects exposed to various analogue conditions:

(1) play materials (present vs absent), (2) experimenter demands (high vs low), (3) social attention
(absent vs noncontingent vs contingent). Results showed a great deal of both between and within-
subject variability. However, in six ofthe nine subjects, higher levels ofself-injury were consistently
associated with a specific stimulus condition, suggesting that within-subject variability was a
function of distinct features of the social and/or physical environment. Physical and social
manipulations to identify variable maint sib

Dro/dri/dra inconsisentent acc to research findings of other researchers

Iwata et al claim punishment/aversive tactics/elec shock treatment only to be used when all others
fail serious sib beh

Useful if abc data recording known/collected prior to interventions ie caregiver example p.198

Little beh research on environment determinents of sib due to reasons. P.198

Data method/ interviews/ direct obser in hospital units

Operational Target behave definition p.200

IOA/ occurrence/non occurrences p.200/ all had experience of research and beh intervention
program

Conclusions

FBAnalysis may offer empirical over a ‘best-guess’ fit and labouress time consuming data
collection methods

Sib result of different sources of contingencies

Limitations between experimental controlled conditions/ and naturalistic conditions p.207-208

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….

QUB Hall paper comparing descript experimental informant/indirect assessment of problem beh

Findings Descriptive assessment limited ie direct observation in natural settings/ not as useful as
informant/experimental assessment methods p.515

problem behaviors such as self-injury, aggression and pica can be maintained both by social
environmental variables (e.g., attention, escape, tangibles) and/ or by non-social factors (e.g.,
sensory stimulation
Experimental assessment/ control appealing to investigators there are disadvantages using this way
1/ecological 2/ new behaviour may result from manipulating variables 3/ beh may be influenced by
idiopsychrantic beh 4/ complex and difficult to carry out in clinical settings See Iwata study
above

Ie both desc and exper time consuming and complex/ questionaires are less time consuming
obtain data but ‘psychometric’ properties poor p.515

methods fba not concordant/inconclusive Hall/Lerman and Iwata (1993)

These data suggest that adopting the method of sequential analysis employed in this paper may
be useful in future descriptive analyses of problem behaviors.

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QUB module 7226 FBA AOL Measurement

Once you have decided on the behaviour that requires change it is important to decide how you will
measure this behaviour to determine whether or not your intervention is working.

The four basic dimensions of behaviour mentioned within Simple Steps are: frequency (number of
responses in which the behaviour occurred), whereas rate refers to a ration of count, per
observation time, a second possible dimension is duration (how long a behaviour lasts). A third
possible dimension, latency refers to the amount of time it took for a behaviour to occur or be
initiated. Finally the fourth basic behaviour dimension is inter response time - this is the time
between two responses - specifically from the beginning of one response to the beginning of the
next.

Also introduced this week is Inter Observer Agreement (IOA) and the different ways in which to
calculate this. This is the degree to which two or more observers report the same observed values
after measuring the same events. IOA is important in applied practice because it helps determine
observer competence, detect observer drift, establish whether the behaviour definition of the
target behaviour is clear, as well as determining whether the system is not too difficult to use.

If it is temporal, are you going to measure the time before initiation of the response or time
elapsed during the performance of the response?

When watching the video on functional analysis (4.2) understand that this is one component of
the overall functional behaviour assessment. The FA is a manipulation of events in order to prove
why the behaviour happening. For example, ABC data and parent/staff/individual interviews may
suggest a behaviour is occurring under certain circumstances, the implementation of a functional
analysis will give a definite answer to this. It is vital to note that a functional analysis results in an
increase in challenging behaviour in some or all of the testing conditions, therefore it is important
that only appropriately trained people such as a BCBA or BCaBA under BCBA guidance, should
design and implement a functional analysis. Graphing the results of the analysis is essential.

That wasn't so bad now, was it? In order to understand why challenging or inappropriate
behaviour is occurring the first step to ask is why?

The answer to this question is determined by underlying assumptions about the causes of
challenging behaviour. As identified there are many misleading explanations as to why behaviours
occur - these explanations are not helpful. They do not help understand why the particular
behaviour is happening at a particular time, they do not enable the development of interventions
to address these behaviours, and in some cases may actually prevent interventions from being
implemented. These misleading explanations can also cause blame to be attributed to the
individual themselves, their parents, their peers, their family situation etc., again preventing the
development of timely, positive, interventions. A functional assessment assumes that the
inappropriate or challenging behaviour is learned and that it is continuing to occur because of the
reinforcing consequences for the individual.

The focus of your functional assessment should be to identify the variables that are maintaining
the behaviour, not on identifying what caused the behaviour to occur in the first place. The
intervention that you subsequently devise, therefore, works on changing the variables that are
maintaining the behaviour within that particular setting. Remember, both challenging and
appropriate behaviours are developed and maintained through the same processes. A functional
assessment will help identify what environmental events are triggering behaviours and what
consequences are maintaining them. Isn't behaviour analysis marvellous?!

As you now know, interviews, observations and ABC data collection can help guide the
development of a hypotheses regarding the function of both challenging (and appropriate)
behaviour. This observational data, while important, does not actually verify the function of
behaviour. Verification must be conducted by manipulating setting events, antecedents, and/or
consequences and recording the changes in behaviour through conducting a functional analysis.
These procedures will help demonstrate a causal relationship between environmental variables
and behaviour.

Also discussed were the different types of designs that we use within behaviour analysis to
visually present the data recorded. This data enables us to make statements about the direction
and magnitude of behavioural changes. However,to make assumptions about functional relations
the data must be conducted within certain designs.

Remember: the dependent variable (DV) refers to the behaviour targeted for change and the
independent variable (IV) refers to the intervention being used to change behaviour. Think of the
DV and IV within your project so that they are clearly identified.

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………

Own resources

Hanley iwata funct anal of prob beh a review// conclusion p.178

PARENTAL ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT OF FOOD SELECTIVITY IN NATURAL SETTINGS

FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF INAPPROPRIATE MEALTIME BEHAVIORS