Define It Like You Mean It
This term refers to a written description of a behavior in observable and measurable terms that is specific enough that two people watching the same event would agree it happened.
What is an operational definition?
The elapsed time from the onset of a stimulus to the initiation of a response — often used when measuring how quickly a student complies with an instruction.
What is latency?
In this discontinuous method, the observer divides the observation period into equal intervals and records whether the target behavior occurred at all during each interval.
What is partial interval recording?
On this type of graph, equal distances on the vertical axis represent equal amounts of change.
What is an equal-interval graph?
When analyzing graphed data, this visual analysis component asks: is the data stable or variable and which direction is it heading?
What is trend analysis?
This type of measurement captures behavior as it is directly observed
What are direct measures of behavior?
This temporal dimension measures the time elapsed between two consecutive responses — useful for pacing or self-injurious behavior analysis.
What is inter-response time?
This method only scores the interval as positive if the behavior occurred throughout the entire interval and it tends to underestimate behavior.
What is whole interval recording?
This type of graph is used to display the total amount of a skill learned over time. The line can only go up or stay flat, and a steeper slope indicates a higher rate of responding.
What is a cumulative graph?
This concept refers to how consistent the measurement process is across time, settings, and observers.
What is reliability of measurement?
A dent in a wall or a pile of broken pencils — this type of measure captures the lasting environmental effect of a behavior rather than the behavior itself.
What is permanent product measure?
This measure captures the total time a behavior is occurring — commonly used for on-task behavior, tantrums, or stereotypy.
In this data collection method the observer records whether the behavior is occurring only at the precise moment the interval ends, like a snapshot.
What is momentary time sampling?
This graph is used to display and compare discrete values across conditions, sessions, or individuals.
What is a bar graph?
This is when two people record data at the same time and see if it matches.
What is IOA? (interobserver agreement)
This type of data collection relies recollection, report, or review.
What is indirect measurement?
This efficiency measure compares the number of learning opportunities required before a learner reaches a preset criterion — used to evaluate instructional effectiveness
What is trials-to-criterion?
These two things should be used when selecting your measurement procedure.
What are the critical dimension of the behavior and environmental constraints
When graphing data, this feature is used to separate distinct phases or conditions.
What is a phase change line?
This concept refers to whether a measurement procedure actually captures the behavior of interest.
What is validity of measurment?
This dimension of measurement answers the question: how often did the behavior occur per unit of time?
What is rate of responding?
A cost-benefit analysis in measurement considers this, the relationship between the resources invested in data collection and the clinical value of the information obtained.
What is measurement efficiency?
A behavior analyst wants to make sure the token economy they designed is being run as it was designed. What do they need to measure?
What is procedural integrity?
This type of graph is used if you want to pinpoint the behavior around a certain time of day or activity.
What is a scatterplot?
This is what happens when partial interval recording is producing data that looks like the client's behavior is more frequent than it actually is.