Continuous Measurement
During a session, a client engages in hitting the therapist 5 times. What measurement procedure best captures this data, and why?
Frequency recording, because it counts every occurrence of the target behavior.
What are the types of discontinuous measurement?
Partial interval, whole interval, momentary time sampling
After a session, you count how many puzzles your client completed. What type of measurement system is this?
Permanent Product Recording
If a therapist records how long a tantrum lasts each time it occurs, what data method is being used, and what could it reveal about treatment progress?
Duration; it shows if the length of tantrums decreases as interventions take effect.
A therapist records “yes” if a behavior occurred at any point during each 10-second interval. What measurement method is this?
Partial Interval Recording
You track how many sorting worksheets your client finishes during independent work. What’s one reason this type of data is reliable?
It’s objective and permanent; anyone can count the same completed items later and get the same result.
A learner is given an SD (“touch head”). The response occurs 3 seconds later. What measurement is this?
Latency
You’re tracking “sitting in chair” behavior. The client gets up for a few seconds during the interval, so you mark “no.” Which measurement system is this, and what kind of behavior does it tend to underestimate?
Whole Interval Recording; it tends to underestimate behaviors that occur often but not for the full duration.
You notice your client’s worksheets are filled out, but many answers are wrong. What does this tell you about using permanent product data alone?
The product shows completion, not accuracy
A child is asked to complete math problems. You record how long it takes them to start after each prompt and how long they spend working before stopping. Which two continuous measurements are being collected?
Latency and duration
You set a timer to beep every 30 seconds and record whether your client is playing appropriately at that exact moment. What measurement system is this?
Momentary Time Sampling
You record the number of toys your client cleans up after playtime. Another staff member helped during cleanup. How might this affect your data?
The product no longer reflects only the client’s behavior, so the data are not valid for that session.
Two therapists collect data on the same target behavior using frequency and duration. What might each measurement tell you that the other cannot?
Frequency shows how often the behavior occurs, while duration shows how long it lasts.
Two RBTs are taking partial interval data on screaming. One marks “yes” only if it’s loud and long, while the other marks “yes” for short vocalizations. What training step should be taken to fix this?
Review and clarify the operational definition of “screaming”
During a session, your client’s program targets “independently brushing teeth.” Afterward, you check and see the toothbrush is wet and toothpaste is gone, but you didn’t observe the behavior. What’s the issue with using that as your data, and what should you do next time?
The product doesn’t prove the client brushed independently. Next time, you should directly observe