1. Unit 1: Selecting and Defining Target Behaviors
PS 522: Behavioral Measures and Interpretation of Data
Lisa R. Jackson, Ph.D.

2. Role of Assessment in Applied Behavior Analysis
Methods to identify and define targets for behavior change
Identify relevant factors that may inform or influence intervention
Research helps determine whether these assessments actually work and helps create effective assessments

3. Five Phases of Assessment
Screening
Defining problem or criteria for achievement
Pinpointing target behaviors
Monitoring progress
Following-up
When selecting target behaviors, gathering useful information is crucial

4. Interviewing Interviewing the individual
Identify potential list of target behaviors
What and when
Avoid why questions that presumes clients know why
Whom does the behavior change benefit?
Identify primary concerns
Verified through further data collection
Direct observation
Use of questionnaires or self-monitoring
Interviewing significant others
Develop behavioral descriptions
What, when, how; moving from general to specific
Determine participation

5. Using Checklists
Descriptions of specific behaviors and conditions under which each should occur
Alone or with interview
Typically Likert-scale assessments
Ask about antecedents and consequences
Child Behavior Checklist
Adaptive Behavior Scale - School
Adaptive Behavior Scale - Residential and Community

6. Anecdotal observation
Features of ABC recording
Descriptive
Temporally sequenced
Provides an overall description of behavior patterns, antecedents and consequences
Observations only, no interpretations

7. ABC recording
See also Figure 3.3

8. Ecological Assessments
Recognizes the complex interrelationships between the environment and behavior
Data on individual and environment
Physical features
Interactions with others
Home
Reinforcement history
Provides a huge amount of descriptive data
The key is knowing when to use this assessment

9. Ecological Assessments
So, let’s consider the Smith and Elder article
What were their conclusions about siblings and family members of people with autism?
When are ecological assessments useful?
When are ecological assessments inappropriate?

10. Reactivity Behavior change in response to being observed
Effects of assessment on behavior being assessed
Obtrusive assessment great impact
Self-monitoring most obtrusive
To reduce reactivity:
Use unobtrusive methods: videotape, 2 way mirrors
Repeat observations to diminish novelty
Take effects into account

11. Assessing Social Significance
Consider why behavior is being assessed
Unacceptable to change behavior primarily for benefit of others
To what extent will proposed change improve the person’s life?
Will the change increase appropriate behaviors?
Will the change facilitate more complex skills?

12. Habilitation
The degree to which a person’s behavior repertoire maximizes short and long term reinforcers and minimizes short and long term punishers
Use to assess meaningfulness of behavior change
How useful or functional will a behavior change be?
Any behavior targeted for change must benefit the person directly or indirectly.

13. Determining Habilitation
Relevance of behavior after intervention
Necessary prerequisite skills
Increased access
Impact on behavior of others
A target behavior should be selected only when it can be determined that the behavior is likely to produce reinforcement in the person’s natural environment
Is it a behavior cusp or a pivotal behavior?

14. Behavior Cusp
A behavior that has consequences beyond the change itself
Behaviors that open person’s world to new contingencies
Crawling, reading
Satisfies one of more of these criteria:
Provides access to new reinforcers, social validity, generativeness, competition with inappropriate responses
Degree that others are affected

15. Pivotal Behaviors
Behaviors that, once learned, produce changes in other untrained behaviors
Example: teaching children with autism to self- initiate may be pivotal because it appears to result in wide-spread positive changes in a number of areas
Advantages for both interventionist and client
Behaviors can be taught in relatively few sessions, but can be used in new settings; would shorten intervention and give the client new tools with which to interact in the environment

16. Determining Habilitation
Age appropriateness
Inappropriate: teaching 35 yr old to play with dolls
Normalization
Achieving greatest possible integration into more typical environments and expectations
Least restrictive environment
Replacement behaviors
Cannot eliminate or reduce a behavior without teaching a replacement, adaptive behavior
Constructional approach: creating, rather than eliminating repertoires

17. Prioritizing Target Behaviors
Does the behavior pose any danger?
How important will this target behavior be to future skill development?
Will changing this behavior reduce negative or unwanted attention from others?
How likely is success?
What is the cost-benefit?
Costs include client’s time and effort

18. Characteristics of Good Target Behavior Definitions
Objective
Refer only to the observable
Clear
Readable and unambiguous
Complete
Delineate boundaries of definition
Operationalized
Easily understood in order to discriminate from other, similar behaviors
Aggression is not helpful, but kicking, hitting, biting is more specific

19. Testing a Definition Can you count number of occurrences?
Should answer “Yes”
Will a stranger know what to look for based on definition alone?
Can you break the target behavior down to smaller, more specific components?
Should answer “No”

20. Setting Criteria for Behavior Change
Selected because of importance to clients
Increase, maintain, generalize desirable behaviors
Decrease undesirable behaviors
Valued and meaningful behaviors have social validity
Assess performance of highly competent people
Experimentally manipulate different performance levels to determine optimal results

21. Questions??
I am sure you have been asking questions here in seminar!  Great job!
But, if you have more, me:
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