Testing a Definition

So now that you have learned the characteristics of a good definition, how do you test to see if your definition is actually good?

Cooper, Heron, and Heward describe a few questions and answers to determine if you have a good definition.

1.  Can you count the number of occurrences?

-You should be able to answer "Yes"

2.  Will a stranger know what to look for based on the definition alone?

-You should be able to answer "Yes"

3.  Can you break the target behavior down to smaller,  more specific components?

-You should answer "No"

-The target behavior should already be broken down into the most specific components as possible

Resources:  Cooper J.O, Heron T.E, Heward W.L. Applied behavior analysis (2nd ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson; 2007.

Test Tuesday

If you are trying to measure a continuous behavior that does not have a discrete beginning and ending, which method is best to use?

A.  Any continuous recording

B.  Whole-interval recording

C. MTS

D. Frequency

E.  Rate

F.  Partial-Interval Recording

B.  Whole-interval recording

Whole-interval recording is useful for high rate behaviors that cannot be discretely counted.

Questions?  Check out the blog post on continuous measurement recording. 

http://bcbatestprep.blogspot.com/2014/03/continuous-measurement-procedures.html