Date of Award

Spring 5-5-2022

Thesis Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Applied Behavior Analysis and Clinical Science

Department

Health Professions

Committee Member(s)

Michele Williams

Stephanie Kincaid

Sarah Slocum

Supervising Faculty Member

Michele Williams

Abstract

Identifying and evaluating dependent variables within functional analyses are essential steps that affect the assessment's overall acceptability. Although most of the studies on functional analyses suggest that measuring repeated occurrences of behavior with rate measurements generates the most accurate data, several researchers suggest using alternative measurement methods to avoid the heavy burden of the procedure. In the present study, I partially replicated a study by Thomason-Sassi and colleagues (2011) that evaluated the correspondence between latency measures of responding and rate. Additionally, trial-based measurements, such as the occurrence of the behavior, represented in the percentage of trials, were compared with rate measurements. The research outcomes have shown that trial-based measurements could be useful measures of responding when latency and rate are impractical to arrange or undesirable due to the heavier observer burden these measurements represent. The results indicate a correspondence between the three measurement methods. Implications for trial-based measurements and future directions for research are discussed.

Rights Holder

Vasily Belichenko

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