By: Cristina Martínez
M.B.A, M.S, BCBA, LBA
Data collection and analysis are crucial components of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Clinicians and practitioners need data to hypothesize functions driving behavior, strategize interventions, and track a client’s progress. In addition, ABA focuses on objectively defined behaviors, and in order to fully construct a thorough definition, an objective description of the behavior must include its quantification.
This condition is perhaps one of ABA’s trump cards for true behavior change, the ability to re-evaluate and adjust intervention strategies according to the client’s dynamics and changes within their environment. In other words, the long-term behavioral changes that ABA achieves with proven effectiveness are based, in large part, on continuous feedback sustained by measurement.
Frequency/ Event and Rate Recording
Time or Duration Recording
Latency Recording
Another important dimension of behavior is the temporal locus. This term refers to the time it takes for a behavior to occur after a verbal signal or event. Latency recording can be used to learn how quickly a child reacts to the direction “stop,” and thereby make data-based decisions to reduce the time it takes for the child to respond. This parameter can indicate the effectiveness of a behavior plan when it succeeds in reducing reaction times to the stimulus presented.
ABC (Antecedent – Behavior – Consequence) Data
We have previously discussed the importance of identifying the functions of behavior in a blog post from October 2021. To effectively determine a function, one must establish the antecedent and consequences of the behavior. ABC data recording, unlike the other methods, is qualitative and based on observation, although it can be complemented with quantitative information. This method seeks to establish the links and hypotheses of interrelation between the components described in the name (ABC), which requires time and thorough analysis by specialists.
Many other methods comprise the measurement spectrum used in ABA sessions, such as Rating Scale Data, Per Opportunity Recording, Task Analysis, Time Sampling, Scatterplot Analysis, among others. Each system attempts to decode the complex network of variables that make up human behavior in objective, quantifiable, and precise terms, so that interventions selected may be most effective by operating on the basis of such terms, continuously evaluated by visual analysis.
The importance of measurement in ABA is expressed in several dimensions. The description of behavior in both objective and precise terms helps to solidify the choices made for professional procedures to be used in sessions, which then can be taught to the caregivers, parents, and relatives. By integrating those closest to the client into these strategies, caregivers can enrich the experience and also learn to evaluate the behaviors in their own time. By definition, ABA is a science whose methods pursue the reliability and trustworthiness of interventions constantly, thereby not only guaranteeing its effectiveness, but also establishing transparency and accessibility within the complex and (still) unknown universe in which it operates – human behavior.
