PSY340 Final: PSY340 Behavioural Therapies Finals Notes (Ch 3-25)
Chapter 3 – Graphing Behaviour and Measuring Change
• The primary tool used to document behaviour change is the graph
• Graph: a visual representation of the occurrence of a behaviour over time
• After instances of the target behaviour are recorded (on a data sheet or otherwise) the
information is transferred to a graph
• A graph is an efficient way to view the occurrence of behaviour → shows the results
of recording during many observation periods
• Behaviour analysts use graphs to identify the level of behaviour before treatment and
after treatment begins
• The graph makes it easier to compare the levels of the behaviour before, during, and
after treatment because the levels are presented visually for comparison
COMPONENTS OF A GRAPH
• In a typical behaviour modification graph → time and behaviour are the only two
variables illustrated
• Each data point on a graph gives you two pieces of information –
• 1. It tells you when the behaviour was recorded (time)
• 2. The level of the behaviour at that time
• Time is indicated on the horizontal axis (x axis, abscissa)
• The level of the behaviour is indicated on the vertical axis (y axis, ordinate)
• Six components are necessary for a graph to be complete –
• 1. The y-axis and the x-axis
• Vertical axis (y-axis), the horizontal axis (x-axis) meet at the bottom left of the page
• On most graphs the x-axis is longer than the y-axis
• 2. The labels for the y-axis and the x-axis
• y-axis tells you the behaviour and the dimension of the behaviour that is recorded
• x-axis usually tells you the unit of the time during which the behaviour is recorded
• 3. The numbers on the y-axis and the x-axis
• On the y-axis → the number indicate the units of measurement of the behaviour
• On the x-axis → the numbers indicate the units of measurement of time
• There should be a hash mark on the y-axis and the x-axis
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• 4. Data points
• Must be plotted correctly to indicate the level of the behaviour that occurred at each
particular time period
• The information on the level of the behaviour and the time periods is taken from the
data sheet or other behaviour and the time periods taken from the data sheet
• The data point is connected to the adjacent data points by a line
• 5. Phase Lines
• A vertical line on a graph that indicates a change in treatment
• The change can be from a no-treatment phase to a treatment phase from a treatment
phase to another treatment phase
• Phase: a period in which the same treatment (or no treatment) is in effect
• Data points are not connected across phase lines
• 6. Phase Labels
• Each phase in a graph must be labelled
• The phase label appears at the top of the graph above the particular phase
• Most behaviour modification graphs have at least two phases that are labelled –
• 1. The no-treatment phase (baseline)
• 2. The treatment phase (the particular treatment being used)
• The two phase labels are –
• 1. Baseline
• 2. Behavioural Contract: the particular treatment the student is using to increase
studying
GRAPHING BEHAVIOURAL DATA
• Behavioural data are collected through direct observation and recording of the
behaviour on a data sheet or other instrument
• Once the behaviour has been recorded on the data sheet it can be transferred to a
graph
• You have to look more closely at the data sheet to be able to detect the difference
between baseline and treatment
GRAPHING DATA FROM DIFFERENT RECORDING PROCEDURES
• Regardless of the dimension of behaviour or type of data that is being graphed
however the same six components of a graph must be present
• The y-axis label identifies the behaviour and the type of data
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• Session: a period in which a target behaviour is observed and recorded
• Other aspects of a behaviour may be recorded and graphed such as intensity or
product data
• To graph product recording data → you would label the y-axis to indicate the unit of
measurement and the behaviour
RESEARCH DESIGNS
• To determine whether the treatment (independent variable) was responsible for the
observed change in the target behaviour (dependent behaviour) and to rule out the
possibility that extraneous variables caused the behaviour to change
• Independent Variable: what the researcher manipulates to produce a change in the
target behaviour
• Dependent Variable: target behaviour
• Extraneous Variable (Confounding Variable): any event that the researcher did not
plan that may have affected the behaviour
• A researcher also wants to demonstrate that the behaviour modification procedure is
what caused the behaviour to change
• When a researcher shows that a behaviour modification procedure causes a target
behaviour to change the researcher is demonstrating a functional relationship between
the procedure and the target behaviour
• A functional relationship is established if –
• 1. A target behaviour changes when an independent variable is manipulated (a
procedure is implemented) while all other variables are held constant
• 2. The process is replicated or repeated one or more times and the behaviour changes
each time
• A research design involves both treatment implementation and replication
• If the behaviour changes each time the procedure is implemented and only when the
procedure is implemented a functional relationship is demonstrated
A-B DESIGN
• The simplest type of design used in behaviour modification has just two phases →
baseline and treatment (called an A-B design)
• A = Baseline
• B = Treatment
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Document Summary
In a typical behaviour modification graph time and behaviour are the only two variables illustrated: each data point on a graph gives you two pieces of information , 1. It tells you when the behaviour was recorded (time: 2. The y-axis and the x-axis: vertical axis (y-axis), the horizontal axis (x-axis) meet at the bottom left of the page, on most graphs the x-axis is longer than the y-axis, 2. The labels for the y-axis and the x-axis: y-axis tells you the behaviour and the dimension of the behaviour that is recorded, x-axis usually tells you the unit of the time during which the behaviour is recorded, 3. Phase labels: each phase in a graph must be labelled, the phase label appears at the top of the graph above the particular phase, most behaviour modification graphs have at least two phases that are labelled , 1.