Select a behavior and an intervention and indicate which design you could implement to determine the validity of the intervention. You should not include a peer reviewed journal article. Instead, please answer the following questions regarding your own research idea to prepare for the last portion of your final project:
Who would your participant(s) be? Do not enter any identifying information. For example you may have "Student A was a 14-year old girl diagnosed with ADHD" or "Participant was an 8-year old boy at the Adult Day Treatment Program" (1 point)
What behavior will you measure? (2 points)
What is your intervention? It must be an ABA intervention. (2 points)
What is your experimental question? (5 points)
What design are you using? Why? You must select a design that was covered in our course. If you select any other design, you will not earn points on this discussion post. (5 points)
How will you know your intervention was successful (hypothetically)? Here you will have to sketch (but not submit) what your ideal graph should look like and be sure to describe the wanted descriptions of the visual analysis. For example, trend, level, variability, and latency to change. (5 points)
Full Answer Section
- Experimental Question: Does the implementation of a to-do list with specific time goals increase the frequency of completed, error-free data entry tasks during a 4-hour morning work block compared to a baseline condition without the list?
- Design: I am using a Multiple Baseline across Behaviors design. I would identify three distinct types of data entry tasks (e.g., Task Type 1: Customer Information Entry, Task Type 2: Inventory Log Entry, Task Type 3: Expense Report Entry). I would establish a baseline for the frequency of completed, error-free instances of all three task types. Then, I would introduce the intervention (to-do list with time goals) for Task Type 1 first. After stability is achieved for Task Type 1 under the intervention, I would introduce the intervention for Task Type 2. Finally, after stability is achieved for Task Type 2, I would introduce the intervention for Task Type 3. The design is appropriate because it allows for the demonstration of a functional relationship between the intervention and the behavior across different but related behaviors (task types). The staggered introduction of the intervention across behaviors helps to rule out the possibility that observed changes are due to external factors or maturation, as the behaviors are occurring within the same individual in the same environment.
- How Intervention Success Would Be Known (Hypothetically):
- Ideal Graph Description: The graph would have "Session" (numbered sequentially) on the x-axis and "Frequency of Completed, Error-Free Data Entry Tasks" on the y-axis. There would be three data series, one for each task type (or perhaps a composite score if measuring overall productivity), represented by different symbols or lines.
- Visual Analysis Descriptions:
- Level: During the baseline phase for each task type (before the intervention is introduced), the level of completed, error-free tasks would be relatively stable but perhaps moderate. Upon the introduction of the intervention for a specific task type, the level of completed, error-free tasks for that type would show a clear and immediate increase to a higher, more desirable level. This higher level would be maintained consistently throughout the intervention phase for that task type.
- Trend: The baseline data for each task type would show little to no trend (flat line) or a slight, inconsistent trend. Following the introduction of the intervention for a specific task type, the data points would show an immediate positive trend (an upward slope) across the first few sessions, reflecting the initial adjustment and learning phase, before leveling off at the higher performance level.
- Variability: Baseline data might show some variability in the number of tasks completed from session to session. After the intervention is introduced, the variability for the targeted task type should decrease, indicating more consistent performance at the higher level.
- Latency to Change: There would be a clear point of intervention introduction for each task type. The change in level and trend for the targeted task type should occur with minimal latency (perhaps one or two sessions) after the intervention is introduced, demonstrating a direct and immediate effect.
In summary, successful intervention would be indicated by an immediate and sustained increase in the frequency of completed, error-free data entry tasks for each task type coinciding precisely with the introduction of the to-do list with time goals for that specific task type, with stable baseline performance prior to intervention.