Lecture 7 Behavioral Assessment

Behavioral Assessment
Types of behavioral assessment
Interviews: clinician assesses behavior by asking questions and collecting information on the persons verbal and nonverbal responses. Behavioral observation: psychologist collects verbal and nonverbal information about the person.
usually there is no verbal interaction between the observer and the subject.
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Methodological Issues
Reactivity to measurement: the phenomenon in which a persons behavior changes by the mere fact that the behavior is being observed. Selection and training of observers. One must select observers that are going to be good at collecting information. This includes knowledge about the behaviors being observed, and being able to rate these behaviors reliably.
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Behavioral observations
Appearance

physical description dress hygiene
Behavior and attitude

compliance activity level appropriateness of activity
Verbal behavior
expressive language (e.g., clarity, vocabulary, appropriateness) receptive language (e.g., tracking, understanding) presence of bizarre language (e.g., neologisms, echolalia, perseverations)
Mood and affect

current mood range of affect Intensity appropriateness
Cognitive processes

thought process (e.g., flow of ideas, organization) thought content (e.g., delusions, obsessions, etc) attention orientation & memory (person, place, and time) brief impression of intellect and insight/judgment
Behavioral assessment
Behavioral assessment tends to be restricted to samples of observable behavior. The best known type of behavioral assessment was established by B.F. Skinner in the 1950s and it is known as functional analysis.
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Functional analysis
Observation of environmental events that serve to maintain behavior (usually problem behavior). To be a functional analysis, the observations must be conducted within an experimental design (e.g., control of the environment and reinforcements).
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Functional analysis
The main purpose of functional analysis is to

1. identify the stimuli that elicit the target behavior 2. determine the consequences that follow
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Functional analysis
In most cases a functional analysis involves hypothesis testing and it is conducted by alternating control and treatment conditions (i.e., reversal, ABAB) to demonstrate that the effects are consistent. The assessment usually continues until a consistent pattern of behavior occurs.
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Functional analysis
This type of behavioral analysis is frequently used with individuals whose communication skills are not well developed (e.g., children, individuals with developmental disabilities).
Example of problem behavior in a toddler:
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Example: control condition
This condition consists of a "free play" condition in which the child has continuous access to toys and attention and no demands are presented. During this condition, motivation to engage in problem behavior tends to be quite low and problem behavior is usually absent.
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Example: test condition
During this condition, some reinforcement is manipulated (e.g., access to toys, attention, etc) either through positive reinforcement (a.k.a. "gain" function) or negative reinforcement (a.k.a. "escape" function).
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test of "gain" function Antecedent Behavior Consequence parent ignores child problem behavior parent attends to child
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test of "escape" function Antecedent Behavior Consequence demand presented problem behavior demand removed
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S-O-R-C
Another method of behavioral analysis is the S-O-R-C model, which is similar to functional analysis with one additional element (organismic variables).
S - Stimulus or antecedent conditions that bring on the problematic behavior. O - Organismic variables related to the problem behavior (e.g., diatheses, stressors, emotional and cognitive variables) R - Response or problematic behavior C - Consequences of the problematic behavior
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Additional methods of behavioral assessment
Self-report/self-monitoring

Clinical Interview Inventories and Checklists Naturalistic Controlled Self-monitoring
Direct observation

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Behavioral Assessment

Types of behavioral assessment

physical description dress hygiene

Behavior and attitude

compliance activity level appropriateness of activity

Mood and affect

current mood range of affect Intensity appropriateness

The main purpose of functional analysis is to

Example of problem behavior in a toddler:

Example: control condition

Example: test condition

Example: test condition

Example: test condition

Additional methods of behavioral assessment

Clinical Interview Inventories and Checklists Naturalistic Controlled Self-monitoring

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