Transcript Behavioral Assessment

Behavioral Assessment
History
Behaviorism beginning in 1930’s
 Pavlov: Pavlovian or classical conditioning
 B.F. Skinner (most noteworthy work 1953)
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 Skinner
box for rat learning research
 Operant or response-stimulus (RS)
conditioning
Behavioral Assessment Context in
Clinical Psych
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Grows from Behavior Theory / Learning
Theory
Aspects of it can be easily combined with
other forms of assessment – very
common to do so
Differs from traditional assessment
(clinical interview and testing) in 3 ways
Differences from traditional
assessment
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Interested in samples of behavior, not behavior
as a sign of internal processes
Functional Analysis, a very concrete method, is
employed to understand behavior
Assessment is an ongoing, active part of all
phases of treatment (not just always in the
back of clinician’s mind, as in other types of
treatment)
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Sample vs. Sign
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In behavioral assessment, test / interview
responses are interpreted as “samples” of
behavior that are thought to generalize to
other situations
 In traditional assessment (even
psychodynamic), we interpret test data as
“signs” of internal processes
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Functional Behavioral Analysis (also
called Functional Analysis)
Derived from Skinner’s work with SR
(stimulus-response) learning
 SORC model
 ABC model (very similar)
 Isolates a target behavior for analysis and
understanding in a very concrete,
prescripted manor
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SORC model for conceptualizing a
behavior
S = stimulus or “antecedent” factors which
occur before target behavior
 O = organismic variables relevant to target
behavior
 R = the response = the target behavior
 C = consequences of target behavior
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Elaboration of “O”
Organismic
 Physical / medical / physiological,
cognitive / psychological aspects of the
client
 …that are relevant to treating the target
behavior
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Example of SORC model
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S – Stimulus: a child is ignored by her peers in
class
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(O – Organismic: the child has previously been
diagnosed with ADHD)
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R – Response: She increases the volume of her
voice (i.e., yells)
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C – Consequences: her peers pay attention to
her, some role their eyes
Similar to SORC: ABC
A = Antecedent – similar to “situation”
 B = Behavior – similar to “response”
 C = Consequence – outcome
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Is an ongoing & active process, through all
points of behavioral therapy: initial
assessment, therapy, and evaluation of
improvement
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Assessment is an ongoing process in almost all
clinical orientations, in that it’s almost always in the
“back” of clinician’s mind.
Ex: Hmm, I thought Mr. Z had depression, but now
he’s exhibiting more anxious symptoms; I wonder if
this is more a mixed anxiety-depression sydrome.
In behavioral assessment, is a planned & integral
part of entire therapeutic process
Behavioral Assessment Methods
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Behavioral Interviews
Observational methods
 Naturalistic
Observation
 Controlled Observation
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Controlled Performance Techniques
Self-Monitoring
Role-playing
Inventories, Checklists
Cognitive-Behavioral Assessments
Behavioral Interviews
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Behavioral interviews: ask questions focused on
target behaviors
Goal: help clinician gain general perspective of
problem behavior and the variables that
perpetuate it
Understand antecedent factors
May use structured diagnostic interview
(relatively new development)
Not different from traditional interview in format,
only in focus.
Observation: a primary technique
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Observational methods (as opposed to selfreport) provide a sample of behavior in
naturalistic OR controlled conditions
Fewer problems in research than therapy
Naturalistic: at home or school, in a hospital, or
in therapy
Controlled: situational tests that approximate
real life
Controlled Performance
Techniques
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Similar to controlled observational methods,
except that the observer interferes more
do not approximate real life, but may be
analogous to or heighten aspects of real life
(pressure, interpersonal challenges, presence of
phobic stimuli)
Contrived situations
Potential for standardization across individuals
Self-monitoring techniques
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Have client observe their own behaviors,
thoughts, and emotions
chance of bias?
Typically more part of treatment than
assessment for this reason
Clients keep list of observations in similar
fashion as SORC or ABC
Dysfunctional Thought Record DTR is most
common of self-monitoring in clinical setting
EMA
Special kind of self-monitoring
 Ecological Momentary Assessment
 Real-time assessment using a PDA
 Increasingly used in research
 Example: for assessment of emotions &
cognitions associated with eating habits,
participants may be asked to answer
questions on the PDA each time it
beeps (set randomly ~3x day), and
before and after all meals and snacks
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Role Playing
Controlled-setting for “safety”
 Provide a scenario for client to act out,
possibly with a clinical assistant or the
therapist
 Benefit: therapeutic since it’s practice in a
safe setting plus provides ongoing
assessment
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Inventories, checklists
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E.g., child behavior checklist CBCL
Parent, peer, self, teacher rate on a list of
behaviors
Usually multiple raters
Questionnaire format
Often have multiple “factors” in checklist
E.g., aggressive, depressed, anxious behaviors
Benefit: they offer a quantitative measure!
Cognitive-Behavioral Assessments
Add component of conscious &
remembered “thoughts” as an additional
type of behavior to assess
 Example: Beck Depression Inventory
 Asks questions about behaviors such as
sleep, appetite, decision making related to
decision
 But also thoughts: negative thoughts about
self, thoughts about death, etc.
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Challenges to validity and reliability
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Reliability & validity influenced by
 complexity
of behavior observed
 level of training, experience of observer(s)
 unit of analysis chosen & coding system used
 influence of observation on target
(problematic) behavior
 generalizability of observations to other
settings/situations