Data sheets
Examples data sheets and graphs
Instructions for how to record and graph
Instructions for graphing frequency and rate
A-B-C Recording
completed abc chart example.pdf
Divide your paper into 3 columns – “A” for “antecedent” in which you will record what preceded or precipitated the behavior; “B” for “behavior” which describes what the student did; and, “C” for “consequence” or what followed the behavior.
An antecedent is often described as a “trigger” for the behavior. Some examples typically seen in the classroom are when a teacher tells a student to do a difficult task, when the student is left alone and not getting attention from an adult or others, when peers tease, when student is asked to stop an activity, etc.
The consequence can include actions imposed by others (e.g., teacher sends child to safe seat) as well as natural consequences (e.g., all peers are watching student as she walks to safe seat until teacher diverts their attention). The consequence for one behavior may serve as an antecedent for the next behavior, so you may have a running “stream” of actions. This format is useful for collecting data for a functional behavioral assessment (FBA).
Rate/Frequency
Frequency and Duration Behavior Data Sheet.docx
Rate or frequency is how often a behavior occurs in a given period of time. For instance, counting the number of times a student blurts out during a 45-minute class period.
Rate is usually only collected on discrete behaviors that have an agreed upon beginning and end and uniform length of time (e.g., saying “no” and other verbal refusals, talking out without raising hand, slapping table with hand when told to work, etc.)
Make a tally mark on the data sheet each time the behavior you are targeting occurs. At the end of the observation period, add the number of behaviors tallied and divide that amount by the amount of time observed. Rate is usually calculated “per minute”. If you recorded more than one problem behavior, calculate rate separately for each behavior you recorded.
Rate is calculated by dividing the number of times the behavior occurred by the amount of time observed.
Duration
Frequency and Duration Behavior Data Sheet.docx
Duration Recording sheet EXAMPLE.pdf
Duration is the amount of time in which a behavior occurs. When measuring a behavior like a temper tantrum, you not only want to know whether it happened, but how long it lasted. Use a stopwatch, clock or timer to determine how long the behavior lasts.
In order to measure the duration of a behavior, the behavioral definition must be specific enough that it tells you when the behavior starts and when the behavior stops. For example, the onset of a tantrum is when the student lets out a loud whining sound and the offset is when the child stops crying and just sniffles.
Two ways to measure duration of a behavior:
1. Measure duration per session: Each time the student engages in a particular behavior, start the timer. When the child’s behavior stops, stop the stopwatch, but do NOT reset it. When the child engages in the behavior again, start the stopwatch again. Continue to repeat the procedures. When the observation is complete, you will have recorded the total amount of time the child engaged in the behavior.
You would report the total duration of behavior as a percentage of the total time observed.
Calculate duration per session by taking the total duration of behavior divided by the length of observation session X 100= %.
Example: 20 minutes total out of seat in 45-minute observation session 20/45 x 100 = 44%
2. Measure duration per occurrence: Start the timer when the behavior starts. When the behavior stops, the stopwatch is reset to zero and the time is recorded. This process is repeated each time the child engages in the problem behavior. The resulting measure provides data on the duration of occurrence of each behavior. As a result, you will also have recorded the number of behaviors observed within the observation period.
Add all duration data to determine total duration of problem behavior during the observation session. Divide the total duration by the number of behaviors observed to determine the mean or average duration.
The observer could report this data in two ways.
1). You could report the total duration of behavior as a percentage of the total time observed. Calculate duration per occurrence using the same formula as above. Take the total duration of behavior divided by length of observation period X 100 = % of total time observed.
2). You could also report the mean and range of durations per session. In the example above, you could report Cindy’s tantrums had a mean duration of 19 minutes, with a range of 3 to 46 minutes.
The advantage of using this recording method over “duration per session” is you will have a record of the varying lengths of time of each incident of behavior and a record of the number of times the behavior occurred during that session {with this added information, you could also calculate rate, however, just reporting rate by itself will leave out critical information since the duration of behavior varies and as a result, needs to be reported too}.
Time Sampling
Time Sample Recording Sheet.doc
Partial Interval recording Example.pdf
momentary time sample example.pdf
1. Whole-Interval Recording (WIR)
· Use to record continuous behaviors (e.g., interactive play with peer, maintaining a conversation, sitting during calendar time, on-task behavior, making eye contact). The behavior can’t be too short or brief.
· Make a mark on the sheet at the end of the interval, if the behavior was or was not present for the entire interval.
· Usually underestimates behavior, so use for behavior you want to increase.
· You can determine an estimate of the minimum duration of behavior by calculating the percentage of intervals in which the behavior was present.
2. Partial-Interval Recording (PIR)
· Record whether the behavior occurred at any time during the interval. Don’t worry how often it occurred or how long it was present, simply did it occur.
· You can use this method for short duration, discrete behaviors.
· Tends to underestimate rate of high-frequency behavior (you will “miss” behavior that occurs rapidly and in quick succession because you mark the interval to indicate the behavior occurred once).
· However, of all sampling methods, tends to overestimate behavior (you record when behavior occurred even if behavior lasted for 1 second out of a 30 second interval).
· Good for behavior you want to reduce
· Allows you to measure a number of different behaviors at same time
3. Momentary Time-Sampling (MTS)
· Use to measure continuous activity behaviors (e.g., talking out, frequent out of seat behavior).
· Record whether target behavior is present or absent at the moment each time interval ends.
· Advantage is that you do not have to observe the student except at the precise moment that ends the interval.
· Disadvantage is that you miss behavior (because you only record for a “moment” in time).
· It provides the best estimate of duration of behavior.
How to Report Time Sampling Data
Time sampling data is reported as a percentage of the total intervals in which behavior was present. This provides an estimate of what proportion of the observation time the behavior was present and absent. When reporting data, also report the length of observation session.
Behavior Rating Scale EXAMPLE.pdf