Measurement Tool Types When Creating Target
Trial-by-Trial (Including Opportunity-Based) Data
Purpose:
Used to track correct and incorrect responses for each learning trial or opportunity. This method is ideal for:
Skill acquisition programs where each trial matters.
Opportunity-based data collection, where data is recorded only when an opportunity naturally occurs (rather than running a fixed number of trials).
This allows teams to capture both structured teaching (e.g., discrete trials) and naturalistic opportunities (e.g., when a child independently labels a color during play).
How to Collect:
Present the instruction or SD or wait for a natural opportunity to occur.
Record if the response was correct, incorrect, or if prompting was used after each trial/opportunity.
Continue until all planned trials or the observation period ends.
Summarize by calculating % correct across trials or opportunities.
Example:
Discrete Trials: Teaching “touch nose” with 10 planned trials → Record a ✔ or ✘ for each.
Opportunity-Based: Tracking spontaneous peer greetings → Record each greeting opportunity and mark if it was correct or incorrect.
Frequency (and Rate) Data
Purpose:
Measures how often a behavior occurs. Useful for behaviors with a clear start and end.
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Frequency: Count of occurrences.
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Rate: Frequency divided by the length of the observation session (helps compare across sessions of different lengths).
How to Collect:
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Each time the behavior happens, click + button. To remove press the - button. For clicker data entry click the number in the center of the target and type the # count in.
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If using rate, record the frequency data which is automatically tied to the running session timer. Welina will calculate rate = frequency ÷ time.
Example: Child mands 15 times during a 30-minute session → Rate = 0.5 per minute.
Duration Data
Purpose:
Tracks how long a behavior lasts from start to finish. Best for behaviors that vary in length (e.g., tantrums, independent work).
How to Collect:
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Start a timer the moment the behavior begins.
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If behavior terminates but behavior end determined by off set you can press pause and then press start again to resume trial of data.
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When behavior ends, press pause and then save to record the total time of trial.
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If the behavior happens multiple times, you can track each episode separately, Welina will calculate total cumulative duration.
Example: Tantrum lasts 4 minutes, later in session another tantrum lasts 2 minutes → Cumulative duration = 6 minutes.
Interval Time Sampling
Purpose:
Measures whether a behavior happens within set time intervals instead of counting every instance. This is helpful for behaviors that occur frequently or last for long periods.
Types:
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Whole Interval: Record YES only if the behavior occurs during the entire interval.
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Partial Interval: Record YES if the behavior happens at any point during the interval.
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Momentary Time Sampling: Record YES only if the behavior is happening at the exact moment the interval ends.
How to Collect:
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Break the session into equal intervals (e.g., 30 seconds).
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At each interval, mark if the behavior meets the criteria for that type.
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Calculate % of intervals where the behavior occurred.
Example: 10-second intervals: If behavior occurs 7 out of 10 intervals (partial interval) → 70%.
Anecdotal Data
Purpose:
To capture a descriptive, story-like record of events during a session. Unlike ABC, this is unstructured and focuses on context and qualitative details rather than strictly defining antecedent, behavior, and consequence.
How to Collect:
Observe the client during a session or event.
Write down what you see and hear in chronological order.
Focus on relevant details.
Example: If tracking acceptance of new foods you might track whether child accepted a bit (trial based) and then document the new food -> "One bit of banana"
ABC Data
Purpose:
To identify patterns in behavior by recording what happens before (Antecedent), during (Behavior), and after (Consequence). This structured format helps determine potential behavior functions.
How to Collect:
A (Antecedent): Write down what happened right before the behavior (e.g., instructions, events, environment).
B (Behavior): Objectively describe the behavior (what it looks/sounds like, not why).
C (Consequence): Record what happened immediately after the behavior (attention, removal of task, etc.).
Keep each entry brief, objective, and time-stamped if possible.
Example:
- Teacher tells child, “Clean up toys.”
- Child throws toys and screams.
- Teacher removes toys and gives child a 2-minute break.
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