Discontinuous measurement procedures are used in AppliedApplied means that the behaviors targeted for change in ABA are important and meaningful in everyday life, helping to improve the person’s quality of life or social functioning. Example A ... More BehaviorBehavior refers to any activity or action that living organisms engage in, which can be observed, measured, and analyzed. It encompasses all interactions an organism has with its environment, inc... More Analysis (ABA) to track a behavior by sampling or observing only a portion of the occurrences within a specified observation period, rather than recording every instance. These methods provide an efficient way to gather data when it’s not feasible to measure every behavior occurrence. Common forms of discontinuous measurement include partial interval recordingPartial Interval Recording is a time sampling method used to observe and record whether a target behavior occurs at any time during a pre-determined interval. If the behavior occurs at any point durin... More, whole interval recordingWhole Interval Recording is a time-sampling technique where the observer records whether a behavior occurs throughout the entire duration of a pre-determined interval. The interval is marked as "+" if... More, and momentary time sampling.
Example
A behavior analyst is observing a student during a 30-minute classroom session to track on-task behavior. Using partial interval recording, the analyst divides the 30-minute session into 5-minute intervals. The analyst marks whether the student was on-task at any point during each 5-minute interval. If the student is on-task for at least part of the interval, the behavior is recorded as occurring during that interval, even if the student was not on-task the entire time. This approach allows the analyst to sample the behavior and gather a general sense of how often the behavior occurs without recording every instance.