Evaluation of Intervention Plans
In Unit 4 and Unit 6, you developed interventions to increase behavior deficits and decrease behavior excesses. In this assignment, you will come up with a plan to evaluate the effectiveness of two of the intervention plans. You can choose any two of the intervention plans to evaluate: Annie’s plan to reduce skin picking, Annie’s verbal behavior plan, Jimmy’s contingency contract, or the group home token economy.
Prior to coming up with an evaluation plan, go back to your graded Unit 4 and Unit 6 assignments and read your instructor’s feedback. Make any recommended changes to your intervention plans before developing an evaluation plan.
Evaluating Your Intervention Plans:
Begin your evaluative essay by describing how single-subject experimental designs are used in behavior analysis to evaluate interventions. Include one reason why single-subject designs are considered superior to group designs in evaluating behavior change. Then, describe your evaluation plan for the two intervention plans you selected. Each evaluation plan should include a different research design so that two different research designs are covered within your assignment.
Each evaluation plan must include:
The measurement system you are using to collect data on what specific behavior(s). Include the operational definitions.
How often you are collecting data
Who is going to collect that data
The research design you are using to evaluate your treatment
An explanation of why that research design was the best choice
How the research design would demonstrate functional control of the intervention over the behavior(s).
Describe how you will know if your treatment was effective – what would a visual analysis of the graphed data show? You do not need to create a graph, but you should describe what your graph would show if your treatment were effective.
Your answers to the prompt above should consist of information from the text and supplemental readings. Your primary sources should be the readings assigned for the course, but you also may use sources from the Library or other credible Internet sources.
Your written assignment should be written in essay format with complete sentences. A clear viewpoint and purpose should be established and maintained throughout your evaluative essay. Your writing should be in Standard English with correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
Summarize a concept, theory or research
Use direct quotes from the text or articles
Writing Requirements and Assignment Guidelines
Your Assignment should be a 4 page evaluative essay, not including the Title and Reference pages, and should include the following elements:
Title page: Provide your name, title of Assignment, course and unit number, and date
Body: Answer the questions in complete sentences and paragraphs
The assignment must be written in Standard English and demonstrate superior organization, including a highly developed viewpoint and purpose. The communication of your thoughts must be highly ordered, logical, and unified, displaying exceptional content, organization, style, and mechanics (including the use of correct grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure).
Reference Page: Sources in APA format
Use Arial or Times New Roman 12-point font, double-spaced
Use current edition APA Formatting and Citation style
***** use the following books*******
Miltenberger, R. G. (2015). Behavior Modification: Principles and Procedures (6th ed.). Cengage Limited. https://purdueuniversityglobal(dot)vitalsource(dot)com/books/9781285227924.
Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2019). Applied Behavior Analysis (3rd ed.). Pearson Education (US). https://purdueuniversityglobal(dot)vitalsource(dot)com/books/9780134798769
Evaluation Plan
Student’s Name
University
Lecturer’s Name
Course Name and Number
Due Date
Evaluation Plan
Single-subject experimental designs are research methodologies used in behavioral analysis to assess treatments by manipulating the independent variable (intervention) to observe the dependent variable (behavior). They measure the dependent variable over time to test whether it has reached a steady state (Price et al., 2015). In other words, these methods repeatedly assess individual behavior to examine a person’s change in response to a particular intervention. They allow researchers to determine whether the client is responding to the intervention or has reached a steady state regarding their behavior changes (Miltenberger, 2015). The idea is that researchers will easily detect any changes across conditions when the client has achieved steady behavior. Researchers consider these methods superior to group designs because they allow for more control over the variables and eradicate the confusing variables that exist in group designs (Price et al., 2015). The intervention plans selected for this evaluation are Annie’s plan to reduce skin picking and Jimmy’s contingency contract. In the former plan, the researcher will evaluate the intervention’s effectiveness using a multiple baseline design. The researcher will also assess the effectiveness of Jimmy’s contingency contract using a reversal design.
Annie’s Plan to Reduce Skin Picking
Annie’s plan to reduce skin picking involves habit reversal components such as teaching her to squeeze a stress ball or making a fist with her hand whenever she feels the urge to pick her skin. This habit reversal will effectively minimize skin picking. The researchers will use frequency recording as a measurement system for data collection. It involves observing the occurrence of the skin-picking behavior and recording the duration of the behavior and the interval between it (Cooper et al., 2019). After identifying the behavior's duration, the time is broken down into smaller equal intervals (Cooper et al., 2019). Skin picking is the act of scratching the skin compulsively. The frequency recording of Annie's skin-picking behavior will be done every day to determine the frequency of this behavior. Annie’s parents will collect the data.
A multiple baseline research design will be used to evaluate treatment for skin-picking behavior. It is an evaluation method that assesses two or more behaviors to determine whether an intervention is effective after its implementation (Price et al., 2015). This method involves collecting data on the behavior at multiple points and introducing the treatment at different points to allow for a more controlled analysis (Miltenberger, 2015).
A multiple baseline research design was the best choice because it allows the researcher to compare the behavior before and after executing the intervention. It helps develop the best intervention for the behavior (Miltenberger, 2015). As a result, the researcher can easily measure the effectiveness of the treatment when the results indicate a decrease in the behavior after introducing the intervention.
The research design would demonstrate the intervention’s functional control over the behavior through a decrease in the participant’s behavior after implementing the treatment. It indicates that the intervention is effective. In other words, the multiple baseline design is an effective method used to evaluate the success and effectiveness of skin-picking interventions. This appr...