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A comparison of sources of baseline data for treatments of problem behavior following a functional analysis
Author(s) -
Scheithauer Mindy,
Schebell Shan M.,
Mevers Joanna Lomas,
Martin Clarissa P.,
Noell George,
Suiter Kerri C.,
Call Nathan A.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of applied behavior analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1938-3703
pISSN - 0021-8855
DOI - 10.1002/jaba.549
Subject(s) - multiple baseline design , psychology , baseline (sea) , applied behavior analysis , functional analysis , behavioral analysis , autism , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , intervention (counseling) , psychiatry , biochemistry , oceanography , chemistry , gene , geology
It is common practice in research on the treatment of problem behavior to compare levels of targeted behaviors during treatment to levels when treatment is not in place. Some researchers use data collected as part of a multielement functional analysis as the initial baseline, whereas others collect new baseline data following completion of the functional analysis. We evaluated whether the source of baseline data influences the reliability and efficiency of decision‐making. Results suggest that similar decisions are made in regard to treatment efficacy using the different sources of baseline data, but using data from a multielement functional analysis as baseline may save time. Interrater agreement was adequate, but lower for some graphs than has been observed in past studies. Several potential explanations for this discrepancy are discussed.