Lesson 2: Level Change
31 Topics
Lesson 3: Slope Change
45 Topics
Lesson 4: Putting It All Together
26 Topics
Mastering the Basics of Visual Analysis by Katie Wolfe and Timothy A. Slocum is © 2015-2024 FoxyLearning LLC and distributed under CC BY-NC-SA
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1.5 Baseline vs. Intervention
This is the open-access version of this module and your progress is not tracked or recorded
To evaluate whether an intervention changed a participant’s behavior, we compare the behavior under different conditions. We usually measure the behavior in a baseline phase before we implement an intervention. This gives you a basis for judging how the intervention impacts the behavior. Baseline is usually what you’re already doing in response to the behavior.
Look at the behavior under different conditions:
Baseline
What you’re currently doing; the treatment is NOT implemented
Intervention
The treatment that you want to test
When a person enters a treatment facility for addictions, how does the facility measure a baseline? I am curious about this topic. The intervention is for the individual to stop whatever it is they are doing because the addiction is affecting their lives. Therefore, the individual wants to “stop” whatever is aligning them and learn new behaviours for navigating in their environment with a healthier lifestyle.
Interventions are important and are used a lot for things such as skill development. It can teach a person positive behaviors, which can help a person become more independent and successful in their everyday lives.
Yes, an intervention can bring a change in behavior. Interventions are actions or strategies deliberately taken with the intent to change or affect behavior. These may range in form from educational programs, therapy, incentives, modifications in the environment, to policies. The intent of an intervention is generally to promote a desired behavior or eliminate an undesired one.
As a behavior therapist, I find myself collecting baseline data even when I didn’t intend to! For example, some behaviors may spontaneously show up while I am working on interventions for other behaviors. I will note how the frequency/duration etc of the behavior and then report to my BCBA.