C.4. Measure Temporal Dimensions of Behavior

When we measure behavior, it's important to know how long it lasts, how fast it happens, and how often it occurs. Here are the main ways we measure these time-related aspects of behavior:

Duration *What it Measures: The total time a behavior lasts. *When to Use: For behaviors that don’t have clear start and end points, like tantrums or engagement in an activity. Examples: -Lulu watched a show for 50 minutes. -A child cried for 6 minutes and 23 seconds because they didn't buy him a toy.

Latency *What it Measures: The amount of time it takes for a child to respond after being given a prompt or instruction. *When to Use: To assess how quickly a child reacts to instructions. Examples: -When the traffic light turns green, it takes you 3 seconds to accelerate. -You hear a knock on the door and it takes you 10 seconds to run to pick up your package.

Time between responses *What it Measures: The time between consecutive responses of the same behavior. *When to Use: To monitor pacing and frequency of behaviors, especially repetitive ones. Examples: -When you are cooking and moving the soup spoon, the time between responses is the time that passes between one stir and the next. -The time it takes for migration to respond after sending the letter or speaking on the phone is the time between responses.

Acceleration *What it Measures: The change in frequency of a behavior over time. *When to Use: To understand if the behavior is increasing or decreasing in frequency. Examples: -If your response rate is 10 responses per minute and increases to 12 responses per minute in the next minute, your acceleration is 2 responses per minute. -If your response rate is 10 responses per minute and decreases to 8 responses per minute in the next minute, your acceleration is -2 responses per minute.