Date of Award

Fall 2016

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Mark W. Steege

Second Advisor

Rachel Brown

Third Advisor

Harold Longenecker, Ph.D.

Keywords

PsyD

Abstract

Task analysis data collection typically focuses on the acquisition of skills by recording the percentage of steps in the response chain completed independently and correctly. While useful as a measure of skill acquisition, percentage correct does not promote a step based analysis of factors that may promote or interfere with skill acquisition, including necessary prompts and the occurrence of challenging behavior. This study evaluated the reliability and validity of the Task Analysis Recording Procedure (TARP) in recording physical stereotypy, a behavior often emitted by participants with autism or other developmental disabilities, by comparing TARP obtained physical stereotypy data to that obtained via six second momentary time sampling. A multiple probe design was utilized to facilitate the comparison. The results show a robust correspondence between recordings of physical stereotypy conducted by teachers using the TARP and secondary observers utilizing a six second momentary time sampling procedure. This study demonstrates that the TARP procedure is an acceptable means of recording physical stereotypy in applied settings. Moreover, these results demonstrate a teacher-friendly method of recording both the acquisition of skills and the decrease of interfering stereotypy within the context of functional life skills programming. Implications of these findings and suggestions for further research are discussed.

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