Assignment:
Holistic Observation: Expanding the Lens of Behavior Analysis
Purpose:
This assignment is designed to enhance students' observational skills by immersing them in the complexities of natural environments while capturing subtle contextual details and qualitative factors. Traditional Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) training often emphasizes recording antecedent, behavior, and consequence (ABC) sequences in isolation, potentially overlooking the broader environmental context. Naturalistic observation, a method extensively utilized in psychology, involves observing subjects in their natural settings without intervention, providing a more comprehensive understanding of behavior as it unfolds in real-world contexts.
By engaging in this form of observation, students can develop a deeper appreciation for the environmental and contextual factors that influence behavior, moving beyond the constraints of structured ABC data collection. This approach addresses common skill deficits among novice analysts, particularly their limited experience with quiet, reflective observation. By focusing on the environment as a whole, without categorizing specific antecedent, behavior, or consequence sequences, students can cultivate a more holistic perspective, essential for effective behavior analysis. Need Assignment Help?
Observation Guidelines
- Observe a public or semi-public environment for 30 minutes (e.g., a park, café, library).
- Document observations thoroughly as they are happening, focusing on the physical environment, human interactions, behavioral patterns, and personal reflections. This document will be submitted with your final report (if notes are hand-written, they must be submitted as typed). This document has no grammatical, spelling, or structural expectations, but any distracting typos should be corrected, and the document should be easy to read (An example is provided at the end of these instructions).
- Write a post-observation report (3-5 pages) following the specified format.
- Introduction. Provide justification regarding your observational setting and the time of day. It is ok to identify that the time selection was a convenience sample - but if it was strategically selected for a rich, behavioral environment, please indicate.
- Descriptive Summary. The descriptive summary is a more narrative format from your raw observations, providing an overall coherent and organized pattern of documentation. In this portion of the paper, include as many descriptions related to as many senses as possible.
Students may also describe a casual description of behavioral interactions that can later be analyzed using behavioral concepts.
- Analysis. In this portion of the paper, students will reflect on the descriptive summary and some of the examples they provided. These examples should then be related to behavior analytic concepts discussed in the course (or in previous classes). Remember, this is to generate careful considerations of what was observed as it relates to behavioral phenomena. We cannot accurately identify maintaining consequences observed during this period; rather, we make hypotheses and generate areas to study more systematically.
- Conclusion. In this section, take one example from the analysis and suggest something that could be studied. For example, a student may notice people picking up merchandise in one area more than another and suggest collecting rate of purchased items based on product placement. Finally, indicate your overall experience with this project.
- Ethical Considerations. Respect the privacy and dignity of individuals who are observed. Avoid any interaction or documentation that could make someone uncomfortable or violate ethical boundaries. If visiting a business, respect their policies regarding loitering. In the post-observation report, ensure that no identifying or personal information is divulged.
Peer Review Component:
After completing the assignment, students will be provided with a peer's project to review. Your thorough and honest evaluation is crucial for your peer's learning process. Ensure that your feedback is respectful, constructive, and aimed at helping your peer improve their analytical and observational skills in behavior analysis.
Students will be responsible for:
- Completing the rubric and submitting it to eLearning in a timely manner.
- Plagiarism Policy. Academic dishonesty will result in an automatic review by the instructor. If plagiarism is confirmed, consequences may include a zero on the assignment or further disciplinary action as per university policy.
- If the instructor suspects that a dyad has misrepresented each other's work, they will both receive a "0" on the assignment.