Develop a Task Analysis

SPE 565: Develop a Task Analysis

Purpose

The primary purpose of this assignment is to develop an intervention plan through the use of a task analysis in order to teach complex behavior. Students will identify, research and develop a plan to implement and use a task analysis. Students will then implement their intervention, collect data, graph and analyze their results. 

General Information

You will use the information addressed in this course to research, evaluate and develop a plan to conduct a task analysis of a complex behavior. You will select an individual to serve as participant for your intervention, which will center on teaching a new behavior based on the task analysis that you have conducted. This individual must have a diagnosed disability (ID, LD, ED, ADHD, etc). After co-instructor approval you will implement your intervention, collect data, graph and analyze your data. This assignment is worth 130 points.

This assignment consists of two parts. Part 1 must be completed and graded prior to starting Part 2. When submitting Part 2, include your graded Part 1 as the initial section of your document– along with any revisions that you have made based upon feedback that you received on Part 1.

Naming your document

When naming your assignments (saving your word document) use the format: your last name and first initial-Assignment Name  (e.g., SkinnerB-TaskAnalysis). Do not use spaces or characters (such as #, dot ‘.’ comma ‘,’ etc).  Also include your name in the body of your document (for example, include your name at the top of the first page of your document).

Deliverable

You are to develop and write an original behavior change intervention based on a task analytic evaluation of a target behavior. Your intervention description should be complete and concise - a maximum of 5 pages (not including your Appendix containing data sheets, graphs and training handouts). Organize your document to include section headers (e.g., Part 1) along with headers that describe the material covered (e.g. Participant, Setting, Target Behavior, etc). Be sure to address all of the questions detailed under each head listed below.

Your behavior change intervention should include:

1)    A narrative description of your plan,

2) An Appendix containing:

a.    task analysis data sheet,

b.    handout used for training others,

c.    completed data sheet, and

d.    one graph.

Your paper should be professional in tone and format—of publishable quality reflecting critical thinking, application, and evaluation of the principles of applied behavior analysis. Your assignment development and refinement must be conducted during this course. You may not use material developed and submitted (in whole or in part) for other courses. Your task analysis must reflect your own, original work, prepared expressly for this assignment in this course, during this session.  Though you will present and seek input from peers in your discussion team meeting – the document that you submit will be an individual rather than group project. This paper is to be written in APA style organized as described below.

Activity Details

Consider each item below as you design your project.  Describe the following components as they relate to your specific project; be sure to describe your project clearly enough so that anyone with awareness of behavioral principles could understand and replicate your intervention. A goal of this project is to develop skills in effective written communication relating to treatment design and implementation. Your descriptions should be conveyed efficiently to your audience – complete yet concise.

Part 1: Introduction - Participants, Setting, and Task Analysis Plan

1. Clearly describe the participant (5 points)

·         Who is the specific individual targeted for the behavior change project? (use a pseudonym that protects the identity of your participant) (1 point)

·         Describe previous intervention attempts at teaching this skill (1 point)

·         Describe demographic information on the individual including age, gender, setting, and relevant characteristics (e.g., disability or any developmental delays such as in motor skills or language). (3 points)

1. Clearly describe the setting in which the system will be used (5 points)

·         Where will the task analysis be implemented? Clearly describe the exact location(s). Is it natural or contrived/analog? (4 points)

·         Why is the setting relevant, important, and ideal for this task analysis? (1 point)

1. Task Analysis. Clearly define the target behavior(s) you want to increase/develop (the behavior(s) that you will task analyze to identify the essential subskills and strategies)  (20 points)

·         Operationally define your target behavior/dependent variable. (5 points).

·         What are the essential subskills and strategies necessary for an individual to successfully perform the target behavior? (5 points).

·         Include examples of behavior that would meet the definition of your target behavior. (5 points)

·         Include non-examples of behavior that would not meet the definition of your target behavior. (5 points)

·         State your rationale for why the target individual needs the behavior change (i.e., social validity - how it is affecting his/her quality of life). Your rationale must be centered on this particular individual. (5 points)

1. Describe implementation of your treatment based upon your task analysis of the behavior (10 points)

·         Provide a thorough description of how you plan to implement the treatment. State exactly what you will do during intervention.

o   What method of chaining will you use and why? (2 points)

o   What will you say to, or show to, the participant(s)? (1 point)

o   What stimuli or materials will be used during intervention sessions? (1 point)

o   Describe the prompting procedure used during intervention? (1 point)

o   Describe the reinforcement and reinforcement schedule (1 point)

o   How long will sessions be? (1 point)

o   When will the intervention phase end? (1 point)

·         Anyone who reads your plan should be able to follow through with what you are going to do. It needs to have enough detail that it can be replicated by anyone. (2 points)

1. Data collection plan (15 points)

·         How will you collect baseline data? (2 points)

·         Describe how you are going to collect intervention data and how often. What dimension of behavior will you be measuring? (3 points)

·         Explain what measurement method you will use. (2 points)

·         Include your task analysis data sheet at the end of your write-up. (3 points)

·         Include a description of how and when you will measure the target behavior.  (5 points)

1. Ensuring fidelity (10 points)

·         Describe your procedures for training those who will implement the task analysis. Be sure to indicate specifically who will be implementing the plan (e.g., parents, teachers, etc.). Your training procedures need to be appropriate for the individuals you indicated would be implementing the system.

·         In your description include:

o   An overall procedure. (3 points)

o   Handouts for training target individuals. These should be handouts that you author, not copies of handouts that exist for a published curriculum or procedure. (2 points)

o   A description of how you plan to monitor their accuracy and consistency in implementing the plan. (3 points)

·         What potential supports will those implementing the plan need? Describe how you will meet those needs. (2 points)

1. Ensuring reliability (10 points)

·         Describe how you will ensure your data collection is reliable (e.g., IOA-Inter-observer agreement) and what criteria you will set for accuracy in measurement. Describe how you will address potential situations in which your acceptable level of IOA is not met (5 points)

·         Specifically state what method of calculating IOA you will use and how it will be calculated. (5 points)

Part 2: Implement, Monitor and Analyze Outcomes

1. Target Behavior (5 points)

·         Restate your operationally defined target behavior. Incorporate any feedback and recommendations that you were provided in Part 1. (5 points)

1. Results (10 points)

·         Provide a completed example of your data collection, baseline and intervention. Include a graph of your data. (Include each of the components of a single case research design graph for the type of display that you have selected (line graph, scatterplot, bar graph, standard celeration chart.). At minimum, your graphic display should include a Baseline and Intervention phase (5 points)

·         Describe how you analyzed your data. What were the results? Include your interpretation of Baseline and Intervention conditions. (3 points)

·         Include your reliability and fidelity data. (2 points)

1. Discussion (15 points)

·         Did your intervention work? Describe how you are interpreting the impact of your intervention. (3 points)

·         Were the results expected or unexpected? (2 points)

·         Include a description of the interventions strengths (include fidelity and reliability). (3 points)

·         Include a description of the interventions limitations (include fidelity and reliability). (3 points)

·         Interpret your IOA data. Did you attain sufficient IOA? If not, how could it be improved? (2 points).

·         Describe any changes you need to make to the intervention. (2 points)

1. Plan for generalization and fading the intervention (10 points)

·         Describe how you will ensure generalization and maintenance of the DV. (3 points)

·         Describe how you will assess for generalization and maintenance. (2 points)

·         Describe when and how you plan to fade the intervention. (3 points)

·         Reference course materials that support these techniques. (2 points)

Use APA format and proper grammar. (5 points)

You should write professionally, clearly, and abide by APA format guidelines as well as use proper grammar. Review your document for typos, spelling errors, and incomplete sentences prior to submission.

Scoring Grid: Develop a Task Analysis

A total of 130 points can be earned for this assignment. Points will be assigned for accurate and complete information addressing each question/topic outlined in the activity details (above) and summarized in the Scoring Grid (below).