most likely your answer will be far from precise. Behavior therapists can’ t tell
if a treatment program is effective unless they know how often the behavior
occurs before treatment. Yet too often clients say they perform the unwanted
behavior “every once in a while, ”“not too often,” or“all the time. ”
Unlike those who practice other approaches to psychotherapy, behavior
therapists typically do not spend much time trying to discover the initial cause
of a client ’s problem. Instead, they focus on treating observable behaviors.
Other therapists may see the behavior as a sign of some underlying conflict,
but for behavior therapists, the behavior isthe problem. Therefore, objective
and reliable assessment of behavior is critical. Behavior therapists use assess-ment procedures for a variety of purposes. Obviously, they want to determinehow often a problem behavior occurs. But they may also want to know about
the events surrounding the behavior. Does the client smoke alone or with
other people? Do the tantrums occur at a certain time of day or after a cer-tain kind of experience, such as a scolding? These data can be very helpful in
designing treatment programs. Therapists probably also want to monitor the
therapy ’s progress and make some judgment about its success.
So how do behavior therapists obtain accurate information about the fre-
quency of target behaviors? When one team of researchers surveyed members
of a behavior therapist organization, they found the therapists relied on a va-
riety of procedures (Elliott, Miltenberger, Kaster-Bundgaard, & Lumley,
1996). Some of the most common methods of assessment mentioned by the
therapists are shown in Table 13.2. Let ’s look at a few of these in depth.
Direct Observation
The most obvious way to find out how often a behavior occurs is to observe
the person directly. Although a therapist usually can ’t watch a client all day
long, it is often possible to observe a representative sample of the client ’s
behavior. If you want to know how much time a girl spends interacting with
TABLE 13.2
Behavior Therapists ’Assessment Methods
Method Percentage of Cases Using
Interview with client 94.1
Direct observation 52.3
Client self-monitoring 44.1Behavioral rating scales 43.7Interview with client ’s significant others 42.0
Information from other professionals 38.0Role playing 19.4
Source: Cognitive and behavioral practice by Elliot, A. J., Miltenberger, R. G., Kaster-Bundgaard, J. Copyright
1996 by Elsevier Science & Technology Journals . Reproduced with permission of Elsevier Science &
Technology Journals in the format Textbook via Copyright Clearance Center.Assessment: Behavior Observation Methods 365