Increasing a Desired BehaviorSustained Walking

ID participant

• Barb- stressed out mature woman

• Health episode derailed exercise

• Anxious to resume activity levels

ID and Define a Target Behavior

• Sustained walking• Increase from a mere

10 minutes without fatigue to 60 minutes of vigorous activity

• Trail or Treadmill? • Incentive? • Antecedent?

The Trail - About 2 Miles

Technique to Measure

• Duration • To increase time spent engaged in

meaningful activity• Will record minutes per day• Goal: To increase each days minutes

spent walking by 5 minutes to reach goal of 60 minutes of sustained walking

AntecedentOr, the incentive to move!

• What can be done to insure that the behavior will occur?

• Yoga! • 15 minutes of daily

stretching• Also serves as the

reinforcer- the more you move, the more you can move.

Barb’s Walking LogMon June 16 Time Spent Walking 10Tues June 17 10Wed.June 18 0Thurs. June 19 75 Fri.June 20 0 Sat.June 21 20 SunJune 22 15

MEAN 18.5 Min. GRAPH DATA POINTS – 7

Intervention:

Premack Principal

Yoga stretchesIndependent

Variable

Report Occurrence of Target Behavior

• Behavior recorded for two weeks after intervention

• Walking Increased incrementally daily • Mean of Target Behavior after

intervention– 25.6 minutes • Graph Data Points for Behavior after

intervention - 15

Barb's Sustained Walking Chart

0

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7/1/2

008

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008

Dates

Min

utes

Wal

king

Baseline w alking Walking after intervention Yoga minutes, intervention

sustained w alking after yoga stretchesbaseline w alking before implementing yoga stretches

trend line

trend line

Design of intervention

• AB Design chosen for speed and fast results

• Only 2 phases- baseline and intervention

• ABAB would have established functional relationship between dependent and independent variables.

• ABAB gives more descriptive and predictive information.

What could go Wrong? • Selected inappropriate design• Unable to establish functional relationship• Unable to be replicated• Trendline too varied• Too much variability • 100% overlap • Intervention and independent variable is also the

reinforcer???• What was I thinking?

What Went Right?

• Quick Results• Easy charting• Behavior increased! • Well Being increased! • Learned recording, selecting and graphing

intervention techniques

Was it a successful intervention?

• The data is insufficient to state that the intervention is the cause of the improved behavior.

• The Behavior improved.