The Problem with Public Posting of Data

There is a lot of research that shows publicly posting data can be extremely valuable. Numerous studies demonstrate how effective this intervention can be. A commonly cited potential problem is that it can be aversive if you aren’t doing well, which might upset some people. But I’m not concerning myself with that problem here.

The main problem comes when people obsess over data that are publicly posted. These data will inevitably become a major focus for everyone. Now, if that is your top measurement, maybe that is OK. But probably not. Any data can be distorted when looked at in isolation.

If you are publicly posting data on things like whether the break room is cleaned up, then you are almost certainly using an intervention that is overpowered for what you need. But it might not cause too much harm.

We tend to underestimate how much data like this can influence behavior in negative ways. For example, I once talked to a teacher that worked in a behavior analytic school. The school had a system for publicly posting the number of teaching trials done by each instructor daily. Seems relatively harmless, right? In general, more teaching, more learning. But what happened is that teachers avoided teaching anything that required a lot of set up. Give him more discrete trial. Forget things like mands for information…

Once you start looking for this, you will see it everywhere. In my view, we don’t appreciate how often this effect happens in behavior analysis. Check out this book for a non-behavioral account of this effect in a variety of fields.

Behavior analytic services should only be delivered in the context of a professional relationship. Nothing written in this blog should be considered advice for any specific individual. The purpose of the blog is to share my experience, not to provide treatment. Please get advice from a professional before making changes to behavior analytic services being delivered. Nothing in this blog including comments or correspondence should be considered an agreement for Dr. Barry D. Morgenstern to provide services or establish a professional relationship outside of a formal agreement to do so. I attempt to write this blog in “plain English” and avoid technical jargon whenever possible. But all statements are meant to be consistent with behavior analytic literature, practice, and the professional code of ethics. If, for whatever reason, you think I’ve failed in the endeavor, let me know and I’ll consider your comments and make revisions, if appropriate. Feedback is always appreciated as I’m always trying to Poogi.

The Eddie Murphy Method for Selecting What Presentations to Attend at Conferences

Eddie Murphy guest starred on Saturday Night Live in 1984. In his opening monologue, he said every host tells you what a great show we have tonight. Then, you see some great stuff, but you also see some stuff that sucks.

That’s the way most conferences work. Almost always there are great events to attend where you will learn a lot. But in all likelihood, you will see some stuff that sucks too. We can always try to get better at figuring out what will be great and what will suck when making your selections about what to attend.

But Eddie Murphy tells us the main thing you need to know about attending conferences. You have to go to a lot of presentations. The more presentations you go to, the more great stuff you will see. That means you have to sit through some stuff that sucks, but that’s the price of the Poogi.

It’s good to spend some time drinking at the bar too. It’s fun, and a surprising amount of POOGI can be found there. Just don’t drink so much that you are too hungover to go to a lot of presentations the next day.

Behavior analytic services should only be delivered in the context of a professional relationship. Nothing written in this blog should be considered advice for any specific individual. The purpose of the blog is to share my experience, not to provide treatment. Please get advice from a professional before making changes to behavior analytic services being delivered. Nothing in this blog including comments or correspondence should be considered an agreement for Dr. Barry D. Morgenstern to provide services or establish a professional relationship outside of a formal agreement to do so. I attempt to write this blog in “plain English” and avoid technical jargon whenever possible. But all statements are meant to be consistent with behavior analytic literature, practice, and the professional code of ethics. If, for whatever reason, you think I’ve failed in the endeavor, let me know and I’ll consider your comments and make revisions, if appropriate. Feedback is always appreciated as I’m always trying to POOGI.

Assessment Devices are Not a Substitute for Thinking

Assessment devices like the VB-MAPP, ABLLs, PEAK, and others can be extremely useful. They can serve as a baseline level of skills. They can give useful tasks to get to know the child. They can give the behavior analyst ideas about potential target behaviors. They can give you some progress measures.

But in my experience, there is a downside.

Once you show people the grid – parents, teachers and many behavior analysts – they want to fill in all the boxes. The problem is that this is a natural reinforcer for everyone. We just love to see those boxes colored in with all the “progress” that the child has made!

Now, in some cases that may be perfectly appropriate. But in many, many cases it’s not. Often there are boxes that are extremely critical for a child’s life and others that aren’t. I’ve seen numerous times over the years where children spend enormous amounts of time on tasks that are clearly inappropriate just because a particular box is empty. Don’t waste time on things that aren’t going to last in the long run. Focus on what is going to make a significant impact.

The only thing that matters in the long run is things that maintain. Many of those boxes will require generalization and maintenance programming. If you don’t have time for that maybe that skill isn’t that important.

In summary, there’s nothing wrong with using these types of assessments. They can be extremely useful. Just be careful that you think through your selection of target behaviors. Don’t substitute the assessment grids for thinking about what really matters.

Behavior analytic services should only be delivered in the context of a professional relationship. Nothing written in this blog should be considered advice for any specific individual. The purpose of the blog is to share my experience, not to provide treatment. Please get advice from a professional before making changes to behavior analytic services being delivered. Nothing in this blog including comments or correspondence should be considered an agreement for Dr. Barry D. Morgenstern to provide services or establish a professional relationship outside of a formal agreement to do so. I attempt to write this blog in “plain English” and avoid technical jargon whenever possible. But all statements are meant to be consistent with behavior analytic literature, practice, and the professional code of ethics. If, for whatever reason, you think I’ve failed in the endeavor, let me know and I’ll consider your comments and make revisions, if appropriate. Feedback is always appreciated as I’m always trying to Poogi.

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