TREATMENT INTEGRITY (Peterson et al., 1982)

1. TREATMENT INTEGRITY (Peterson et al., 1982) • Treatment integrity:Was the ___ implemented as the experimenter _____________ it to be? • Double standard in applied research: • Researchers often _______ the DV, but not the IV • Assume IV is implemented _________ • Operational definitions of observed behavior (DV), but not to those behaviors when they are ____ LECT 5

2. TREATMENT INTEGRITY • Example: A teacher is supposed to give a token to a student every 5 min (IV) if the child does not emit disruptive behavior (DV). Does the teacher actually give the tokens on time and only when the child behaves correctly? • Example: A therapist is supposed to deliver verbal praise (IV) to a child every time the child correctly matches words to pictures (DV). Does the therapist deliver praise every time? What exactly does “praise” consist of? • Demonstration of a functional relationship requires measurement of _____ the IV and DV. • Is experimental control enough? • ______________ doesn’t mean that the IV was implemented effectively. LECT 5

3. TREATMENT INTEGRITY What happens if the IV is not implemented properly? • Bad treatment may be judged effective e.g., Experimenter was supposed to deliver praise after a child correctly identified letters, but the researcher gave the child more time to respond in treatment than in baseline, e.g., Extraneous variables may have affected treatment - therapy for social phobia using homework based practice sessions may not have worked (participants did not actually practice at home), but participants reported less social fear to make up for it. • Otherwise effective treatments may be ineffective – hard to tell why they were ineffective e.g., token economy didn’t work, why? (maybe because the researchers didn’t deliver tokens when they were supposed to) LECT 5

4. TREATMENT INTEGRITY Treatment integrity as threat to _______________ - • Conclusions may be questionable because changes cannot be ___________ to changes in the IV • If behavior changes does not occur, you don’t know if it was because the treatment was ineffective or the IV wasn’t ________________________ Treatment integrity as threat to ______________ - • If the IV was not implemented well, it may be hard to __________ the study Gresham et al. (1993) LECT 5

5. TREATMENT INTEGRITY Considerations of treatment integrity: • __________________ – change in how IV is implemented across time • ____________- therapist might adhere to treatment more when being observed • _________________ -report observing what the therapist was supposed to be doing LECT 5

6. Do researchers report treatment integrity? Peterson et al. (1982) Studies between 1968-1980 • 20% of studies between reported treatment integrity • 16% reported operational definitions of the IV. Gresham et al. (1993) Studies with children between 1980-1990 • 54% provided operational definitions of the IV • 15.8% systematically measured and reported levels of treatment integrity • 8.9% monitored treatment integrity Conclusions: Most studies did not report the _________ with which independent variables were implemented (i.e., treatment integrity LECT 5

7. TREATMENT INTEGRITY • Ensuring treatment integrity: • Investigators should provide clear __________________ of IV when it involves behavior (same as with DV) • Record___ behaviors along with DV behaviors & calculate IOA • ________ those who deliver treatment • Informal _________ • Compare measures of IV to value ____________________ (i.e., against what the experimenter intended) • _____________ treatment delivery as much as possible • Researchers should measure treatment integrity across ___________, __________, and ___________ LECT 5

8. TREATMENT INTEGRITY • Conditions to Watch Out For • Treatments that are________, _______, or _____ (hard to implement) • Paraprofessional or ____-management • ____________ procedures (treatment agent may implement only parts that they like) • ________ trained therapists • Complicated experimental designs LECT 5

9. TREATMENT INTEGRITY Treatment integrity important in laboratory research too: • ___________________ • __________________________ Ensuring treatment integrity in the laboratory: • Researcher should ____ programs (play pigeon/subject) • Researchers should frequently test ____________ • Researchers should report __________ values of IV as well as ____________ values, • e.g., obtained delays to food, obtained amounts of food, LECT 5

10. What concerns about treatment integrity should you have? • A researcher is investigating the effects of a new anti-depressant drug on depression. Participants are to take the drug daily for 3 months. • A study is investigating whether music type, e.g, rock or classical, affects learning in students. The students are to listen to each music type 30 min while studying, and then later take a test. • Experimenters are interested in whether clicker training (using sounds paired with food rewards) is better than traditional training techniques (food and petting) in teaching dogs to behave appropriately: sit, stay, and return to owner. • A program is investigating whether overcorrection is effective in reducing severe disruptive behavior in a young male with a developmental disability. When the boy throws chairs at mealtime, he is required to pick up the chairs and straighten all of the chairs and tables in the dining room. LECT 5