Psychology/Behavior/How behaviour is recorded

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Behavior

How behaviour is recorded

Before you record anything you must define it. After you have defined it, you must choose a method — and the wrong method produces numbers that look precise and mean nothing.

Operational definitions

An operational definition states the behaviour in terms so concrete that a new observer could use it on their first day without asking you a question. Four parts, and the third is the one everyone skips.

Part Weak version Usable version
Label Disruption Speaks without being invited during instruction
Includes “Being disruptive” Any spoken word, sound or call-out directed at the room or another person while the instructor is speaking
Excludes (not stated) Answering a direct question; whispering to a neighbour with no head turn; coughing, sneezing, yawning
Onset / offset (not stated) Begins at the first audible syllable; ends after 5 continuous seconds of silence. A new instance is counted only after 10 seconds of silence

Prefer plain description to clinical language

Write “leaves seat” rather than “elopement”, and “raises voice” rather than “verbal aggression”. Clinical vocabulary imports a judgement the observation has not earned, and it travels further than you intend once it is in a file.

The six methods

Method Use when the behaviour is… You get Do not use when
Frequency count Discrete, brief, clearly separated instances. Count per period; rate per minute or hour. Instances run together or last a long time.
Duration record Continuous, and the length matters more than the count. Total time; mean length per instance; longest instance. Onset and offset are hard to see.
Latency record A response follows a specific cue. Seconds or minutes from cue to first response. There is no identifiable cue.
Partial interval Frequent, fast, or hard to count exactly. Percentage of intervals in which it occurred at least once. You need a true count — this method overestimates.
Whole interval You need sustained engagement, not a flicker of it. Percentage of intervals it occurred throughout. You need a true count — this method underestimates.
Momentary sampling You are supervising a group or cannot watch continuously. Percentage of sampled moments. The behaviour is short and rare.

Numbers that genuinely compare

  • Rate = count ÷ observed minutes. Always report rate, never a bare count, when session lengths differ. Eleven instances in ninety minutes is not worse than nine in thirty.
  • Percentage of intervals = intervals scored ÷ intervals observed × 100. State the interval length every time; ten-second and sixty-second intervals are not comparable.
  • Mean duration per instance = total duration ÷ number of instances. Report it alongside total duration — a rising total with a falling mean means more but shorter episodes.
  • Baseline = the mean of at least five sessions recorded before anything is changed. Without a baseline you cannot claim that anything improved.

The eight predictable biases

Bias How it shows up Counter-measure
Expectancy You see more of what you predicted before you started. Write your prediction down first, then read it only afterwards.
Halo and horn One strong impression colours every later entry. Timestamped entries only; never summarise from memory at the end of the day.
Recency The last five minutes outweigh the first fifty. Check the distribution of entries across the window.
Central tendency Every rating lands in the middle of the scale. Use counts and durations instead of ratings wherever possible.
Leniency and severity You are consistently soft or consistently harsh. Compare your counts against a second observer on the same session.
Attribution Cause is placed in the person, never in the situation. Complete the setting fields before the behaviour fields.
Confirmation drift The definition quietly widens to include more instances. Re-read the written definition at the start of every session.
Fatigue Reliability falls sharply after about twenty minutes of continuous coding. Cap coding at twenty minutes; break for five; note breaks on the form.

Checking yourself

Two observers, the same session, no discussion until both have finished. Agreements ÷ total intervals × 100.

Agreement What it means What to do
90–100% The definition is working. Continue.
80–89% Usable, with disputed cases. Identify the disputed cases and add them to Excludes.
Below 80% You are recording different things. Stop collecting. Rewrite the definition together, then re-test on a fresh session.

The complete toolkit

Sixteen printable forms including all six methods, the inter-observer agreement sheet and the findings statement.

View the resource

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