Frequency/Rate

These methods involve counting the number of times a behavior occurs in a specific time period

When to Use It

When the goal is to increase or decrease behavior
When behaviors have a distinct beginning and an end
For low frequent behaviors
Not recommended for high frequent behaviors or for behaviors that extend over a period of time (tantrums)

A frequency/event measure should be used only when the length of observation time is consistent from day to day (e.g., always 2 hours).

A rate measure should be used if the length of observation time varies from day to day (e.g. 60 minutes on Monday, 30 minutes on Tuesday)

Materials Needed:

A watch or clock to easily reference time
Data collection form (see below for templates)

How to Collect Data

Frequency/Event: comparing data across observations determines whether the behavior decreased, increased, or stayed constant. It is helpful if the observation periods are the same length:

Record name of student
Operationally define the problem behavior
Record the start and end time of the observation period
Tally mark on the data sheet each time behavior occurs
Total the number of tally marks

Rate: when observing the student's behavior for the same length of time for each observation is not possible:

Record name of student
Operationally define the problem behavior
Record the start of the observation
Tally mark on the data sheet each time behavior occurs
Record the end time of the observation
Calculate the rate by counting the total time of occurrence and dividing it with the total time of the observation

Strategies:

Tally marks on a dry erase board
Wrist of golf counters
Moving items from one pocket to a different “target” pocket as each behavior occurs (e.g., paperclips, pennies, buttons)