Lab 1 Answer Sheet – Shaping & Taking High Quality Behavioural Observations (PSYC332 – 2023)

Lab 1 Answer Sheet – Shaping & Taking High Quality Behavioural Observations (PSYC332 – 2023) Partial-interval recording would likely overestimate on-task behaviour. For example, if you were on-task 1s within a 10s observation interval, partial-interval would score that as the same if you were on-task for 9s within a 10s interval. As you can see, this would not be very meaningful if we were looking to improve on- task behaviour. Partial-interval recording would be useful if we were looking at off-task behaviour instead. Momentary time sampling could possibly be used since it is typically used for measuring continuous high- rate behaviours and has the benefit of being less demanding on the observer. However, it is not entirely suited for on-task behaviour as it would not capture duration or those who are not consistently paying attention. Test yourself quiz about time sampling definitions. What are the disadvantages of using whole interval recording? a. It can overestimate the number of intervals in which the behaviour occurred in. b. It can underestimate the occurrence of the behaviour in an observation period. ✔ c. It is bad for recording high-rate continuous behaviours. d. It demands the undivided attention of the observer. ✔ What are the advantages of using momentary time sampling? a. It captures low frequency behaviours well. b. It captures short duration behaviours well. c. It works well for measuring continuous activity behaviours. ✔ d. It is less demanding for the observer compared to other methods. ✔ What are the disadvantages of using partial interval recording? a. It can overestimate the overall duration of the behaviour. ✔ b. It can underestimate the rate of high frequency short duration behaviours. ✔ c. It is bad for measuring low frequency behaviours. d. It cannot be used for measuring off-task behaviours. Time Sampling Activity: Kevin from the Office Interval Seconds Duration Partial Interval Recording Whole Interval Recording Momentary Time Sampling 1 0-10 Kevin speaks for a total duration of 20 seconds within the 60 second observation period. Yes Yes Yes 2 11-20 Yes No Yes 3 21-30 No No No 4 31-40 Yes No No 5 41-50 Yes No Yes 6 51-60 Yes No No Totals ( 20 60 ) × 100 # intervals= 5/6 # intervals= 1/6 # intervals= 3/6 Summaries % duration = 33.33% % Interval= 83.33% % Interval= 16.67% % Interval= 50% Compare the differences between the 3 time sampling methods in reference to the duration. o Duration: Accurate depiction o Partial interval: Overestimates Kevin speaking o Whole interval: Underestimates Kevin speaking o Momentary time sampling: Errors are less extreme compared to partial and whole interval (because the observation interval is small), and only slightly overestimated Kevin speaking.