title: Multiple-respondent anecdotal assessments: an analysis of interrater agreement and correspondence with analogue assessment outcomes.
abstract: We evaluated interrater agreement across multiple respondents on anecdotal assessments and compared cases in which agreement was obtained with outcomes of functional analyses. Experiment 1 evaluated agreement among multiple respondents on the function of problem behavior for 27 individuals across 42 target behaviors using the Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS) and the Questions about Behavioral Function (QABF). Results showed that at least 4 of 5 respondents agreed on the primary maintaining consequence for 52% (22 of 42) of target behaviors with the MAS and 57% (24 of 42) with the QABF. Experiment 2 examined correspondence between the anecdotal assessment results and functional analysis results for 7 individuals for whom at least 4 of 5 respondents showed agreement in Experiment 1. Correspondence with functional analysis results was observed in 6 of 7 cases with the QABF and in 4 of 7 cases with the MAS. Implications of these outcomes for the utility of anecdotal assessments are discussed.
authors: Department of Behavior Analysis, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas 76203, USA. Rick.Smith@unt.edu
authors: Carla M
authors: CM
authors: Smith
authors: Richard G
authors: RG
authors: Smith
authors: Joseph D
authors: JD
authors: Dracobly
authors: Amy Peterson
authors: AP
authors: Pace
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*
keywords: Motivation Assessment Scale; Questions about Behavioral Function; anecdotal assessment; functional analysis