Baseline

In behavior analysis, baseline refers to the level of a specific behavior observed before any intervention or treatment is introduced. Baseline data provides a starting point to measure the natural occurrence of the behavior, allowing practitioners to compare changes over time once an intervention is applied. It helps determine whether the intervention has an effect on the target behavior.

Example

A teacher observes and records how many times a student raises their hand to ask questions during class over a week. The teacher finds that the student raises their hand an average of 2 times per class period. This data represents the baseline of the behavior. After introducing an intervention, such as praise for raising hands, the teacher can compare the new data to the baseline to evaluate the intervention’s effectiveness.

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