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| Graphical Methods for Interpreting the Effects of Medication on Behavior |
| Friday, May 28, 2010 |
| 6:00 PM–9:00 PM |
| Bonham D (Grand Hyatt) |
| Area: DDA/AUT; Domain: Service Delivery |
| CE Instructor: Maria Malott, Ph.D. |
| CHERYL L. ECOTT (AdvoServ), BRADFORD RICHARDSON (AdvoServ) |
| Description: The use of psychoactive medications constitutes an intervention that is not easily evaluated or reversed to determine a causal relationship between its use and subsequent effects on problem behavior for a given individual. Despite the difficulty of making experimental determinations about medication effects in many applied settings, many behaviors of interest to behavior analysts are also the behaviors targeted for intervention with pharmacological agents.
This workshop will describe several variations of graphical presentations that may help illustrate the effects of medication on the occurrence of appropriate and inappropriate behavior to caregivers and professionals. This information may be helpful to caregivers and professionals by providing objective rationale to help determine a therapeutic dose, and subsequent changes in medication. Included in these descriptions is an explanation of a combination graph that utilizes both y-axes to display behavior and medication concurrently.
Basic instructions on how to create these graphs will be presented in Microsoft Excel (bring your laptop to participate in making graphs). Advantages, disadvantages, and uses of each graphical presentation of data to evaluate effects of medication and corresponding changes in behavior will also be discussed. Case studies will be presented for evaluation of the effects of medication on behavior. |
| Learning Objectives: This workshop has the following objectives:
1. At the conclusion of this workshop, the participant will be able to create a graph that indicates medication changes.
2. At the conclusion of this workshop, using the graphing methods discussed, the participant will be able to describe and evaluate the effects of medication on behavior.
3. At the conclusion of this workshop, participants will have knowledge of the limitations, advantages and disadvantages of the graphing methods discussed in this workshop. |
| Activities: Basic graphing activities using Microsoft Excel will be completed.
There will be a discussion of several case studies of individuals with complicated medication regimen. During this discussion, we will describe and evaluate medication effects on behavior by utilizing the graphic methods discussed in the workshop. |
| Audience: This workshop is designed for behavior analysts and clinicians or other professionals that collaborate with physicians or psychiatrists in treatment for an individual with a developmental disability, mental health diagnosis, or indivduals who are dually diagnosed.
This workshop is designed for participants who have a basic knowledge of single-subject design and Microsoft Excel. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |