You raise some good points. My point had more to do with how we measure frequency. When do we start the clock? When do we stop it? What is the actual frequenc of the behavior?

The “dead air time” refers to time when the behavior of interest has either stopped, but the clock continues to run, or to time before the behavior of interest has started, but the clock’s already been started.

One way around this, of course, would be to use a cumulative record, because you can then excise off the flat portion of the record before or after the run of the behavior. That solution would work, in concept. Except that hardly anyone uses cumulative records anymore, and there aren’t any convenient ways of generating them outside the operant laboratory. (Perhaps cell phones, PDA’s, or iPods, even, could be applied to this purpose some day.)

The upshot of all this is that it’s possible to derive frequencies that do not depend entirely on the behavior of the organism; frequencies that are a joint measurement product of the behavior and of the recording method used. — JE

The issue is right on target, in particular if you are building duration. However, the concept should also be used to better identifying minute behaviors and possible relationships/intervention plans.

I would suggest keeping the SSC but instead of the vertical lines being daily, use them for time slices. This would allow one to observer behavior across time slices but during the same intervention.

Quick analogy. Micowave pop corn.
Use the vertical lines in several charts, such as 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes (burned results).

Time the popping of one bag. Chart the number of kernals popped (and maybe unpopped) for each time slice and compare the results. Can you notice a difference between timing slices? If so, can an intervention be designed to increase or decrease the pattern.

Example: Petit mall – during stimuls/response activity, would comparing various time slice charts better pinpoint the “dead air”? How often are they occurring, what is triggering, what intervention would be best?

Example: Knee surgery and rehab. Sitting down, raise leg to be parallel to the floor. Do you do 3 sets of 10 repetitions over x minutes? How much rest between sets is most helpful in meeting the goal? How fast should each leg lift be performed. Do I do a burst of leg lifts with 3 second intervals? Do I do them with 5 second intervals? Initially and over time, which therapy program would result in quicker healing.

I have to tun to help my neighbor move. I’ll think of more examples.