In measuring behavior, what would you use to determine the "rate" of a behavior?

The determination of the "rate" of a behavior is calculated by taking the frequency of that behavior and dividing it by a specified unit of time. This method provides a clear numerical value that reflects how often the behavior occurs within a designated timeframe—essentially expressing the behavior in terms of occurrences per time interval.

For instance, if a child engages in a specific behavior 10 times over a span of 5 minutes, the rate of that behavior would be 2 occurrences per minute. This approach is particularly useful in communication disorders and behavioral analysis, as it allows practitioners to track changes, evaluate the effectiveness of interventions, and make data-driven decisions.

Other measures such as intensity, duration, or latency serve different purposes in behavior analysis but do not give a direct calculation of rate, making this method the most appropriate for measuring the frequency of behavior over time.