Duration
Also called: total duration, duration per occurrence
Definition
A continuous measure of how long a response lasts, recorded either as the total time across an observation or as the length of each separate occurrence. It suits behavior where how long it goes on matters more than how many times it starts.
In plain language
How long a behavior lasts. You can record the total time across a session, or the length of each separate time it happens.
Examples
A learner remained seated for eleven minutes of a fifteen-minute activity.
Staff timed each instance of hand washing to see whether it was long enough.
Not duration
Counting how many times a learner left the table, which is frequency rather than duration.
Timing how long it took a learner to begin after an instruction. That gap is latency, not duration.
Commonly confused with
See also
Written from
- baer-wolf-risley-1968
Written from standard measurement practice in applied behavior analysis. No textbook glossary consulted.
This entry has not yet been through clinical review. Treat it as a draft.