Whole-Interval Recording
Also called: WIR, whole interval
Definition
A discontinuous measurement procedure in which an observation period is divided into equal intervals and the behavior is scored only if it occurs throughout the entire interval. Because any pause disqualifies the interval, it systematically underestimates the true occurrence of behavior.
In plain language
You split the session into short blocks. You only mark a block if the behavior lasted the whole way through it. Any break means the block does not count, so this method tends to make behavior look less frequent than it is.
Examples
In one-minute intervals, a learner stays on task for the full minute. That interval is scored as on task.
Tracking sustained engagement with a group activity across a twenty-minute period in thirty-second intervals.
Not whole-interval recording
A learner works for forty seconds of a one-minute interval and then looks away. The interval is not scored, even though most of it was on task.
Scoring an interval because the behavior happened once within it. That is partial-interval recording.
Commonly confused with
Written from
- baer-wolf-risley-1968 — Measurement of applied behavior
Written from standard measurement practice in applied behavior analysis. No textbook glossary consulted or paraphrased.
This entry has not yet been through clinical review. Treat it as a draft.