The Role of Technology in the Performance and … · and Assessment of Adaptive Behavior Marc J. Tassé, PhD ... Revised Condensed Manual of Directions. Vineland, NJ: Publication

The Role of Technology in the Performance

and Assessment of Adaptive Behavior

Marc J. Tassé, PhD Nisonger Center - UCEDD

Departments of Psychology & Psychiatry

Broomfield, Colorado October 15, 2015

OUTLINE

• Brief overview of adaptive behavior

• Place of technology in how we view adaptive

behavior

• Technology and how it has improved our

assessment of adaptive behavior

Define Adaptive Behavior

Adaptive behavior is the collection of

conceptual, social, and practical skills that are

learned and performed by people in their

everyday lives.

- Schalock et al. (2010)

Schalock, R. L., Buntinx, W. H. E., Borthwick-Duffy, S., Bradley, V., Craig, E. M., Coulter, D. L., Gomez, S. C., Lachapelle, Y.,

Luckasson, R. A., Reeve, A., Shogren, K. A., Snell, M. E., Spreat, S., Tassé, M. J., Thompson, J. R.,

Verdugo, M. A., Wehmeyer, M. L., & Yeager, M. H. (2010). Intellectual disability: Definition,

classification, and system of supports (11e). Washington, DC: American Association on Intellectual

and Developmental Disabilities.

Doll – Forefather of AB

For Doll, social competence was the “whole package” and he defined it as follows:

“This competence, we submit, may be conceived in terms of personal independence and social responsibility. Thus the social adequacy of the individual as a whole, with due regard for age and culture, is conceived as the social end-result of the physical, physiological, intellectual, habitual, emotional, volitional, educational, occupational aspects of personal growth, adjustment, and attainment which ensure from his personal predisposition and environmental impacts.”

- Doll (1936).

Doll, E. A. (1936). The Vineland Social Maturity Scale: Revised Condensed Manual of Directions. Vineland, NJ:

Publication of The Training School, Department of Research.

Adaptive Behavior

1st standardized measure of adaptive behavior was “Vineland Social Maturity Scale” - Edgar Doll (1936).

Doll thought of his scale as an alternative to intelligence tests and a better means of assessing overall human behavior.

Doll, E. A. (1936). The Vineland Social Maturity Scale: Revised Condensed Manual of Directions. Vineland, NJ: Publication of The Training

School, Department of Research.

Vineland Social Maturity Scale Doll (1936)

Doll, E. A. (1936). The Vineland Social Maturity Scale: Revised Condensed Manual of Directions.

Vineland, NJ: Publication of The Training School, Department of Research.

Total: 117 items

Domains: locomotion, self-help, communication, socialization, self-direction, & occupation.

Items/skills on Vineland SMS related to technology:

1) “Makes telephone calls.” (communication)

Vineland Social Maturity Scale Doll (1936)

Doll, E. A. (1936). The Vineland Social Maturity Scale: Revised Condensed Manual of Directions.

Vineland, NJ: Publication of The Training School, Department of Research.

Total: 117 items

Domains: locomotion, self-help, communication, socialization, self-direction, & occupation.

• “Disavows literal Santa Claus” (socialization)

• “Uses money providently” (self-direction)

Adaptive Behavior

“[Intellectual disability] is a state of incomplete mental development of such a kind and degree that the individual is incapable of adapting himself to the normal environment of his fellows in such a way to maintain existence independently of supervision, control or external support.”

- Tredgold (1937; page 4)

Tredgold, A. F. (1937). Mental deficiency. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins.

Heber, R. (1959). A manual on terminology and classification in mental retardation: A monograph

supplement. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 64, 1-111.

For more than 5 decades

1st included as a diagnostic criterion in 1959.

“[Intellectual disability] refers to subaverage general intellectual functioning which originates during the developmental period and is associated with impairment in one or more of the following: maturation, learning, social adjustment.”

- Heber (1959, p. 3)

American Association on Mental Deficiency

T & C Classification Manual

“[Intellectual disability] refers to subaverage general intellectual functioning which originates during the developmental period and is associated with impairment in adaptive behavior.”

- Heber (1961, p. 3)

Heber, R. (1961). A manual on terminology and classification in mental retardation (rev. ed.). Washington,

DC: American Association on Mental Deficiency.


- Heber (1961, p. 3)

• 7th Edition of the AAIDD T&C Manual (Grossman, 1973).




- Heber (1961, p. 3)






- Heber (1961, p. 3)



• 9th Edition of the AAIDD T&C Manual (Luckasson et al.,

1992).

American Association on Mental Retardation



- Heber (1961, p. 3)




1992).

American Association on Mental Retardation


1959 – 1992 >> 30+ YEARS OF ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR <<

Reschly, D. J. & Ward, S. M. (1991). Use of adaptive behavior measures and overrepresentation of black students in programs for students

with mild mental retardation. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 96, 257-268.

Lecavalier, L., Tassé, M. J., & Lévesque, S. (2001). Assessment of mental retardation by school psychologists. Canadian Journal of School

Psychology, 17, 97-107.

“King IQ” - Steve Greenspan

• Reschly & Ward (1991) – school psychologists & Dx of intellectual disability:

– 93% reported appropriate IQ measures

– <50% reported standardized normed AB measures

– 33% of students identified with Mild ID => NO significant deficits in adaptive behavior

• Lecavalier, Tassé, & Lévesque (2001):

– 100% reported using appropriate IQ measures

– 43% reported NEVER using standardized AB measure

Standardized AB Scales

200+ adaptive behavior scales have been developed (Schalock, 1999).

Schalock, R. L. (1999). The merging of adaptive behavior and intelligence: Implications for the field

of mental retardation. In R. L. Schalock (Ed.), Adaptive behavior and its measurement: Implications for the

field of mental retardation (pp. 43-59). Washington, DC: American Association on Mental Retardation.


Tassé et al. (2012) estimated that there are FOUR scales that have the

psychometric properties appropriate for use in making a determination of ID.

Tassé, M. J., Schalock, R. L., Balboni, G., Bersani, H., Borthwick-Duffy, S. A., Spreat, S., Thissen, D.

T., Widaman, K. F., & Zhang, D. (2012). The Construct of Adaptive Behavior: Its Conceptualization,

Measurement, and Use in the Field of Intellectual Disability. American Journal on Intellectual and

Developmental Disabilities, 117, 291-303.


How has technology entered into the realm of adaptive behavior

Standardized AB Scales Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales

AB

Scale/Version

Total #

of Items

# of

Tech Items

Domain and Technology

Vineland SMS

Doll (1936) 117 1 (<1%) Comm.: Telephone

Vineland SMS:

“Makes telephone calls.”


AB

Scale/Version

Total #

of Items

# of

Tech Items


Vineland SMS

Doll (1936) 117 1 (<1%) Comm.: Telephone

VABS

(Sparrow et al.,

1984)

Survey

Form

261

11 (4%) DLS: clock (1)

telephone (5)

stove or microwave (1)

Social: TV (1)

TV or radio (3)

VABS:

“Initiates telephone calls to others.”

“Uses stove or microwave oven for cooking.”

“Watches television or listens to radio for practical, day to day information.”

“Watches television or listens to radio for information about a particular area

of interest.”


AB

Scale/Version

Total #

of Items

# of

Tech Items


Vineland SMS

Doll (1936) 117 1 (<1%) Comm. Telephone

VABS

(Sparrow et al.,

1984)

Survey

Form

261

11 (4%) DLS: clock (1)

telephone (5)


Social: TV (1)

TV or radio (3)

Vineland II

(Sparrow et al.,

2005)

Survey

Form

359

19 (5%) Comm.: computer (4)

DLS: stove/microwave (2)

dishwasher (1)

telephone (5)

clock/watch (1)

computer, tv, radio (4)

Fine

motor: keyboard (2)


AB

Scale/Version

Total #

of Items

# of

Tech Items


Vineland SMS

Doll (1936) 117 1 (<1%) Comm. Telephone

VABS

(Sparrow et al.,

1984)

Survey

Form

261

11 (4%) DLS: clock (1)

telephone (5)


Social: TV (1)

TV or radio (3)

Vineland II

(Sparrow et al.,

2005)

Survey

Form

359

19 (5%) Comm.: computer (4)

DLS: stove/microwave (2)

dishwasher (1)

telephone (5)

clock/watch (1)

computer, tv, radio (4)

Fine

motor: keyboard (2)

Vineland II:

“Writes advanced correspondence at least 10 sentences long; may use computer.”

“Demonstrates computer skills necessary to play games or start programs with computer turned on; does not need to turn computer on by self.”

“Makes telephone calls to others, using standard or cell phone.”

“Demonstrates computer skills necessary to carry out complex tasks (for example, word processing, accessing the internet, installing software).”

“Uses a keyboard to type up to 10 lines; may look at the keys.”

Adaptive Behavior


- Heber (1961, p. 3)




1992).


2002).

• 11th Edition of the AAIDD T&C Manual (Schalock et al., 2010).

AAIDD 2002 & 2010


- Heber (1959, p. 3)

“[Intellectual disability] is characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills. The disability originates before age 18.“

- Luckasson et al. (2002, p. 1)

- Schalock et al. (2010, p. 1)

AAIDD 2002 & 2010


- Heber (1959, p. 3)

“[Intellectual disability] is characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills. The disability originates before age 18.“

- Luckasson et al. (2002, p. 1)

- Schalock et al. (2010, p. 1)

Assessment of Adaptive Behavior

AAIDD (2002)

- Conceptual - Social - Practical

Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales Scales of Independent Behavior-R Adaptive Behavior Assessment System Adaptive Behavior Scales

Co-authors

Robert L. Schalock, PhD, Hastings College

Giulia Balboni, PhD, Università di Pisa – Italy

Henry (Hank) Bersani, PhD, Western Oregon University

Sharon A. Borthwick-Duffy, PhD, University of California – Riverside

Scott Spreat, EdD, Woodland Center for Challenging Behaviors

David M. Thissen, PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Keith F. Widaman, PhD, University of California – Davis

Dalun Zhang, PhD, Texas A&M University


How technology enabled us to develop a

better adaptive behavior test

• Develop a new AB scale based upon the AAIDD

tri-partite conceptual model of adaptive behavior.

• Focus on diagnostic / cut-off zone.

• Short scale (fewer items) and extremely precise at

the decision point for Dx.

• Modern test theories - Item Response Theory

Item response theory (IRT) is a collection of

mathematical models and statistical methods that

were used in:

(1) item calibration,

(2) item selection process for the DABS, and

(3) computation of DABS scores.

Item Response Theory

Test items have their own properties.

Those item properties don’t change.

Present ONLY items that inform our assessment.

Reliability is NOT the same across ability level.

Focus on reliability (information function) at the cut-off –

not the mean.

Samejima – “graded response model”

Samejima (1969, 1997) developed graded response

models (GRM) for items with more than two ordered

response alternatives (i.e., 0, 1, 2, 3).

The logistic version of the GRM was used to calibrate

the DABS items.

Item Parameter Estimation

Initial pool

1,300+

Item calibraton

263

DABS

75

Item param. sample

recruited from 47 of 50

US states

CENSUS REGION DABS (N = 1,058) 2000 US Census

West 22.1% 22.5%

Midwest 25.7% 22.9%

South 32.1% 35.6%

Northeast 20.2% 19.0%

Item Parameter Estimation

DABS Computer

Scoring/Reporting

IRT Response Pattern Scoring – using Samejima –

“graded response model”.

We use a 2-parameter model for estimating the person’s level

of adaptive behavior: (1) Item Difficulty & (2) Item

Discrimination.

Standard Scores (Mean = 100, SD = 15)

Sample DABS Results

68

65

69

71

DABS Computer

Scoring/Reporting

DABS: Tech Items

Scale/Version

# of Total

Items

# Tech

Items


DABS –

Standardization

Form (2011)

263 18 Conceptual: assistive devices (2)

computer (3)

clock (4)

Practical ATM (1)

electrical appl. (3)

telephone (3)

outlet safety (1)

GPS/smart phone (1)

DABS Final Form

(in press) 75

15 Conceptual: assistive devices (2)

computer (3 2)

clock (4)

Practical ATM (1)

electrical appl. (3)

telephone (3 1)

outlet safety (1)

GPS/smart phone (1)

Tassé, M. J., Schalock, R. L., Thissen, D., Balboni, G., Bersani, H. A., Borthwick-Duffy, S. A., Spreat, S., Widaman, K. F., &

Zhang, D. (in press). Diagnostic Adaptive Behavior Scale: User’s manual. Washington, DC: American Association on Intellectual

and Developmental Disabilities.

Technology and its Impact on AB:

1) We need to incorporate technology in adaptive

functioning – as it becomes ubiquitous in our society

and our/society’s expectation include the use of

technology across domains.

• Use/count $ => using smart phone to purchase goods

• Pay bills => online

• Work skills – increasingly tech dependent

technology can mitigate AB deficits.

Concluding Remarks

Technology and its Impact on AB:

2) Available computing technology => has enabled us

to improve the precision, flexibility and efficiency

of our assessment instruments.

Concluding Remarks

Documents

The Role of Technology in the Performance and … · and Assessment of Adaptive Behavior Marc J. Tassé, PhD ... Revised Condensed Manual of Directions. Vineland, NJ: Publication