Which measurement technique is used to assess the time it takes for a participant to respond after a stimulus?

Latency measurement is a technique used to assess the time elapsed between the presentation of a stimulus and the participant's response. This method is particularly useful in understanding how quickly an individual can respond to a given cue, which can provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of teaching strategies, the presence of delays, or the ability of a participant to engage with tasks.

In behavioral analysis, latency can indicate a participant's level of engagement or readiness to act following a prompt. For instance, if a behavior analyst presents a verbal command and records the time taken for the participant to start the corresponding behavior, they are utilizing latency measurement to evaluate response time. This can help in tailoring interventions to improve responsiveness in various environments or situations.

The other measurement techniques—frequency recording, duration measurement, and interval recording—focus on different aspects of behavior rather than the speed of the response after receiving a stimulus. Frequency recording counts the number of occurrences of a behavior, duration measurement determines how long a behavior persists, and interval recording assesses whether a behavior occurs within specified time intervals. Each of these methods serves a distinct purpose in behavioral assessments, but they do not capture the specific timing of responses as latency measurement does.