Methods for Assessing Social Skills

Methods for Assessing Social Skills

The three most common strategies used to assess social skills include direct observation, social skills rating scales, and behavioral interviews. Direct observation, also referred to as observational study, is a strategy whereby an observer collects assessment information on a subject by watching them in their usual environment without any alteration to this environment (Yell et al., 2013). These environments could include the classroom, playground, and cafeteria. The observer looks at how the subject interacts with those around them and records how the events occur. The goal of the observer is to look for problematic behaviors like aggression and their characteristics, such as how frequently they occur and their duration. One advantage of this social skill assessment strategy is that it is the most effective (Yell et al., 2013). On the other hand, the disadvantage to direct observation is that it is time-consuming due to the hours required to collect meaningful data about the subject.

The second social skill assessment method is behavioral interviews. Accordingly, as the name suggests, this strategy is a recreation or reconstruction of social interaction to assess the subject’s action and reaction to various situations (Yell et al., 2013). Behavioral interviews assess whether the subject has the required competencies, measure the consequences and antecedents of the subject’s actions and reactions in each setting, and recognize settings where the subject’s behavior becomes problematic. One advantage of behavioral interviews is results accuracy due to the collection of verbal and non-verbal cues. Conversely, one disadvantage of this method is no way to get a consensus because each interview is unique; therefore, comparing results is challenging.

Social skill rating scales (SSRS) are the third assessment method. This rating scale evaluates various social behaviors ranging from assertion, empathy, cooperation, and self-control. Accordingly, each item included in the rating scale is rated using a 3-point scale: zero for never, one for sometimes, two for very often, and three for always (Yell et al., 2013). One advantage of SSRS is that it is extremely effective for subjects who are non-verbal or non-compliant. Contrastingly, one disadvantage is that observers vary significantly in their ability to make ratings, which makes the results unreliable.

References

Yell, M. L., Meadows, N. B., Drasgow, E., & Shriner, J. G. (2013). Evidence-Based Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. Pearson.

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Methods for Assessing Social Skills

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