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Standard Celeration Chart

Understanding Celeration Lines

The celeration line is the single most important feature of a Standard Celeration Chart, because it summarizes how a behavior is changing over time in one number. This article explains what celeration means, how the times and divide values are read, and what aims behavior analysts typically set for skills they want to build up and behaviors they want to bring down.

What a celeration line shows

Celeration is the rate of change of a rate, in other words, how quickly the count-per-minute frequency is itself growing or shrinking over time. A celeration line is the straight line of best fit drawn through the daily data points, and its steepness captures that change in a single trend.

On the Standard Celeration Chart, celeration is read over a standard span of one week. The line answers a simple question, by how much is the behavior multiplying, or dividing, every seven days.

Reading times and divide values

Because the vertical scale multiplies, celeration is expressed as a factor rather than a fixed increase. A celeration is written either as a times value for growth or a divide value for decline.

  • A celeration of times two means the rate is doubling each week, for example, from 10 to 20 to 40 correct responses per minute on successive weeks.
  • A celeration of divided by two means the rate is halving each week, for example, from 40 down to 20 down to 10 per minute.
  • A celeration of times one means no change, the line is flat and the rate is holding steady week to week.

Standard aims for acquisition and deceleration

Practitioners set a target celeration, called an aim, depending on whether they want a behavior to grow or shrink. These aims give a concrete, chartable goal for instruction.

  • For acquisition, building a new or fluent skill, a common standard aim is a celeration of times two, a weekly doubling of correct responses.
  • For deceleration, reducing an unwanted behavior, a common aim is a celeration of divided by two, a weekly halving of the targeted behavior.
  • Comparing the actual celeration line against the aim line shows at a glance whether the current program is meeting its goal or needs to be changed.

Using celeration to make decisions

The value of a single number for trend is that it turns charting into action. If a learner is on a times two acquisition line and the aim is times two, the program is working. If the line is flatter than the aim, that is an early, objective signal to adjust the instruction before more time is lost. This data-based decision making is the bridge to Precision Teaching, covered in the next article.

Frequently asked questions

What does a celeration of times two mean?
It means the rate of the behavior is doubling every week. On the chart this appears as a celeration line rising at the standard times-two angle.
What is the difference between times and divide celerations?
A times value describes a behavior that is accelerating, or growing, week to week, while a divide value describes a behavior that is decelerating, or shrinking, week to week.
What aim should I set?
A common standard aim is times two for acquisition, doubling a skill weekly, and divided by two for deceleration, halving an unwanted behavior weekly. The right aim depends on the learner and the program goal.

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