9. RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY Flashcards
What is single case research?
Research focusing on the behaviour of an individual.
What are the two main types of single case research?
Case studies and single-case experiments.
What is a case study?
An intensive, detailed study of a single individual or unit.
What is a single-case experiment?
An experiment using repeated measurements of an individual over time.
What is the goal of case studies?
To generate new research questions and study rare phenomena.
What is the goal of single-case experiments?
To evaluate the effect of interventions on individual behaviour.
What is the difference between nomothetic and idiographic research?
Nomothetic focuses on groups; idiographic focuses on individuals.
What is the focus of nomothetic research?
Universal laws and generalisation across individuals.
What is the focus of idiographic research?
The uniqueness and richness of individual cases.
Who is Gustav Fechner?
The founder of psychophysics, who linked physical sensations to the mind.
What is the Fechner-Weber law?
The perceived intensity of a sensation increases logarithmically with the stimulus intensity.
Who is Herman Ebbinghaus?
A psychologist who studied memory using nonsense syllables on himself.
What is the forgetting curve?
A graph showing how information is lost over time if not reinforced.
Who is Paul Broca?
A neurologist who identified Broca’s area, involved in speech production.
What is Broca’s area?
A region in the frontal lobe responsible for speech production.
What is amnesia?
A memory disorder caused by brain damage or trauma.
What is anterograde amnesia?
The inability to form new long-term memories after a trauma.
What is retrograde amnesia?
The inability to recall memories from before a trauma.
Who was H.M.?
A famous amnesia patient with intact STM but impaired LTM after lobectomy.
Who was Clive Wearing?
A musician with severe anterograde and retrograde amnesia, but intact procedural memory.
What is split-brain research?
Studies on patients with a severed corpus callosum to alleviate epilepsy.
What is hemispheric lateralization?
The specialization of brain hemispheres for different functions.
What did Roger Sperry’s split-brain studies show?
The left hemisphere handles language, while the right handles spatial tasks.
Who is Sigmund Freud?
The founder of psychoanalysis, known for using case studies.
What is the case of Anna O.?
A patient with hysteria whose symptoms improved after recalling traumatic memories.
What is the case of Rat Man?
A patient with obsessive thoughts linked to repressed childhood experiences.
What is the case of Wolf Man?
A patient with severe depression and nightmares linked to childhood trauma.
Who was B.F. Skinner?
A behaviourist known for single-case experiments and operant conditioning.
What is operant conditioning?
Learning through reinforcement and punishment.
What is an AB design?
A single-case experiment with a baseline (A) followed by an intervention (B).
What is an ABAB design?
A single-case experiment with alternating baseline and intervention phases.
What is the purpose of the baseline phase in ABAB designs?
To establish a standard for comparison.
What is level analysis in single-case research?
Comparing the last observation in one phase to the first in the next.
What is slope/trend analysis?
Measuring the rate of change across phases.
What is latency in single-case research?
The time it takes for changes to appear after an intervention.
What is applied behaviour analysis (ABA)?
The practical application of behaviourist principles to modify behaviour.
What are the advantages of case studies?
Rich detail, inspiration for new research, and exploration of rare phenomena.
What are the limitations of case studies?
Low internal and external validity, limited generalisability.
