Chapter 3

Question 1

What is a dependent variable?

Answer 1

the behavior of the subjects

Question 2

What is an independent variable?

Answer 2

the treatment applied / the intervention.

Question 3

the four components of the reversal replication design.

Answer 3

1. baseline phase
2. treatment phase
3. reversal to baseline phase
4. replication phase - treatment reapplied

Question 4

What is meant by internal validity?

Answer 4

if the independent variable (the treatment) caused the observed changes in the dependent variable (the behavior of the athletes).
Did the treatment cause the changes in behavior in the athlete

Question 5

When visually inspecting single-subject data to determine if the treatment had an effect on the dependent variable, what five factors give the researcher confidence that an effect has been observed?

Answer 5

1. last few data points of the baseline should be reasonably stable or in a direction opposite to the predicted treatment
2. the more times its replicated the more it can be trusted (all the treatment phases
3. when there are fewer points that overlap between baseline and treatment phases
4. the sooner the effect is seen after beginning the treatment
5. the effect is large

Question 6

Identify a limitation of the reversal replication design

Answer 6

certain behaviors cannot easily return to baseline, such as skills learned with a treatment, ie. the way you hold a baseball bat or a hockey stick

Question 7

multiple-baseline design across people

Answer 7

using a treatment on one individual, noting the results and moving on to the next person to do the same

Question 8

What does it mean to say that a finding is externally valid?

Answer 8

if it can be generalized to other behaviors, individuals, settings, or treatments. - can this treatment be applied to other groups of athletes (sprinters → football linebackers)

Question 9

three potential limitations or problems of the multiple-baseline design across people.

Answer 9

1. the other athletes may learn from the athlete getting the treatment or they might pick up on it themselves and improve without treatment
2. not always possible to find two or more subjects
3. not enough observers to gather the data

Question 10

multiple-baseline design across behaviors.

Answer 10

using treatment on ONE SINGLE PERSON, but on multiple different behaviors, then one is treated while the other behaviors remain on baseline, and then one by one they are treated.

Question 11

What are three limitations of a multiple-baseline design across behaviors?

Answer 11

1. the behaviors need to be relatively independent
2. not possible to find two or more behaviors
3. not enough observers to gather the necessary data on several behaviors

Question 12

multiple-baseline design across situations.

Answer 12

1. a behavior to be treated within multiple different scenarios/situations. staggered once again so the behavior can be tracked in the other situations. then onto the next situation, until they are all being monitored.
2. a player’s fouling behavior in different situations: home games, away games, and practice matches.

Question 13

What are three (research) limitations of a multiple-baseline design across situations?

Answer 13

1. may cause subsequent improvement in all scenarios
2. behavior may only occur in one setting (competition)
3. may not be sufficient observers to gather the sufficient data

Question 14

an alternating-treatments design.

Answer 14

measuring a behavior as it occurs during two or more alternating treatments, random changing order of treatments useful to eliminate sequencing/getting used to the treatments

Question 15

four advantages of an alternating-treatments design over reversal replication and multiple-baseline designs.

Answer 15

1. good at detecting delayed treatment
2. able to be used with behaviors that occur a unstable rates
3. avoids the need for lengthy baseline or treatment conditions (reverse repli. design) because all conditions can be implemented one after another
4. eliminate less effective treatments early because the effects of different treatment can be detected quickly

Question 16

What are two limitations of the alternating-treatments design?

Answer 16

1. generalizations may occur because of similarities between the conditions
2. contrasting effects between the treatments may enhance differences between the alternating treatment conditions

Question 17

what is an interobserver reliability assessment?

Answer 17

two trained observers separately record the dependent variable of a subject, and after they compare records to check reliability.

Question 18

What is a common strategy for computing an IOR score between two observers?

Answer 18

divide the smaller total of the dependent variable by the larger total, and multiply by 100%, scores 80% or higher are considered acceptable

Question 19

How is a treatment integrity assessment typically done?

Answer 19

the experimenter prepares a checklist, and throughout the research project, two researchers (observer or experimenter) assess whether or not the treatment was applied as per the checklist
if treatment includes mental training monitoring of said training should be required

Question 20

list five characteristics of single-subject research designs

Answer 20

1. include interobserver reliability IOR
2. steps are taken to ensure the treatment was applied as intended - procedural reliability assessment - assessment of treatment integrity
3. typically require repeated measurement of the main dependent variable throughout the duration of the study
4. do not include control groups, all subjects are monitored under all conditions of the experiment
5. researchers typically rely on visual inspection of data to assess the effects of treatment

Question 21

the strategy of a control-group experiment

Answer 21

usually two different groups participating, one group receives treatment (experimental group), the other group (control) does not receive treatment. this helps isolate the effects of the treatment when comparing the results of both groups.

Question 22

Describe three commonalities between group designs and single-subject designs

Answer 22

1. have the goal of evaluating the effects of an independent variable on a dependent variable
2. require acceptable inter-observer reliability assessment of the dependent variable
3. require acceptable procedural reliability assessments

Question 23

Describe three characteristics of single-subject designs that distinguish them from group designs.

Answer 23

1. require repeated measurements of the dependent variable through the duration of the study
2. do not typically include control groups
3. rely on visual inspection of data to judge whether a treatment had an effect on a dependent variable

Question 24

List three limitations of the control-group methodology for conducting research in behavioral sport psychology

Answer 24

1. difficult to locate enough subjects with the same performance at practices and during competitions
2. coaches and athletes may resist participating in a no treatment control group
3. control group designs focus on the average performance of groups as they exist at a particular point in time while coaches and athletes prefer continuous monitoring

Question 25

What are three features of single-subject designs that make them “user-friendly” for practitioners in behavioral sport psychology?

Answer 25

1. require small number of subjects
2. athletic performance is monitored continuously
3. all subjects are exposed to both baseline and treatment conditions