Chapter 3 Research

Question 1

What does the scientific approach in child abnormal psychology research entail?

Answer 1

An organized way of investigating claims that improves on using common sense and casual observations.

Question 2

Why is it important to adopt a scientific approach in child abnormal psychology?

Answer 2

Although relationships between variables of interest may seem obvious when observed casually, these relationships are often not as straightforward as they seem. Can be obscured by complex interactions and a combination of variables.

Question 3

Provide an example where there were costly consequences for ignoring scientific evidence and methods.

Or basically an e.g of pseudoscience

Answer 3

Facilitated communication
Media says it’s good and children with severe autism can now generate sentences, but who is the one doing the talking? Science says it’s the facilitator.

Question 4

What steps does the research process encompass?

Answer 4

1. Develop hypothesis on the basis of observation, theory, and previous findings
2. Identify the sample to be studied, selecting measurement methods, and developing a research design and procedures.
3. Gather and analyze data and interpret results in relation to theory and previous findings in an attempt to resolve the problem that initially led to the research.

Question 5

What kind of research would be good for answering questions regarding the nature and distribution of childhood disorders?

Answer 5

Epidemiological research - the study of the incidence, prevalence, and co-occurrence of childhood disorders and competencies in clinic-referred and community samples.

Question 6

Distinguish between incidence rates and prevalence rates.

Answer 6

Incidence: Extent to which new cases of a disorder appear over a specific period (only new)

Prevalence: All cases, whether new or existing, observed in a specific period of time. (new + old)

Question 7

What can epidemiological research be useful for?

Answer 7

Can understand nature of disorder and use this understanding as basis for prevention and treatment.

Question 8

What do estimates of prevalence depend on?

Answer 8

Definitions of what it means to have a certain disorder - single symptom or multiple symptoms?

Estimates on single symptoms would be much higher than those based on symptom patterns.

Question 9

Why is case definition complex in child abnormal psychology?

Answer 9

Children do not refer themselves for treatment. Just because they seek treatment does not mean they have the disorder.

Factors that lead to referrals sometimes have more to do with child’s parents, teachers or doctor than with the child’s behavior.

Important that we study problems in children who are referred and not referred

Question 10

What are 3 variables of interest in abnormal child psychology?

Answer 10

correlates, risk and protective factors

Question 11

What are correlates?

Answer 11

Variables that are associated at a particular point in time with no clear proof that one precedes the other

Question 12

What’s a risk factor?

Answer 12

Variable that precedes an outcome of interest and increases the chances of a negative outcome

Question 13

What is a protective factor?

Answer 13

Positive variable that precedes an outcome of interest and decreases the chances of a negative outcome

Question 14

Why is it necessary for research on risk and protective factors (4)?

Answer 14

1) Only a small proportion of children at risk for a problem will actually develop the disorder
2) The areas of child functioning that will be affected and how they will be affected are not known in advance
3) The ages at which a disorder may occur or reoccur are also not known in advance. Sometimes, the effects of exposure to a risk factor during infancy or early childhood may not be visible until adolescence or adulthood. The possibility that delayed or sleeper effects will occur complicates the study of risk and protective factors since children must be studied for many years if delayed effects are to be detected.
4) Other variables are causes. They influence either directly or indirectly through other variables, the occurrence of a behavior or disorder of interest.

Question 15

The basic distinction between non-experimental and experimental research reflect ____________?

Answer 15

The degree to which the investigator can manipulate the experimental variable, or alternatively, must rely on examining the natural covariation of several variables of interest.

Question 16

What is one goal of scientific research? Why?

Answer 16

Simplify and isolate variables in order to study them more closely

Makes it possible to study the association between the particular variables of interest

Question 17

What makes a piece of research more “experimental” in nature?

How does this impact research in CAP?

Answer 17

Maximum control over the IV or conditions of interest
Can use random assignment of subjects to groups

Most variables of interest cannot be manipulated directly, so their research would usually rely on nonexperimental correlational approaches.

Question 18

Apart from correlational studies, what other methods can be used to conduct research in CAP?

Answer 18

Natural experiments - making comparisons between conditions or treatments that already exist.

Question 19

What traits do natural experiments have?

Answer 19

they are essentially correlational studies, but the subjects are selected to ensure that their characteristics are as comparable as possible, with the exception of the iV

Question 20

Distinguish between prospective and retrospective research.

Answer 20

Prospective: recruit now and see over time, how they will turn out to be
Retrospective: recruit now and ask about their past

Question 21

What are some problems with retrospective research?

Answer 21

1. Relying on recall - biases and distortion in recall
2. Distorted interpretation of what child/teen does e.g parents of teens with schizophrenia may reinterpret their views of the teen’s childhood, distorting their recollection of the teen’s prior behavior or friendships
3. such designs do not identify people who were exposed to certain earlier experiences but did not develop the problem

Question 22

While prospective designs correct for problems in retrospective research, what are some disadvantages of it?

Answer 22

Loss of participants over time

Lengthy time to collect data

BUT it can help you identify who kena and who don’t kena.

Question 23

What kind of research does this describe?

“Evaluating a specific variable of interest under conditions that only resemble or approximate the situation for which one wishes to generalize.”

Answer 23

analogue research - focusing on circumscribed research questions under well-controlled conditions

Question 24

What is the purpose of analogue research?

Think about the end product.

Answer 24

Illuminate a specific process that would otherwise be difficult to study

Question 25

What is one disadvantage of analogue research?

Answer 25

external validity.

Question 26

List some examples of research designs in CAP.

Answer 26

1. Case study
2. Single-case experimental design
3. between-group comparison designs
4. cross-sectional and longitudinal studies

Question 27

What are case studies in the context of CAP?

What is the goal of case studies?

Answer 27

an intensive, usually anecdotal, observation and analysis of an individual child.

get as complete a picture as possible of the child’s psychological functioning, current environment and developmental history OR describe the effects of treatment on the child.

Question 28

List some advantages of using case studies in CAP (2)

Answer 28

Brings together a wide range of information about an individual child from various sources, including interviews, observations, and test results.

Yield narratives that are rich in detail and provide valuable insights into factors associated with a child’s disorder.

Question 29

List some limitations of using case studies to inform research in CAP.

Answer 29

Typically viewed as unscientific and flawed because they are characterized by uncontrolled methods and selective biases, by inherent difficulties associated with integrating diverse observations and drawing valid inferences among the variables of interest, and by generalizations from the child of interest to other kids.

Question 30

Given all the advantages and limitations, what can case studies be used for in clinical research?

Answer 30

rich source of descriptive information that provides a basis for subsequent tests of hypotheses with larger samples and more controlled methods.

or that it’s a source for developing and trying out new methods.

Question 31

Why are case studies still valuable?

Answer 31

1. some childhood disorders are rare, making it difficult to generate large samples
2. analyses of individual cases may contribute to the understanding of many striking symptoms of childhood disorders that either occur infrequently or hidden and are therefore difficult to observe directly
3. significant childhood disturbances such as PTSD often develop as the result of natural disasters, severe trauma or abuse. extreme circumstances are difficult to study using controlled methods.

Question 32

_________ have been most frequently used to evaluate the impact of clinical treatment on a child’s problem.

Answer 32

single-case experimental designs

Question 33

What are the central features of single-case experimental designs?

Answer 33

1. systematic repeated assessment of behavior over time
2. replication of treatment effects within the same subject over time
3. participant’s serving as his/her own control by experiencing all treatment conditions (a bit like within-subject)

Question 34

How does an A-B-A-B reversal design work?

Answer 34

1A baseline of behavior is first taken
1B intervention phase

2A return to baseline phase during which intervention is removed
B final intervention phase

So if changes occur only during the intervention phase, then this i evidence