Unit 8+9 Flashcards
most single participant researchers use a research strategy popularized by skinner, what is it?
experimental analysis of behavior
single participant researchers work is often published in two highly respected journals, what are they?
the journal of the experimental analysis of behavior
the journal of applied behavior analysis
what are advantages of single participant research?
unique individuals
unique treatments
looking for large effects
freedom of design
ethical and moral dilemmas
reduces cost and time
why are unique individuals apart of single participant research?
because it would be impossible to find a population that is similar to them
how are unique individuals an advantage?
could spur future research ideas that may be generalizable to the larger population
studying the individual would provide valuable information that would, in a group design be averaged out
what is the problem with the unique individuals advantage?
there is probably no population to which you could generalize your results
how are unique treatments an advantage to single participant designs?
allows researchers to try out new drugs or treatment techniques on willing individuals when all traditional treatments have failed. the new treatments can pave way for better understanding of the affliction in question
how is looking for large effects an advantage to single participant designs?
small effects are unlikely to be found (ex. in a study with a large sample the drug might work for 85% of the participants but the placebo might work for 80% of the participants, this is considered significant and would not happen in single participant designs)
its more likely that only independent variables that have large effects on the dependent variable will surface
how do single participant designs have freedom of design?
the experimenter has freedom to modify the experiment on the fly because its only one participant (with group designs, all the participants experiences need to be altered to better fit the study… way more work)
how are ethical and moral dilemmas an advantage to single participant designs?
single participant designs avoid ethical and moral concerns involving control groups
what are some disadvantages to single participant designs?
between subjects designs are necessary
cannot draw cause and effect conclusions
bias
limited external validity
why are between subject designs necessary?
with single participant designs, the single participant cant be in two different experimental conditions which is a huge issue cause then theres no control
why is it a disadvantage that we cannot draw cause and effect conclusions with single participant designs?
cant control extraneous variables, this introduces error or excess amounts of variability into the design which makes it difficult to observe real effects in single participant designs (especially if effects are small), it also makes any observed effect open to many other plausible interpretations or explanations
how are single participant designs subject to more bias than group designs?
more difficult to reduce experimenter effects because single and double blind studies are difficult to implement, thus participants and experimenters might interpret good about the success of the treatment (ex. participant knows the study so they lie about results in order for the study to be proven true OR the experimenter avoids cues in order to skew results)
do single participant designs have internal validity?
its very limited
is one participant ever representative of everyone? chapter: for an example involving the visual system*
normally not, but in some cases they do represent the population if the variability of the population is limited
what are necessary control techniques in single participant ABAB designs?
baseline or base rate (A)
independent variable or treatment (B)
withdrawing the treatment (A)
reintroduction of the treatment (B)
what is a baseline?
a measure of the behaviour in question prior to manipulation of the independent variable or treatment, serves as a reference point (similar to control group)
how long should behaviour be measured in order to establish an accurate baseline? the a in Abab
when you believe you have shown stability in the behaviour you are measuring (if you can show a stable level of responding over 10-20 trials, then you can make a relatively strong case for stability)
ex. studying continuous handwashing, to find the baseline see how much harold washes his hands, if his hand washing continues to increase or stay remotely the same, this would be valid (because any baseline is that the behaviour will continue in the same fashion predicted by the baseline)
with harold washing his hands, what is an independent variable that may be established? the B in aBab
give him a drug (THC) and observe his hand washing, it was seen that the drug decreased the amount of handwashing harold did
why dont we just conduct an AB design?
would never know for sure if it was the independent variable (B) that caused a different behaviour
ex. wouldnt know if it was the THC that decreased the amount of handwashing
what is an ABA design?
a simple reversal design/ withdrawal design (sometimes treatments produce an immediate change in behaviour)
adding more reversals (AB) can address two issues with interpreting the results from an ABA reversal design, what are they?
- a single reversal could be caused by a random fluctuation in the persons behaviour
- ethical concern (might not be beneficial for the participant for the design to end with a withdrawal of the treatment)
what do we do in the A part of abAb?
withdraw the independent variable (THC) from the participants system (maybe give placebo) and observe handwashing. if the THC was the main reason for the decrease in handwashing, then removing it from his system should bring his handwashing levels back up