Research methods

Question 1

What kind of treatment did Beail and Warden (1996) implement?

Answer 1

• Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
• Preliminary results had a good outcome
• Self-report: understanding of questions unsure and acquiescence
• 9m and 1 f = more representative, but uneven
• Verbal communication skills may not have been good enough for therapy

Question 2

What type of intervention did Whitaker (1992) use?

Answer 2

• Differential reinforcement of Other Behaviours
• Effective in reducing behaviours
• No formal measures taken
• Reversal of procedure needed to see effect of reinforcer
• External validity: case study

Question 3

What did Berney, Ireland and Burn (2006) find about the behavioural phenotype of CdLS?
What type of method did they use?
Critique?

Answer 3

• 49 individuals with borderline to profound ID.
• Wide range of behaviours found
• SIB, hyperactivity, sleep disturbance, and aggression found commonly
• Questionnaire
• Biased sample: gender, services, small
• No reliability/validity about measures
• No comparison group

Question 4

What did Clegg and Scheard (2002) find increased CB?

Answer 4

• 54 school leavers with severe ID
• 34% had close relationships leading to jealousy: significantly increased CB
• Cross-over of autism and attachment
• Bias of care-giver reports
• Correlation

Question 5

Who used discrimination training?

Answer 5

• Heald et al. (2013)
• Excessive rates of social approach in Angelman’s
• 4 children: social reinforcement and extinction
• 25-35 sessions
• Discrimination shown after 16-20 sessions
• Reversal effects shown
• Used a novel stimulus cue to discriminate adult availability

Question 6

What are the 7 dimensions of behavioural phenotype research?

Answer 6

Developmental trajectory
preserved domains
impaired domains
behaviour excess
behaviour disorder
psychiatric disorder
emergent neuropathology

Question 7

What is there little research in?

Answer 7

The effect of aging on genetic syndromes: often cases of early aging e.g. Downs Syndrome and Alzheimers in 30s. Before people with genetic syndromes were not living as long as they are now.