What are the advantages of the case study method
1- foster clinical innovation
2-cast doubt on prior theoretical assumptions
3-permit study of rare phenomena
4-develop new techniques
5-buttress theoretical views
6-refinement of clinical techniques
7-provide clinical data to support further investigations
What are the limitations of the case study method
1-cannot draw causal conclusions because there are too many uncontrolled factors
2-absence of experimental control
3-relies on retrospective, subjective descriptions
4-several techniques are administered simultaneously so we don’t get to analysis individual components
5-dont often use observable and replicable measures
6-cant control for threats to internal and construct validity
What is an A-B design
-simplest single case design
A-BL
B-treatment
What is the purpose of baseline
observation of natural frequency of the target behaviour
What limitations exist with an A-B design
-doesn’t state what caused the change in behaviour, maybe some other variables happened at the same time of treatment onset.
What is meant by forecasting
- can do via trend analysis
What is meant by interval validity
- avoids confounding variables
What is meant by external validity
What is a confounding variable
-is an outside influence that changes the effect of a dependent and independent variable.
What is an A-B with follow-up design
follow up is data taken after treatment ends, an amount of time later.
What are multiple behaviours targeted
-take multiple measures of a single target behaviour.
what is habit reversal training
-teaching a person to become aware of their undesirable behaviour and train an incompatible behaviour
What is meant by booster treatment
-reinstatement of treatment in sessions following deterioration during follow up assessment.
What is covert sensitization
-an undesirable behavior is paired with an unpleasant image in order to eliminate that behaviour
What is an A-B-A design
What is sequential confounding?
- ie: the influence of one treatment/phase on an adjacent treatment/phase..
What is the major limitation of an A-B-A design
What is an A-B-A-B design
What are concurrent behaviours
-none target behaviours (side effects)
Why do you monitor concurrent behaviours
What is experimenter bias and how do you overcome this
What is a B-A-B design
-starts and ends with treatment
What is the major limitation of a B-A-B design
-doesn’t include the change of the natural frequency of behaviour under study.
What is the major limitation of using single case designs with groups of subjects
-same as traditional group approach (averaging out effects, effects due to minorities, etc.)