Experimental Design and Research Flashcards

What is 'replication' in single-subject research and why is it critical?

Answer: Demonstrating the same effect within and across participants; it establishes generality and experimental control

Replication — both within a study and across independent studies — is the primary means of establishing experimental control and determining the generality of findings in single-subject research.

In behavior-analytic research, 'visual analysis' of graphed data involves examining which three primary features?

Answer: Level, trend, and variability

Visual analysis examines level (average performance), trend (direction of data), and variability (scatter of data) within and between phases to evaluate intervention effects.

Which type of validity concerns whether an experiment demonstrates that the independent variable, not extraneous variables, caused the observed changes in the dependent variable?

Answer: Internal validity

Internal validity refers to the degree of confidence that changes in the dependent variable were caused by the independent variable and not by confounding or extraneous factors.

What is 'parametric analysis' in ABA research?

Answer: Systematically varying the value or magnitude of an independent variable to find the optimal level

Parametric analysis in ABA involves systematically manipulating different values or intensities of an independent variable to determine which level produces the most desirable behavior change.

Which design feature helps rule out 'history' as an alternative explanation for behavior change in a multiple baseline design?

Answer: Staggered, sequential introduction of the intervention across baselines

Sequential staggering means behavior in untreated baselines remains stable while treated baselines change, ruling out external historical events as the cause of change.

A behavior analyst uses an 'ABAB' design but finds the behavior does not reverse during the second A phase. What is the most likely reason?

Answer: The behavior has come under the control of natural reinforcers and is no longer dependent on the intervention

Failure to reverse during the return-to-baseline phase often indicates the behavior has contacted natural contingencies that now maintain it independently of the original intervention.