Question 1

Participants may get tired of being in the study, or they may move and lose contact with the researchers. This is called ______.

Accepted Answer

Attrition refers to the loss of participants in a study due to dropouts, non-response, or other reasons such as moving or losing contact with the researchers. Erosion refers to the gradual wearing away of something, corroison refers to the damage caused by chemical reactions, and deterioration refers to the decline or worsening of something. None of these terms adequately describe the situation of losing participants in a study.

Question 2

Dr. Clark observes his client's sleep difficulties for a period of 2 weeks to establish a baseline. He then institutes an intervention and measures the client's sleep difficulties for 2 weeks. The intervention is removed for a period of 2 weeks and then implemented again, and measurements are taken. This design is best described as ______.

Accepted Answer

This design is best described as an A-B-A-B design, as there are two phases of intervention (B) separated by a period of baseline measurement (A). The fact that the intervention is removed and then implemented again strengthens the design by providing additional evidence for the effectiveness of the intervention.

Question 3

A psychologist measures a student's disruptive behavior to determine the behavior rate that currently exists. This is an example of ______.

Accepted Answer

Baseline measurement refers to the initial measurement of a behavior to determine its current rate before any intervention or treatment is implemented. In this scenario, the psychologist is measuring the student's disruptive behavior to establish a starting point or baseline rate.

Question 4

The main disadvantage to ______ is that the results cannot always be generalized to people outside the study.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The main disadvantage to ______ is that...

Question 5

A basic behavioral processes study such as the way that information is forgotten in memory is an example of ______ design.

Accepted Answer

Discrete trials design is used for studying basic behavioral processes, such as memory and learning, by examining behavior in a controlled, repeatable manner.

Question 6

In the ______ design, each participant is tested only once, which reduces the chance of attrition.

Accepted Answer

In a cross-sectional design, participants from different age groups are tested at the same time. Since each participant is only tested once, there is no opportunity for attrition to occur. In contrast, in a longitudinal design (choice A), participants are tested multiple times over a period of years, which increases the risk of attrition as individuals may drop out of the study over time. Cohort-sequential designs (choice C) also involve testing participants over a period of time, but involve testing different age groups at different points in time. Causal designs (choice D) are not related to attrition as they focus on establishing cause-and-effect relationships rather than tracking changes over time.

Question 7

The ______ designs are typically used to study very basic behaviors (e.g., sensory processes, learning processes), where the behaviors being measured should be very similar from person to person, and for studies where the goal is to tailor a treatment to a specific person.

Accepted Answer

Small-n designs are typically used when studying basic behaviors that are expected to be similar across individuals or when designing a treatment tailored to a specific person, which makes it the best choice for this question. Between-subjects designs involve comparing different groups of participants and are not as useful when studying individual differences in behavior, while case studies are typically used when exploring rare or unusual phenomena. Experimental designs can be used for a range of research questions, but do not necessarily have a specific advantage for studying basic behaviors or individual differences.

Question 8

______ can occur for tasks that may affect future performance over time.

Accepted Answer

Carryover effects refer to the persistence of an effect from one treatment condition to another, or from a previous task to a subsequent task. This can impact future performance over time. Testing effects refer to the impact of previous testing on subsequent testing. Attrition/mortality refers to participants dropping out of a study, which can bias the results. Cohort/generation effects refer to differences between groups of participants who are born in different time periods. None of these best fit the described scenario.

Question 9

In longitudinal within-subjects variable design each participant experiences ______ of the independent variable.

Accepted Answer

In a longitudinal within-subjects variable design, each participant experiences all levels of the independent variable. This is because the same participants are tested multiple times under different conditions or levels of the independent variable. This design allows researchers to control for individual differences and examine changes within each participant over time.

Question 10

The ______ designs compare different age groups of participants, where each participant contributes data for only one age group.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The ______ designs compare different age groups...

Question 11

Carryover effects can occur for tasks that may affect future performance over time.

Accepted Answer

Carryover effects refer to the phenomenon where a task or experience has an impact on future performance or behavior. This can occur because previous experiences can influence how we approach and perceive future tasks, leading to changes in our cognitive or behavioral processes. Therefore, carryover effects can have lasting effects on our ability to perform certain tasks over time.

Question 12

If younger and older adults are tested with a survey presented on a computer, it is possible that the older adults may have more difficulty completing the survey because some may lack experience with computers. This is an example of ______.

Accepted Answer

This is an example of cohort/generation effects because the older adults may have had less exposure to computers during their upbringing and therefore may face more difficulty completing a survey presented on a computer.

Question 13

Some of the earliest studies in psychology used ______.

Accepted Answer

Discrete trials were commonly used in early psychology studies, particularly in behaviorism, where behavior was studied by breaking it down into small, observable units. Examples include Pavlov's classical conditioning experiments and Skinner's operant conditioning experiments. Options B-D (A-B-A designs, baseline designs, reversal designs) are all experimental designs that were developed later in the field of psychology.

Question 14

Because the researcher collects data from all age groups at the same time, the study can be completed more quickly with a ______ design.

Accepted Answer

A cross-sectional design collects data from all age groups at the same time, which allows for a faster completion of the study compared to a longitudinal or cohort-sequential design that collect data over time. A causal design does not necessarily relate to the speed of the study.

Question 15

In A-B-A design, the first A indicates ______.

Accepted Answer

The first A in A-B-A design indicates the baseline measure of behavior. This is the initial phase of the design where the behavior of interest is measured without any intervention or treatment. The second A represents another baseline measure after the treatment has been removed, and the B represents the treatment phase where the intervention is introduced.

Question 16

Whereas a ______ study takes time to complete because researchers must wait for the participants to age, it allows researchers to compare ages quickly with the first testing of the different-aged samples.

Accepted Answer

A cohort-sequential study combines elements of both longitudinal and cross-sectional studies, allowing researchers to compare different age groups quickly while also tracking changes over time.

Question 17

Small-n designs are sometimes called ______ designs.

Accepted Answer

Small-n designs typically involve only one or a few subjects, rather than a large sample. This is why they are often called single subject designs. Option A, multiple subject designs, would involve a larger sample size. Option C, two subject designs, is a specific type of small-n design that involves two subjects only. Option D, limited subject designs, is not a common term used to describe small-n designs.

Question 18

Repeated baseline measurements help improve the ______ of a single-subject study.

Accepted Answer

Repeated baseline measurements help improve the internal validity of a single-subject study by providing more accurate and reliable data for comparison during the intervention phase. This helps to rule out alternative explanations for any changes observed during the intervention phase, thereby increasing the confidence in the causal relationship between the intervention and the observed changes. Ecological validity, generalizability, and sample's representativeness are not directly affected by repeated baseline measurements.

Question 19

______ occur when the experiences of one generation (e.g., growing up with or without computers) are very different from those of another generation and affect the way the participants complete the task or measure in the study.

Accepted Answer

Cohort/generation effects refer to differences between groups of people based on their shared experiences during specific time periods. These differences can impact how participants respond to tasks or measures and their overall results.

Question 20

______ can be a source of bias in the study if the participants who drop out are different from the participants who remain.

Accepted Answer

Attrition refers to the loss of participants during a study. If those who drop out are different from those who remain, this can lead to bias in the results. For example, if participants with more severe symptoms drop out of a treatment study, the remaining group may appear to respond better to the treatment than if those participants had stayed in the study.

Quiz 15: More About Other Specialized Designs