Monday, April 29, 2024

Single-Subject Research Designs Psychology Research Methods

single subject research design

For example, if one's objective were to teach or establish a new behavior that an individual could not previously perform, returning to baseline conditions would not likely cause the individual to “unlearn” the behavior. Similarly, studies aiming to improve proficiency in a skill through practice may not experience returns to baseline levels when the intervention is withdrawn. In other cases, the behavior of the parents, teachers, or staff implementing the intervention may not revert to baseline levels with adequate fidelity.

Abstract

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The most basic single-subject research design is the reversal designA single-subject research design that begins with a baseline condition with no treatment, followed by the introduction of a treatment, and after that a return to the baseline condition. It can include additional treatment conditions and returns to baseline., also called the ABA designThe simplest reversal design, in which there is a baseline condition (A), followed by a treatment condition (B), followed by a return to baseline (A).. During the first phase, A, a baselineA condition in a single-subject research design in which the dependent variable is measured repeatedly in the absence of any treatment. Most designs begin with a baseline condition, and many return to the baseline condition at least once.

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External validity, however, may be compromised by the threat of multiple-treatment interference. Additionally, the same advantages and disadvantages of ABAB designs apply, including issues related to the reversibility of the target behavior. Despite their limitations, these designs can provide strong empirical data upon which to base decisions regarding the selection of treatments for an individual client.

Multiple-Baseline Design Across Settings

“Single subject research (also known as single case experiments) is popular in the fields of special education and counseling. This research design is useful when the researcher is attempting to change the behavior of an individual or a small group of individuals and wishes to document that change. Unlike true experiments where the researcher randomly assigns participants to a control and treatment group, in single subject research the participant serves as both the control and treatment group. The researcher uses line graphs to show the effects of a particular intervention or treatment. An important factor of single subject research is that only one variable is changed at a time.

Multiple-Treatment Designs

Hypothetical data demonstrating unambiguous changes in level (Panel A), trend (Panel B), and variability (Panel C). An application of the principles of experimental analysis of behavior that plays an important role in contemporary research on developmental disabilities, education, organizational behavior, and health, among many other applied areas. Single subject research design refers to a unique type of research methodology that facilitates intervention evaluation through an individual case. In case study reports, procedures used in treatment of a particular client’s behavior are documented as carefully as possible, and the client’s progress toward habilitation or rehabilitation is reported. Generally, the A phase serves as a time period in which the behavior or behaviors of interest are counted or scored prior to introducing treatment. For me, one of the first steps in developing a treatment is understanding what an individual does.

Precedent of within-subject methods

So what has happened recently, is with the onset of evidence-based practice and the adoption of the common hierarchy of evidence in terms of designs. As you noted the randomized controlled trial and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials are on top of common hierarchies. Gene editing has the potential to solve fundamental challenges in agriculture, biotechnology, and human health. CRISPR-based gene editors derived from microbes, while powerful, often show significant functional tradeoffs when ported into non-native environments, such as human cells. Artificial intelligence (AI) enabled design provides a powerful alternative with potential to bypass evolutionary constraints and generate editors with optimal properties.

External Validity

Early in the research process, inductive inference based on single-subject manipulations are ideal to generate likely and testable abstractions (Russell, 1962). Using single-subject approaches for this inductive phase requires fewer resources compared to fully powered group approaches and can be more rigorous than small-n group pilots. An effect can be isolated in one individual, then systematically replicated across relevant differences and contexts until it fails to replicate, at which time explanatory variables can be adjusted until replicated results are produced. The altered experiment can then be analyzed in comparison to previous experiments to form a more general understanding that can be tested in a new series of experiments. After sufficient systematic replication, hybrid and group designs can assess the extent to which inductively and contextually informed abstractions generalize across the widest relevant populations.

Multiple-Baseline and Multiple-Probe Designs

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Typically, this is achieved by arranging a consequence (e.g., reinforcement) contingent on the participant meeting the predefined criterion. The changing-criterion design can be considered a special variation of multiple-baseline designs in that each phase serves as a baseline for the subsequent one (Hartmann & Hall, 1976). However, rather than having multiple baselines across participants, settings, or behaviors, the changing-criterion design uses multiple levels of the independent variable. Experimental control is demonstrated when the behavior changes repeatedly to meet the new criterion (i.e., level of the independent variable). Thus far, the designs that we have described are only appropriate to answer questions regarding the effects of a single intervention or variable.

single subject research design

For example, restricted inclusion criteria are often necessary to produce clear results. When desired generality involves only such a restricted population (e.g., only acute stroke patients, or only layer IV glutamatergic cortical neurons), this practice carries no disadvantage. However, if the study aims to identify more widely applicable processes, stringent inclusion criteria can produce cleaner but overly conditional results, limiting external validity (Henrich et al., 2010).

Like the AB design, the ABA design begins with a baseline phase (A), followed by an intervention phase (B). However, the ABA design provides an additional opportunity to demonstrate the effects of the manipulation of the independent variable by withdrawing the intervention during a second “A” phase. A further extension of this design is the ABAB design, in which the intervention is re-implemented in a second “B” phase. ABAB designs have the benefit of an additional demonstration of experimental control with the reimplementation of the intervention.

The major distinction is that the ATD involves the rapid alternation of two or more interventions or conditions (Barlow & Hayes, 1979). Data collection typically begins with a baseline (A) phase, similar to that of a multiple-treatment study, but during the next phase, each session is randomly assigned to one of two or more intervention conditions. Because there are no longer distinct phases of each intervention, the interpretation of the results of ATD studies differs from that of the studies reviewed so far.

Although, in theory, these types of designs can be extended to compare any number of interventions or conditions, doing so beyond two becomes excessively cumbersome; therefore, the alternating treatments design should be considered. One disadvantage of all designs that involve two or more interventions or independent variables is the potential for multiple-treatment interference. This occurs when the same participant receives two or more treatments whose effects may not be independent. As a result, it is possible that the order in which the interventions are given will affect the results. For example, the effects of two interventions may be additive, so that the effects of Intervention 2 are enhanced beyond what they should be because Intervention 2 followed Intervention 1.

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