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Imagine you are designing a research protocol to test a new therapy for phobias that is inspired by the clinical history of Anna O. A client has a fear of water, and you hypothesize this is due to a repressed memory of a childhood near-drowning experience. Explain how you would apply experimental design principles to move beyond the causal limitations of the original Anna O. case study. Specifically, how would you structure your study to verify whether the memory is the cause of the symptom and whether recalling it is the cause of the cure?
Question: Imagine you are designing a research protocol to test a new therapy for phobias that is inspired by the clinical history of Anna O. A client has a fear of water, and you hypothesize this is due to a repressed memory of a childhood near-drowning experience. Explain how you would apply experimental design principles to move beyond the causal limitations of the original Anna O. case study. Specifically, how would you structure your study to verify whether the memory is the cause of the symptom and whether recalling it is the cause of the cure?
Sample answer: To address the causal limitations of the Anna O. case study, I would design a single-case experimental design, such as an ABAB design, or a randomized controlled trial. Instead of just observing one patient's improvement, I would establish a stable baseline of the fear of water (dependent variable) before any intervention. I would then introduce the memory retrieval treatment (independent variable) and measure the change. To prove the therapy caused the cure, I would compare it to a control group receiving a non-therapeutic intervention (like standard relaxation without memory retrieval). This allows us to rule out spontaneous remission or therapist attention as confounding variables, thereby demonstrating that recalling the memory specifically caused the cure.
Key points:
- Acknowledge that single-case observation cannot isolate the cause of a symptom or its cure.
- Propose a design that uses control groups or systematic baseline/reversal phases (e.g., ABAB).
- Identify the independent variable (treatment/memory recall) and dependent variable (symptom severity).
- Explain how the design controls for confounding factors like spontaneous recovery or placebo effects.
Rubric: Grading criteria: 1. Explains the core causal limitation of the Anna O. case study (inability to verify the cause of the symptom and cure). 2. Proposes a design with a control group or systematic baseline measurement to isolate variables. 3. Identifies independent and dependent variables. 4. Connects the proposed design to ruling out alternative explanations (confounding variables, spontaneous remission).
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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU
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