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Multiple-Baseline Design Across Settings
A multiple-baseline design across settings involves measuring a single participant's behavior across multiple different environments to establish baselines, and then introducing the treatment in each environment at staggered times. If the dependent variable changes in each setting only after the intervention is applied there, it increases the researcher's confidence that the treatment is responsible for the behavioral shift. For example, an intervention like positive attention could be introduced to encourage a child's reading first during school free time, and later during their free time at home, ruling out setting-specific confounding variables.
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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU
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Multiple-Baseline Design Across Participants
Multiple-Baseline Design Across Behaviors
Multiple-Baseline Design Across Settings
What is the primary defining characteristic of a multiple-baseline design in single-subject research?
Observe the provided graph of a multiple-baseline design. Arrange the following implementation steps in the correct order to reflect how this design demonstrates that a treatment is responsible for behavioral changes.
A researcher is designing a single-subject study to evaluate a new intervention while avoiding the ethical issues associated with withdrawing a treatment. Match each research scenario to the specific type of multiple-baseline design it represents.
In a multiple-baseline design, if a researcher observes that behavior across all participants improves at the exact same moment the treatment is introduced to only the first participant, this outcome provides strong evidence that the treatment is the cause of the change.
Match each variation of the multiple-baseline design to the focus of its baseline measurements.
In a multiple-baseline design, what is the interpretive purpose of staggering the introduction of the treatment across participants, as shown in the provided graph?
A colleague critiques a study on social skills training by suggesting that participants' improvement was simply due to maturation—becoming more comfortable with the observer over time. To rebut this, the researcher points out that the third participant's behavior remained at baseline levels for several weeks until the treatment was finally introduced, even though the other participants had already received it. The ability to rule out threats to internal validity like maturation by staggering the timing of treatment introduction is the core evaluative strength of the _____.
A school psychologist wants to evaluate a self-quieting intervention for a student. They establish baseline measurements of the student's disruptive behavior in three different settings: the classroom, the playground, and the cafeteria. They then introduce the intervention in all three settings simultaneously. True or False: This procedure represents a multiple-baseline design.
A researcher is studying the effects of a token economy on a child's social skills. Because they are concerned that withdrawing the token economy might cause the child's improved behavior to deteriorate, they analyze the limitations of a reversal design and decide to use a multiple-baseline design instead. By selecting the multiple-baseline design, the researcher demonstrates the effect of the treatment without requiring its _____.
A researcher plans to evaluate a reading intervention across three participants using a multiple-baseline design. Order the following steps to describe the correct sequence of implementing the design to evaluate the treatment's effectiveness without removing it.
Describe the multiple-baseline design in single-subject research. In your concise analytical response, explain why this design was developed and outline the three primary ways baselines can be established according to this method.
Based on the provided scenario, decide how the psychologist should implement the intervention to demonstrate its effect without requiring its removal. Justify your decision using the principles of the multiple-baseline design.
A researcher wants to test a new classroom management strategy to reduce disruptive behavior, increase on-task behavior, and improve peer sharing in a specific student. If the researcher wants to avoid withdrawing the strategy once it is implemented, how should they apply a multiple-baseline design to evaluate this single student? Provide a brief one- to three-sentence answer.
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What is the primary characteristic of a multiple-baseline design across settings?
Arrange the procedural steps of a multiple-baseline design across settings in the correct chronological order.
A researcher implements a study to reduce a student's disruptive behavior in three different settings: the cafeteria, the gym, and the hallway. They stagger the introduction of a new intervention so that it starts in the cafeteria on Day 5, the gym on Day 10, and the hallway on Day 15. If the student’s behavior improves significantly in all three settings on Day 5, this result provides strong evidence that the intervention was the specific cause of the behavioral change in each environment.
A researcher is using a multiple-baseline design across settings to evaluate a participant's behavior. Match each potential data observation with the logical conclusion the researcher would reach when analyzing the study's validity.
You are developing a research protocol to test whether a 'self-reinforcement' strategy reduces a participant's off-task behavior in three distinct settings: a quiet study hall, a noisy cafeteria, and a busy library. Which of the following experimental structures should you construct to most effectively demonstrate that the strategy—rather than a general increase in the participant's motivation—is responsible for any observed changes across these environments?
Multiple-Baseline Design Across Settings Example
A multiple-baseline design across settings involves measuring the target behavior of multiple different participants in a single environment to establish their baseline levels, and then staggering the treatment for each participant.
A multiple-baseline design across settings involves measuring a single participant's behavior across multiple different environments to establish baselines, and then introducing the treatment in each environment at _____ times.
A researcher is evaluating a study that used a multiple-baseline design across settings to reduce a participant's anxiety. The researcher finds that the participant's anxiety levels dropped in all three environments simultaneously as soon as the treatment was introduced in the first setting. In critiquing the study's internal validity, the researcher would conclude that the design failed to demonstrate sufficient _____.
In a multiple-baseline design across settings, a researcher measures a single participant's behavior across different environments. Match each observation or procedure with its corresponding analytical implication for the study's internal validity.
A researcher evaluates the effectiveness of a positive attention intervention on a child's reading behavior across two environments: school free time and home free time. Order the procedural steps chronologically to evaluate the treatment's impact while ruling out setting-specific confounding variables.
Describe the procedural steps of a multiple-baseline design across settings and explain how this design helps researchers establish that a treatment is responsible for a behavioral shift.
Based on your understanding of a multiple-baseline design across settings, how should the researcher apply the bitter-tasting polish intervention across the workplace, car, and living room? What specific pattern of results would demonstrate that the polish is responsible for the reduction in nail-biting?
You are designing a study to increase a student's on-task behavior using positive attention. If you are utilizing a multiple-baseline design across settings, what is the specific methodological advantage of introducing the positive attention at school first, and then waiting to introduce it at home at a later time?