Suppose standard exposure therapy is the gold standard for simple phobia. If a clinical researcher wants to apply the 'best available alternative treatment' design to evaluate a new treatment, how should the comparison group be configured, and what clinical conclusion can they draw if the new treatment shows significantly greater improvement?
Question: Suppose standard exposure therapy is the gold standard for simple phobia. If a clinical researcher wants to apply the 'best available alternative treatment' design to evaluate a new treatment, how should the comparison group be configured, and what clinical conclusion can they draw if the new treatment shows significantly greater improvement?
Sample answer: The researcher should configure the comparison group to receive standard exposure therapy. If the new treatment shows significantly greater improvement, they can conclude that the new treatment outperforms the current clinical standard, rather than just concluding that the new treatment is better than nothing.
Key points:
- The comparison group must receive standard exposure therapy.
- The design avoids using a standard control condition.
- A significantly better outcome demonstrates that the new treatment outperforms existing clinical standards.
Rubric: Full credit is awarded if the response specifies that the comparison group receives standard exposure therapy and explains that a superior outcome allows the researcher to conclude that the new treatment outperforms existing clinical standards.
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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU
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