Deck 12: Within-Subjects Designs: Small N

Question 1

Small N Designs Small N experiments are used

A)in the laboratory and the field.
B)to study rare psychological disorders.
C)with one or very few subjects.
D)all of these

Answer 1

all of these

Question 2

Introduction Which of these do large N designs require?

A)ABA procedures
B)control condition
C)many subjects
D)two or more independent variables

Answer 2

many subjects

Question 3

Small N Designs Large N studies of how people learn to pronounce foreign vowels aggregate data over groups of subjects.Pooled learning data can

A)identify individual learning curves.
B)increase an experiment's sensitivity when subjects respond to the independent variable in opposite ways.
C)produce a misleading picture of subject performance.
D)increase internal validity.

Answer 3

produce a misleading picture of subject performance.

Question 4

Introduction Catherine randomly assigns two groups of 20 children to either watch violent cartoons or nonviolent cartoons.Observers rate the aggressiveness of their play following exposure to the cartoons.Catherine's study used the ____ approach.

A)ABA
B)block randomization
C)large N
D)small N

Question 5

Small N Designs A crucial step to rule out possible confounding when using a small N design is

A)establishing a baseline of behavior.
B)inclusion of a control group.
C)matching subjects on an extraneous variable.
D)removal of the independent variable and return of behavior to baseline.

Question 6

Small N Designs Small N research dominated American research in the late nineteenth century.The popularity of large N research increased after Sir Ronald Fisher invented the ____ technique in the 1930s.

A)analysis of variance
B)correlation coefficient
C)repeated measures
D)statistical regression

Question 7

Introduction The ____ approach is the most common technique used in research design.

A)ABA
B)block randomization
C)large N
D)small N

Question 8

ABA Designs An ABA design is often used in

A)correlational studies.
B)large N experiments.
C)small N experiments.
D)large and small N experiments.

Question 9

Small N Designs The ____ in a small N design measures behavior as it normally occurs without manipulation of the independent variable.

A)adaptation period
B)baseline
C)control group
D)experimental condition

Question 10

ABA Designs Another name for an ABA design is a

A)block randomization design.
B)discrete trials design.
C)multiple baseline design.
D)reversal design.

Question 11

Small N Designs B.F.Skinner developed and extensively used the ____ design.

A)block randomization
B)large N
C)small N
D)within-subjects factorial

Question 12

Small N Designs Small N designs are often employed in all of these areas of psychology except

A)clinical psychopathology.
B)cognitive psychology.
C)operant conditioning research.
D)psychophysics.

Question 13

Small N Designs Skinner advocated

A)aggregating data from large groups of subjects.
B)comparing data obtained from different groups of subjects.
C)continuously measuring the behavior of a single subject.
D)pooling data from large groups of subjects to identify trends.

Question 14

Small N Designs In clinical psychopathology research, small N designs help solve the ethical dilemma of

A)determining level of risk.
B)obtaining informed consent from psychiatric patients.
C)protecting anonymity.
D)untreated control groups.

Question 15

Small N Designs In a small N experiment, a researcher

A)always returns to baseline.
B)does not use a control condition.
C)measures several different subject behaviors during the same session.
D)observes the same subjects across different experimental conditions.

Question 16

ABA Designs Researchers may use the ABA format only if

A)a small N design is used.
B)subjects are matched on an extraneous variable.
C)the treatment conditions are reversible.
D)there is only one treatment condition.

Question 17

Small N Designs The ____ used in a small N design is analogous to a control group in a two-group design.

A)baseline of behavior
B)block randomization
C)control group
D)treatment

Question 18

Small N Designs Researchers who favor the small N approach argue that large N studies

A)are better when subjects vary widely in their response to treatments.
B)are more appropriate when studying psychophysical processes.
C)lack precision.
D)provide more detailed information about individual subject performance.

Question 19

Small N Designs Renee studied the effect of praise on her dog Snoopy's obedience.During the first baseline phase, she measured how long it took for Snoopy to arrive after she called his name.During the treatment phase, she praised him when he arrived within 30 seconds.Finally, during the second baseline phase, she returned to only measuring his arrival time.Which approach did Renee use?

A)between-subjects
B)block randomization
C)large N
D)small N

Question 20

Small N Designs Researchers have used small N designs most extensively in ____ research.

A)child development
B)clinical psychopathology
C)memory
D)operant conditioning

Question 21

ABA Designs Identify the treatment(s) in an ABACAD design.

A)B
B)C
C)D
D)all of these

Question 22

ABA Designs What was the dependent variable in the Jones and Friman (1999) study of insect phobia?

A)degree of insect avoidance
B)heart rate
C)math performance
D)state anxiety

Question 23

ABA Designs During which phase of his A₁B₁A₂B₂A₃ study did Hall et al demonstrate a reversal in Jim's clothes-dropping?

A)A₁
B)A₂
C)B₁
D)B₂

Question 24

ABA Designs Which of these belong(s) to the ABA family of designs?

A)ABA design
B)ABAB design
C)ABABA design
D)all of these

Question 25

ABA Designs In an ABA design, the second "A" refers to

A)a return to the baseline condition.
B)the experimental condition.
C)the initial baseline behavior.
D)the initial control condition.

Question 26

ABA Designs The Miller and Kelley (1994) study used goal setting and contingencies to improve the homework performance of two boys and two girls.Which design was used to demonstrate that improved homework performance was due to goal setting and contingencies?

A)AB
B)ABAB
C)ABABABA
D)multiple baseline design

Question 27

ABA Designs To draw conclusions about the effectiveness of an experimental manipulation, the most critical component of the ABA design is the demonstration that

A)after condition B, condition A produces a return to the baseline level of responding.
B)behavior immediately changes at the start of a new phase.
C)performance remains steady across conditions A and B.
D)the effect of the experimental treatment continues after it is removed.

Question 28

ABA Designs Researchers use the ABA design to

A)demonstrate that a behavior returns to its baseline level when the experimental intervention is removed.
B)demonstrate that the baseline level is maintained only as long as the experimental intervention continues.
C)demonstrate that the experimental treatment produces changes that persist even after we remove the treatment.
D)test the effects of two different treatments on the dependent variable.

Question 29

ABA Designs In an ABA design, the first "A" refers to ____ while the second "A" refers to

A)baseline behavior; return to baseline behavior.
B)baseline behavior; experimental manipulation.
C)the control group; the experimental group.
D)the experimental manipulation; the return to baseline behavior.

Question 30

ABA Designs How many times does an ABACAD design return a subject to baseline?

A)once
B)twice
C)three times
D)four times

Question 31

ABA Designs Hall and colleagues (1971) used an ABABA design in his behavior modification study.This was a variation of the ____ design.

A)A
B)ABA
C)ABAB
D)multiple-baseline

Question 32

ABA Designs In an ABA experiment, the researcher attempts to demonstrate a causal relationship between the independent variable and changes in the subject's behavior.To achieve this, it is essential that the researcher

A)apply the experimental manipulation more than once.
B)apply the experimental treatment first so that the control condition will not interfere with its effect.
C)randomly assign subjects to the different treatment conditions .
D)return to the control condition after the experimental manipulation.

Question 33

ABA Designs You are a researcher planning a small N study in which you will test the impact of two levels of an independent variable.Which design will you employ to establish a causal relationship?

A)ABA
B)ABBA
C)ABB
D)ABABA

Question 34

ABA Designs Where does a reversal occur in an ABABA design?

A)from the first A to the first B
B)from the second A to the second B
C)from the first B to the second A
D)from the first B to the second B

Question 35

ABA Designs Which phase of the Hall et al A₁B₁A₂B₂A₃ study provided a postcheck on Jim's clothes-dropping?

A)A₂
B)A₃
C)B₁
D)B₂

Question 36

ABA Designs In an ABABA design, the first "A" refers to ____ while the first "B" refers to

A)baseline behavior; return to baseline behavior.
B)baseline behavior; experimental manipulation.
C)the control group; the experimental group.
D)the experimental manipulation; the return to baseline behavior.

Question 37

ABA Designs In Alex's small N design to train his Newfoundland dog Boatswain to stop chasing the neighbor's cat, each condition lasts one week.
Week 1: Alex measures how often Boatswain chases the cat.
Week 2: Alex squirts Boatswain with a water bottle whenever he chases
The cat.
Week 3: Alex measures how often Boatswain chases the cat.
Week 4: Alex squirts Boatswain with a water bottle whenever he chases
The cat.
During which week should Alex see a rebound in Boatswain's cat chasing?

A)Week 1
B)Week 2
C)Week 3
D)Week 4

Question 38

ABA Designs Alex uses a small N design to train his Newfoundland dog Boatswain to stop chasing the neighbor's cat.Each condition lasts for one week.
Week 1: Alex measures how often Boatswain chases the cat.
Week 2: Alex squirts Boatswain with a water bottle whenever he chases
The cat.
Week 3: Alex measures how often Boatswain chases the cat.
Week 4: Alex squirts Boatswain with a water bottle whenever he chases
The cat.
Which design is this?

A)AB
B)ABA
C)ABAB
D)ABABA

Question 39

ABA Designs The "B" in an ABA design refers to

A)baseline behavior.
B)return to the baseline condition.
C)the control condition.
D)the experimental condition.

Question 40

ABA Designs The use of the ABA design to test more than one experimental condition requires that we

A)return to the baseline condition after each experimental condition.
B)start with a baseline, test each experimental condition, and then end with a baseline.
C)test each experimental condition individually and combined with the other experimental conditions.
D)test each experimental condition two times.

Question 41

Discrete Trials Designs Which of these statements describe a discrete trials design?

A)They average 100s to 1000s of presentations of each treatment condition.
B)They do not use baseline conditions.
C)They present several levels of an independent variable.
D)All of these.

Question 42

ABA Designs Which form of the ABA design provides an experimentally sound and ethical means of evaluating a clinical procedure?

A)AB
B)ABA
C)ABAB
D)ABABA

Question 43

Statistics and Variability in Small N Designs Inferential statistical analysis of small N experiments requires

A)50 or more measurements across the entire experiment.
B)50 or more measurements in each baseline and treatment condition.
C)nominal or ordinal data.
D)the measurements come from different subjects.

Question 44

Discrete Trials Designs What does a discrete trials design use in place of a baseline condition?

A)averaging 100s to 1000s of presentations of each treatment condition
B)matching on an extraneous variable
C)random presentation of each treatment condition
D)repeated presentation of a single level of an independent variable

Question 45

Changing Criterion Designs Select the design that does not use baselines.

A)AB design
B)ABABA design
C)discrete trials design
D)reversal design

Question 46

ABA Designs Kazdin (1992) argued that removing a treatment when it may be responsible for clinical improvement is ethically unacceptable.This means that researchers may have to sacrifice ____ for ethical reasons.

A)external validity
B)large N designs
C)reliability
D)verification of the independent variable's impact

Question 47

Multiple Baseline Design Shane was tired of cleaning up Bill and Ted's dishes.He implemented the following study to modify their behavior.
Week 1: count the number of dishes each roommate left in the sink
Week 2: fine Bill one cigarette per dish
Week 3: fine Bill one cigarette per dish
Week 4: fine Bill one cigarette per dish; fine Ted one cigarette per dish
Which design did Shane use?

A)ABA
B)ABAB
C)discrete trials
D)multiple baseline

Question 48

ABA Designs How many different experimental manipulations did Jones and Friman (1999) incorporate in their A-B-BC-A-BC study of insect phobia?

A)1
B)2
C)3
D)4

Question 49

Statistics and Variability in Small N Designs Researchers generally do not use statistical tests to evaluate the results of small N experiments because

A)small N experiments only obtain nominal data.
B)the impact of the independent variable is apparent when we look at a graph of the data.
C)there are no inferential statistical tests that can analyze small N experiments.
D)small N inferential tests are too complicated for most researchers to perform.

Question 50

Statistics and Variability in Small N Designs You should not attempt to analyze small N experiments using inferential tests with fewer than 50 measurements per condition because this could

A)increase the risk of committing a Type 2 error.
B)reduce statistical power.
C)threaten external validity.
D)violate the assumptions underlying many of these procedures.

Question 51

ABA Designs In behavior modification studies,

A)researchers administer rewards and punishments as consequences of the target behaviors to be modified .
B)researchers often choose not to return to the baseline condition.
C)researchers often use a small N design.
D)all of these

Question 52

Multiple Baseline Design Which feature of the multiple baseline design differentiates it from an ABA design?

A)It always has more than one experimental condition.
B)It does not begin with a baseline condition.
C)It never withdraws an experimental condition.
D)It requires more than one subject.

Question 53

ABA Designs Why did Jones and Friman (1999) follow condition B with condition BC in their A-B-BC-A-BC study of insect phobia?

A)to bolster the poor performance of the exposure hierarchy
B)to demonstrate reversal
C)to prevent confounding by the control condition
D)to prevent relapse of his math performance

Question 54

Changing Criterion Designs Jeffrey is studying the effectiveness of behavioral modification in reducing Bucky Cat's antisocial behavior toward ferrets.Since it's unrealistic to expect Bucky's behavior to change all at once, Jeffrey attempts to modify it in increments.Which design would you recommend?

A)AB
B)ABABA
C)changing criterion
D)discrete trials

Question 55

When to Use Large N and Small N Designs Many researchers prefer large N designs over small N designs because large N studies

A)can be analyzed using inferential tests.
B)have greater internal validity.
C)may have greater generalizability.
D)provide better control over extraneous subject variables.

Question 56

ABA Designs The Jones and Friman (1999) study of insect phobia employed an A-B-BC-A-BC design.The experiment ended with BC to

A)demonstrate reversal.
B)prevent clinical relapse.
C)prevent confounding by order.
D)prevent the control condition from interfering with the experimental manipulation.

Question 57

Multiple Baseline Design We should consider using a multiple baseline design when

A)we cannot ethically return a patient to the baseline condition.
B)we want to test the effects of a treatment across different patients.
C)we want to test the effects of a treatment across different settings.
D)all of these

Question 58

Statistics and Variability in Small N Designs Researchers can analyze small N experiments using inferential tests if there are at least ___ measurements for each baseline and treatment condition.

A)10-20
B)25-45
C)50-100
D)125-150

Question 59

ABA Designs Researchers choose not to return to baseline, even temporarily, in many ____ studies.

A)animal learning
B)clinical and behavior modification
C)psychophysics
D)sensation and perception

Question 60

Multiple Baseline Design A multiple baseline design used across settings

A)assesses the effect of an independent variable in one setting and then tries to replicate this effect on a different behavior in a different setting.
B)measures the same behavior in two or more settings to assess the effect of an independent variable.
C)measures two or more behaviors in the same setting to assess the effect of an independent variable.
D)measures two or more behaviors in two or more settings to assess the effect of an independent variable.

Question 61

When to Use Large N and Small N Designs Watanabe, Sakamoto, and Wakita (1995) used a special form of the ____ design to demonstrate that pigeons could discriminate between paintings by Monet and Picasso.

A)ABA
B)ABAB
C)changing criterion
D)multiple baseline

Question 62

When to Use Large N and Small N Designs Matt is impressed by the precision of the small N approach and declares, "The small N design is so powerful I'll use it for all my experiments!" Some researchers might disagree with him because small N designs

A)achieve low internal validity.
B)cannot be analyzed using inferential tests.
C)may achieve lower external validity than well-designed large N designs.
D)provide limited control over extraneous subject variables.