Chapter 1 Flashcards
An overview (50 cards)
- ABAB Design
o Type of single case experimental design
o Each letter refers to a different phase of the intervention
1A – baseline condition
1B – introduce treatment
2A – take out treatment
2B – reintroduce treatment
- Abnormal Psychology
o Concerned with understanding the nature, causes, and treatment of mental disorders.
- Acute
o Short in duration
- Chronic
o Long in duration
o Used to describe a long-standing or frequently recurring disorder, often with progressing seriousness.
- Analogue Studies
o Study not the true item of interest but an approximation to it.
May involve human
May be from animal studies that we apply to humans
- Bias
o Observer bias occurs when the researcher has preconceived ideas and expectations that influence the observations he or she makes in the research study.
- Case Study (method)
o An in-depth examination of an individual or family that draws from a number of data sources, including interviews and psychological testing
- Comorbidity
o Occurrence of two or more identified disorders in the same psychologically disordered individual.
- Comparison or Control group
o Group of subjects who do not exhibit the disorder being studied but who are comparable in all other respects to the criterion group. Also, a comparison group of subject who do not receive a condition or treatment the effects of which are being studied.
- Correlation
o The tendency of two variables to change together. With positive correlation, as one variable goes up, so does the other; with negative correlation, one variable goes up as the other goes down
- Correlational Research
o Research strategy that examines whether and how variables go together (co-vary) without manipulating any variables
- Correlation Coefficient
o A statistic that ranges from +1.0 to -1.0 and reflects the degree of association between two variables. The magnitude of the correlation indicates the strength of the association, and the sign indicates whether the correlation is positive or negative.
- Criterion Group
o Group of subjects who exhibit the disorder under study.
- Dependent Variable
o In an experiment, the factor that is observed to change with changes in the manipulated (independent) variables
- Direct Observation
o Method of collecting research data that involves directly observing behavior in a given situation
- Direction of Effect-Problem
o Refers to the fact that, in correlational research, it cannot be concluded whether variable A causes variable B or whether variable B causes variable A
- Double-Blind Study
o Often used in studies examining drug treatment effects, a condition where neither the subject nor the experimenter has knowledge about what specific experimental condition (or drug) the subject is receiving
- Effect Size
o A statistical term referring to the strength of the relationship between wo variables in a statistical population
- Epidemiology
o Study of the distribution of diseases, disorders, or health-related behaviors in a given population. Mental health epidemiology is the study of the distribution of mental disorders
- Etiology
o Factors that are related to the development (or cause) of a particular disorder
- Experimental Research
o Research that involves the manipulation of a given factor or variable with everything else held constant
- External Validity
o The extent to which the findings from a single study are relevant to other populations, contexts, or times
- Family Aggregation
o The clustering of certain traits, behaviors, or disorders within a given family. Family aggregation may arise because of genetic or environmental similarities
- Generalizability
o The extent to which the findings from a single study can be used to draw conclusion about other samples
