Research in Abnormal Behavior Chapter 2

Research in Abnormal Psychology _________ is the systematic search for facts through the use of careful observations and investigations It is the key to accuracy in all fields but it is particularly important in the field of abnormal psychology Theories and treatments that seem reasonable and effective in individual instances may prove disastrous when widely applied Only by fully testing a theory or technique on representative groups of individuals can clinicians evaluate the accuracy, effectiveness, and safety of their ideas and techniques

Research in Abnormal Psychology Clinical researchers face certain challenges that make their work very difficult: Measuring unconscious motives Assessing private thoughts Monitoring mood changes Calculating human potential Clinical researchers must consider different cultural backgrounds, races, and genders of the people they study They must always ensure that the rights of their research participants, both human and animal, are not violated

What Do Clinical Researchers Do? Clinical researchers try to discover universal laws, or principles, of abnormal psychological functioning: Search for nomothetic understanding General or universal laws or truths Do not typically assess, diagnose, or treat individual clients Rely on the scientific method to pinpoint relationships between variables Use three methods of investigation to form and test hypotheses and to draw broad conclusions…

The Case Study The case study: Can provide a detailed, interpretative description of a person's life and psychological problems Can be a source of new ideas about behavior May offer tentative support for a theory May challenge a theory's assumptions May inspire new therapeutic techniques May offer opportunities to study unusual problems

The Case Study Limitations: Reported by biased observers Relies on subjective evidence Has low internal validity Provides little basis for generalization Has low external validity These limitations are addressed by the two other methods of investigation My lobotomy After undergoing a lobotomy at age 12 to “cure” his psychological problems, Howard Dully experienced decades of misery and psychological pain—a journey that he recounts in his recent memoir My Lobotomy. Only after Dully and tens of thousands of other people received lobotomies did properly conducted research reveal that this form of brain surgery caused irreversible brain damage that left many patients withdrawn and even stuporous.

The Correlational Method and The Experimental Method These research methods: Do not offer richness of detail Do allow researchers to draw broad conclusions Preferred method of clinical investigation Typically involve observing many individuals Researchers apply procedures uniformly Studies can be replicated Researchers use statistical tests to analyze results

The Correlational Method ___________ is the degree to which events or characteristics vary with each other The correlational method is a research procedure used to determine the “co-relationship” between variables The people chosen for a study are its subjects or participants, collectively called a sample The sample must be representative of the larger population

Most Investigated Correlational Questions in Clinical Research Are stress and onset of mental disorders related? Is culture (or gender or race) generally linked to mental disorders? Are income and mental disorders related? Are social skills tied to mental disorders? Is social support tied to mental disorders? Are family conflict and mental disorders related? Is treatment responsiveness tied to culture? Which symptoms of a disorder disappear altogether? How common is a disorder in a particular population?

Describing a Correlation Correlational data can be graphed and a “line of best fit” can be drawn __________ correlation (slope is upward and to the right) = variables change in the same direction ___________ correlation (downward slope) = variables change in the opposite direction ___________(no slope) = no consistent relationship

Describing a Correlation The magnitude (strength) of a correlation is also important _______ magnitude = variables which vary closely together; fall close to the line of best fit ________ magnitude = variables which do not vary as closely together; loosely scattered around the line of best fit

Describing a Correlation Direction and magnitude of a correlation are often calculated numerically This statistic is the “_______________,” symbolized by the letter “r” The correlation coefficient can vary from +1.00 (perfect positive correlation) to -1.00 (perfect negative correlation) Sign (+ or -) indicates direction Number indicates magnitude 0.00 = no consistent relationship Most correlations found in psychological research fall far short of “perfect”

When Can Correlations Be Trusted? Correlations can be trusted based on a statistical analysis of probability “Statistical significance” means that the finding is unlikely to have occurred by chance By convention, if there is less than a 5% probability that findings are due to chance (p < .05), results are considered “statistically significant” and are thought to reflect the larger population Generally, confidence increases with the size of the sample and the magnitude of the correlation

What Are the Merits of the Correlational Method? Advantages of the correlational method: Has high external validity Can generalize findings Can repeat (replicate) studies on other samples Difficulties with correlational studies: Lack internal validity Results describe but do not explain a relationship Results say nothing about causation

Special Forms of Correlational Research There are two special forms of correlational study: Epidemiological studies Reveal the incidence and prevalence of a disorder in a particular population Incidence = number of new cases that emerge in a given period Prevalence = total number of cases in a given period Longitudinal studies Researchers observe the same individuals on many occasions over a long period

The Experimental Method An ____________ is a research procedure in which a variable is manipulated and the manipulation's effect on another variable is observed Manipulated variable = ___________ variable Variable being observed = ____________ variable Allows researchers to ask questions such as: Does a particular therapy relieve the symptoms of a particular disorder?” Questions about causal relationships can only be answered by an experiment

Most Investigated Causal Questions in Clinical Research Does factor X cause a disorder? Is cause A more influential than cause B? How does family communication and structure affect family members? How does a disorder affect the quality of a person's life? Does treatment X alleviate a disorder? Is treatment X more helpful than no treatment at all? Is treatment A more helpful than treatment B? Why does treatment X work? Can an intervention prevent abnormal functioning?

The Experimental Method Statistics and research design are very important Researchers must try to eliminate all confounds – variables other than the independent variable that may also be affecting the dependent variable Three features are included in experiments to guard against confounds: A control group Random assignment Blind design

The Control Group A _______________ is a group of research participants who are not exposed to the independent variable, but whose experience is similar to that of the experimental group By comparing the two groups, researchers can better determine the effect of the independent variable Rules of statistical significance are applied In addition, clinicians may also evaluate clinical significance

Random Assignment Researchers must also watch out for differences in the makeup of the experimental and control groups To do so, researchers use random assignment – any selection procedure that ensures that every participant in the experiment is as likely to be placed in one group as another Examples: coin flip; picking names out of a hat

Flawed Study, Gigantic Impact In 2001, Dr. Robert L. Spitzer, presented a paper at a meeting of the American Psychiatric Association about something called “reparative therapy” [also known as “conversion therapy”]f or gay men and women. By undergoing reparative therapy, the paper claimed, gay men and women could change their sexual orientation. In 2012, month he sent a letter to the Archives of Sexual Behavior, which published his work in 2003, asking that the journal retract his paper because of the negative effect it had on the gay community. Why might an outstanding and highly regarded researcher have made such errors in the conduct and interpretation of this study?

Blind Design A final confound problem is bias To avoid bias by the participant, experimenters employ a “______________,” in which participants are kept from knowing which assigned group (experimental or control) they are in One strategy for this is providing a placebo – something that simulates real therapy but has none of its key ingredients To avoid bias by the experimenter, experimenters employ a “double-blind design,” in which the experimenters and the participants are kept from knowing which condition of the study participants are in Often used in medication trials

Alternative Experimental Designs It is not easy to devise an experiment that is both well controlled and enlightening Clinical researchers often must settle for designs that are less than ideal and include: ______________ designs __________ experiments _____________ experiments

Alternative Experimental Designs In _________________, or mixed designs, investigators do not randomly assign participants to groups, but make use of groups that already exist Example: Children with a history of child abuse To address the problem of confounds, researchers use matched control groups These groups are “matched” to the experimental group based on demographic and other variables

Alternative Experimental Designs In __________ experiments, nature manipulates the independent variable and the experimenter observes the effects Example: Psychological impact of flooding These events cannot be replicated at will Broad generalizations cannot be made

Alternative Experimental Designs ____________ experiments allow investigators to freely manipulate independent variables while avoiding ethical and practical limitations They induce laboratory subjects to behave in ways that seem to resemble real life Example: Animal subjects The major limitation of all analogue research is that experimenters can never be certain that the phenomena observed in the lab are the same as the psychological disorders being investigated

Alternative Experimental Designs In a ___________ experiment, a single participant is observed both before and after manipulation of an independent variable Experiments rely on baseline data to set a standard for comparison An example is the ABAB, or reversal, design

Alternative Experimental Designs In an ABAB (reversal) design, a participant's reactions are measured during a baseline period (A), after the introduction of the independent variable (B), after the removal of the independent variable (A), and after reintroduction of the independent variable (B) The participant is, essentially, compared against himself or herself under different conditions rather than against control subjects

Alternative Experimental Designs Single-subject experiments are similar to individual case studies Both focus on one subject only Both have low external validity However, the single-subject experiment has higher internal validity than the case study, given the manipulation of an independent variable

Protecting Human Participants Institutional Review Board (IRB): An ethics committee in a research facility that is empowered to protect the rights and safety of human research participants

Protecting Human Participants IRBs try to endure that each study grants the following rights to participants: The participants enlist voluntarily. Before enlisting, the participants are adequately informed about what the study entails (“informed consent”). The participants can end their participation in the study at any time. The benefits of the study outweigh its costs/risks. The participants are protected from physical and psychological harm. The participants have access to information about the study. The participants’ privacy is protected by principles such as confidentiality or anonymity.