Abnormal Psychology by Kring, Davison, Neale & Johnson (12th edition) - a summary
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Clinical psychology
Chapter 4
Research methods in psychopathology
Introduction
Theory: a set of propositions meant to explain a class observations.
Hypotheses: expectations about what should occur if a theory is true.
The case study
Case study: recording detailed information about one person at a time.
The case study can be used:
The correlational method
Variables are measured as they exist in nature.
Psycho-pathologist will rely on correlational methods when there are ethical reasons not to manipulate a variable.
Comparison of people with and without diagnoses can be correlational as well.
Measuring correlation
Statistical and clinical significance
A statistical correlation is unlikely to have occurred by chance.
A non-significant correlation may have occurred by chance, so it does not provide evidence for an important relationship.
A statistical finding is usually considered significant if the probability that it is a chance finding is 5 less in 100. p<0.05.
In general, as the absolute size of the correlation coefficient increases, the result is more likely to be statistically significant.
The significance is also influenced by the number of participants in the study.
Clinical significance: whether a relationship between variables is large enough to matter.
Problems of causality
Correlational method does not allow determination of cause-effect relationship.
Epidemiology: the study of the distribution of disorders in a population.
Focuses on three features of a disorder
Epidemiological studies are designed to be representative of the population being studied.
Three basic methods to uncover whether a genetic predisposition for psychopathology is inherited
The starting point of family investigations is the collection of a sample of persons with the diagnoses in question.
These people are index cases or probands.
Then the relatives are studies to determine the frequency with which the same diagnosis might be applied to them.
Cross-fostering: children are adopted and reared completely apart from their biological parents.
Association study: researchers examine the relationship between a specific allele and a trait or behavior in the population.
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS): examines an entire genome of a large group to identify variation between people.
The experiment
Basic features of experimental design
Internal validity
Internal validity: the extent to which the experimental effect can be attributed to the independent variable.
Researchers must have a control group and random assignment.
External validity
External validity: the extent to which results can be generalized beyond the study.
Treatment outcome research: designed to address if treatment works.
Efficacy of a treatment: whether a treatment works under the purest of conditions.
Effectiveness: how well the treatment works in the real world.
Dissemination: the process of facilitating adaption of efficacious treatments in the community, most typically by offering clinicians guidelines about the best available treatments along with training on how to conduct those treatments.
Analogue experiments
Investigators attempt to create or observe a related phenomenon, an analogue, in the laboratory to allow more intensive study.
Analogue studies provide the precision of an experiment, whereas correlational studies provide the ability to study very important influences that cannot be manipulated.
Single-case experiments
Single-case experimental design: the experimenter studies how one person responds to manipulations of the independent variable.
Single-case experimental designs can have high internal validity.
From a single-case design, reversal design (or ABAB design) the participant’s behavior must be carefully measured in a specific sequence:
If the behavior in the experimental period is different from that in the baseline period, reverses when the treatment is removed, and re-reverses when the treatment is again introduced, there is little doubt that the manipulation has produced the change.
The reversal technique is most applicable when researchers believe that the effects of their manipulation are temporary.
But, external validity
There is not perfect research study.
A body of research studies is often needed to test a theory.
Meta-analyses
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This is a summary of Abnormal Psychology by Kring, Davison, Neale & Johnson. This summary focuses on clincal psychology and mental health. Discussed are etliolgies of disorders and treatments.
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