CH. 3 Research

____ research focuses on a specific research question under conditions that only resemble or approximate the situation to which the researcher wishes to generalize.

Analogue

_____ means that the child (if around 7 yrs. or older ) shows some form of agreement to participate in research without necessarily understanding the full significance of the research.

Assent

-Involves an intensive, anecdotal, observation and analysis of an individual child -Rich source of descriptive information -Viewed as unscientific and flawed

Case Study

reveals various brain structures

Coaxial tomography (CT) scan

____ validity refers to whether scores on a measure behave as predicted by theory or past research.

Construct

how well a measure predicts behavior in specific settings

Criterion-related validity

____ validity refers to the degree of correlation between measures that are not expected to be related to one another.

Discriminant

To record electrical activity of the brain, one would want to use a(n) ____.

EEG

______ research is the study of incidence, prevalence, and co-occurrence of disorders

Epidemiological

The degree to which findings can be generalized to other people, settings, times, measures, and characteristics

External validity

______ rates refer to the extent to which new cases of a disorder appear over a specified time period.

Incidence

someone who knows the child well provides information based on observation

Informant-report measure

-measurement method remains the same

Internal consistency

The extent to which a particular variable, rather than extraneous influences, accounts for the findings

Internal validity

-agreement of observers

Interrater reliability

____ use radio signals generated in a strong magnetic field.

MRIs

radio signals produce fine-grained analyses of brain structures

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

____ are used to study cerebral glucose metabolism.

PET scans

scans assess cerebral glucose metabolism

Positron emission tomography (PET)

______ all cases (new and existing) observed during a specified time period

Prevalence rates

____ increases the chance that characteristics other than the independent variable will be equally distributed across treatment groups.

Random assignment

____ evaluate treatment outcomes for children who are unsystematically assigned to treatment and control conditions.

Randomized controlled trials

Children are randomly assigned to different treatment and control conditions

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs)

-Applicable in evaluating the impact of a clinical treatment -Involves systematic repeated assessment of behavior over time •The subject serves as own control

Single-Case Experimental Designs

A process that specifies a set of standards or norms for a method of measurement

Standardization

results between tests are stable over time

Test-retest reliability

Whether the treatment can be shown to work in clinical practice

Treatment effectiveness

Whether a treatment can produce changes under well-controlled (research) conditions

Treatment efficacy

-Participation in research must be voluntary -Researcher must balance successful recruiting with not placing pressure on potential participants

Voluntary Participation

Children who receive treatment are ____.

better off than children who do not receive treatment

Participation in research is done through direct informed consent except when the participants are ____.

children

at the same time

concurrent validity

-whether scores on a measure behave as predicted

construct validity

reflects the correlation between related measures

convergent validity

In ____ research, different individuals at different ages or stages of development are studied at the same point in time.

cross-sectional

individuals at different ages or periods of development are studied at the same point in time

cross-sectional

Evaluating the mental health of children can be particularly difficult due to the ____.

cultural variations of what constitutes abnormal behavior

the degree of correlation between unrelated measures

discriminant validity

To know if a treatment would truly be useful in community settings, researchers should focus on treatment ____.

effectiveness

Treatment ____ refers to whether or not a treatment can produce changes under well-controlled conditions.

efficacy

Questions about the nature and distribution of childhood disorders are frequently addressed through ____.

epidemiological research

Skepticism exists regarding research in abnormal child psychology because _____.

experts on childhood disorders frequently disagree

When the conditions of a study only resemble or approximate the conditions of interest, questions may be raised about the ____ of the study.

external validity

the extent to which a measure appears to assess the construct of interest

face validity

A limitation of psychophysiological measures is ____.

high level of inference for interpretation

Qualitative research is characterized by ____.

in-depth narratives and observations

______the extent to which new cases of a disorder appear over a specified time period

incidence rates

The greater the degree of control that a researcher has over the ____, the more a study approximates a true experiment.

independent variable

Maturation is a threat to ____.

internal validity

The final responsibility for ethical integrity of a research project lies with the ____.

investigator

In ____ research, the same individuals are studied at different ages/stages of development.

longitudinal

individuals are studied over time at different ages or periods of development

longitudinal

The process, mechanism, or means through which a variable produces a particular outcome is known as a(n) ____ variable.

mediating

______ variables impact the process, mechanism, or means through which a variable produces a particular outcome

mediating

______ variables influence the direction or strength of the relationship of variables of interest

moderating

If a study of the effect of divorce found a more negative impact for girls than for boys, sex will be a ____.

moderating variable

Factors that influence the direction or strength of a relationship of variables of interest are called ____.

moderator

Because there is no one correct approach to research, most problems in abnormal child psychology are best studied by using ____.

multiple methods and strategies

Research procedures that may harm a child physically or psychologically should ____.

never be used

One of the major limitations of observational research methods is that ____.

observation cannot be conducted in a structured way

A correlation of 75 between age and amount of time spent in REM sleep means that ____.

older people spend less time in REM sleep

Qualitative data are typically collected by ____.

open-ended interviewing and observations

Research presented in the media is typically ____.

oversimplified

in the future

predictive validity

-Sample is identified and followed over time • Data is collected at specified time intervals -Problems related to bias and distortion in recall are minimized -These designs are time consuming and susceptible to sample attrition

prospective designs

A variable that precedes an outcome of interest and decreases the chances that the negative outcome will occur is a(n) ____.

protective

Qualitative research ____.

provides an intensive and intimate understanding of a situation

Ideally, a measure of psychopathology should be ____.

randomized

The use of ____ is rare in studies of child psychopathology.

randomly selected samples

Factors such as SES, child's age, and cultural background affect the _____ of symptoms and disorders.

rate and expression

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

registers neural activity in functioning areas of the brain

the consistency or repeatability of results

reliability

Recall bias and distortion are potential limitations of ____ studies.

retrospective

A variable that precedes an outcome of interest and increases the chances that the negative outcome will occur is a(n) ____.

risk factor

A ____ assessment measure allows for the scores of one child to be compared to the scores of other similar children.

standardized

Benefits -Are cost-effective -Allow for focused attention -Are useful for studying infrequent behavior -Allow for greater control over the situation Limitation -Uncertainty of whether the observations are a representative sample of behavior

structured observations

Neuroimaging techniques are least useful in determining ____.

the reason for abnormal brain activity

Research into risk and protective factors requires large samples of children be studied and multiple areas of functioning be assessed over long periods of time because ____.

the risk and protective factor processes take years to develop

Focuses on narrative accounts, description, interpretation, context, and meaning

•Qualitative Research

-Sample is identified at the current time and asked for information relating to an earlier time -Data are highly susceptible to bias and distortion in recall

•Retrospective designs