Research Methods in Abnormal Psychology PDF

Research Methods RYAN MAREK, PH.D. S AM HOUSTON STATE UNIVERSITY Introduction to Clinical Research What is Clinical Research? Clinical researchers ◦ Discover universal laws and principles ◦ Search for understanding ◦ Do not typically assess, diagnose, or treat individual clients ◦ Though many psy...

Research Methods RYAN MAREK, PH.D. S AM HOUSTON STATE UNIVERSITY Introduction to Clinical Research What is Clinical Research? Clinical researchers ◦ Discover universal laws and principles ◦ Search for understanding ◦ Do not typically assess, diagnose, or treat individual clients ◦ Though many psychologists do both! ◦ Rely on the scientific method ◦ Who are common research participants? ◦ Students! 67% of research participants in psychology are undergraduate students. Science at any cost? o Little Albert o Milgram Experiments (1961-3) o Tuskegee Syphilis Study (1932-72) o Aim to understand course of untreated Syphilis Core Ethics Principles o Belmont Report (1978) o Respect for persons o Beneficence o Justice oInformed Consent oWhat is it? Institutional Review Board Clinical Research at Biological and Individual Levels Neurotransmitters o Neurotransmitters are released when electrical signal reaches axon terminal o For instance…. o Depression is related to decreased levels of Serotonin and Norepinephrine o Schizophrenia is associated with increased levels of Dopamine Brain Function: Neuroimaging o Structural Imaging o CT (CAT) o MRI o Functional Imaging o fMRI o PET Genetics Behavioral genetics A normal human Family, twin, and adoption studies being has 46 Are behavioral patterns due to chromosomes— 23 derived from genetics or environment? each parent. Sex is determined by X and Y chromosomes; males are XY, and females are XX. Adoption Studies o Adoption: same genes, different environment o Child’s traits same as biological parents? Must be genes! o Child’s traits same as adoptive? Must be environment! o Problems o Adoption not random (placed with a family member or a family racially similar) o Conditions the child experienced before adoption (lack early caregiving) Twin Studies oMonozygotic (MZ) twins vs. Dizygotic (DZ) twins oWhat if MZ twins have different behavior? o Must be environment! (Because their genes are the same) oWhat if MZ twins separated in infancy have same behavior? o Must be genes (Because they experienced nonshared environmental factors) Individual Level: Case Study Comprehensive description of an individual or group of individuals – Little Albert o Benefits? o Can examine rare phenomenon o Can generate hypothesis o Illustrates important clinical issues o Problem? o Does not allow us to draw conclusions about cause and effect o Results are not generalizable o Do not address the impact of individual differences (e.g., age, sex, ethnicity) Clinical Research at Group and Population Levels Group Level: Correlation Correlation coefficient (–1.0 to 1.0)  direction (+/-) and strength of a relationship Describing a Correlation Positive Correlation Negative Correlation Experimental Method: Establishing Causation o Experimental Design o Experimental Group & Control Group o Random assignment o What makes a good control group? o Placebo, Blind, Double Blind o Sample should be generalizable o Dependent variable should be meaningful o Clinical versus Statistical Significance o Proper assessment Strengths and Weaknesses of Research Methods Provides Provides Provides General Causal Statistical Individual Information Information Analysis Replicable Information (External (Internal Possible Validity) Validity) Case Study Yes No No No No Correlational method No Yes No Yes Yes Experimental method No Yes Yes Yes Yes Research Designs o Cross-sectional: participants assessed once for a specific variable o Longitudinal: includes at least two, often more, measurement periods with the same individuals at different times 1 week 1 1 preop week month posto postop p Population Level: Epidemiology o Prevalence: # of cases in a given population oPoint vs. Lifetime o Incidence: # of new cases that emerge in a given time