Child Psychopathology Ch. 3

Front 1

analogue research

Back 1

Research that evaluates a specific variable of interest under conditions that only resemble or approximate the situation to which one wishes to generalize.

Front 2

assent

Back 2

Evidence of some form of agreement on the part of a child to participate in a research study without the child's having the full understanding of the research that would be needed to give informed consent.

Front 3

case study

Back 3

An intensive and usually anecdotal observation and analysis of an individual subject.

Front 4

cohort

Back 4

A group of individuals who are followed over time and who experience the same cultural or historical events during the same time period.

Front 5

comorbidity

Back 5

The overlapping of two or more disorders at a rate that is greater than would be expected by chance alone.

Front 6

correlation coefficient

Back 6

A number that describes the degree of association between two variables of interest.

Front 7

cross-sectional research

Back 7

A method of research whereby different individuals at different ages/stages of development are studied at the same point in time.

Front 8

electroencephalogram (EEG)

Back 8

An electrophysiological measure of brain functioning

-electrodes are taped to the surface of the subject's scalp to record the electrical activity of the brain

-sensitive to changes in state and emotionality, thereby making them particularly useful for studying social and emotional processes

Front 9

epidemiological research

Back 9

The study of the incidence, prevalence, and co-occurrence of childhood disorders and competencies in clinic-referred and community samples.

Front 10

external validity

Back 10

The degree to which findings can be generalized or extended to people, settings, times, measures, and characteristics other than the ones in the original study.

Front 11

incidence rate

Back 11

The rate at which new cases of a disorder appear over a specified period of time.

Front 12

informed consent

Back 12

informed consentinternal validity

Front 13

longitudinal research

Back 13

A method of research whereby the same individuals are studied at different ages/stages of development.

Front 14

mediator variables

Back 14

The process, mechanism, or means through which a variable produces a specific outcome.

Front 15

moderator variables

Back 15

A factor that influences the direction or strength of a relationship between variables.

Front 16

multiple-baseline design

Back 16

A single-case experimental design in which the effect of a treatment is shown by demonstrating that behaviors in more than one baseline change as a result of the institution of a treatment.

Front 17

natural experiment

Back 17

An experiment in which comparisons are made between preexisting conditions or treatments (i.e., random assignment is not used).

Front 18

naturalistic observation

Back 18

The unstructured observation of a child in his or her natural environment.

Front 19

neuroimaging

Back 19

A method of examining the structure and/or function of the brain. Neuroimaging procedures include magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), coaxial tomographic scan (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Front 20

prevalence rates

Back 20

The number of cases of a disorder, whether new or previously existing, that are observed during a specified period of time.

Front 21

qualitative research

Back 21

Research for which the purpose is to

-describe
-interpret
-understand

the phenomenon of interest in the context in which it is experienced.

Front 22

random assignment

Back 22

The assignment of research participants to treatment conditions whereby each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to each condition. Random assignment increases the likelihood that characteristics other than the independent variable will be equally distributed across treatment groups.

Front 23

real-time prospective design

Back 23

A research design in which the research sample is identified and then followed longitudinally over time, with data collected at specified time intervals.

Front 24

reliability

Back 24

The extent to which the result of an experiment is consistent or repeatable.

Front 25

retrospective design

Back 25

A research design in which the research sample is asked to provide information relating to an earlier time period.

Front 26

single-case experimental design

Back 26

A type of research design most frequently used to evaluate the impact of a clinical treatment on a subject's problem. Single-case experimental designs involve repeated assessment of behavior over time, the replication of treatment effects on the same subject over time, and the subject serving as his or her own control by experiencing all treatment conditions.

Front 27

standardization

Back 27

The process by which a set of standards or norms is specified for a measurement procedure so that it can be used consistently across different assessments.

Front 28

structured observation

Back 28

Observation of a subject, usually occurring in a clinic or laboratory, in which the subject is given specific tasks or instructions to carry out, and researchers look for specific information.

Front 29

treatment effectiveness

Back 29

The degree to which a treatment can be shown to work in actual clinical practice, as opposed to controlled laboratory conditions.

Front 30

treatment efficacy

Back 30

The degree to which a treatment can produce changes under well-controlled conditions that depart from those typically used in clinical practice.

Front 31

true experiment

Back 31

An experiment in which the researcher has maximum control over the independent variable or conditions of interest, and in which the researcher can use random assignment of subjects to groups, can include needed control conditions, and can control possible sources of bias.

Front 32

validity

Back 32

The extent to which a measure actually assesses the dimension or construct that the researcher sets out to measure.

Front 33

Face Validity:

Back 33

Does the measure look like it assesses the construct of interest?

Front 34

Construct Validity:

Back 34

Is the construct of interest adequately represented? Do scores on the measure behave as predicted?

Front 35

Convergent Validity:

Back 35

Is the measure correlated with other related measures?

Front 36

Discriminant Validity:

Back 36

Are low correlations observed with unrelated measures as expected?

Front 37

Criterion-related Validity:

Back 37

Reflects the utility of the measure. Does the measure predict behavior in expected settings? (concurrent and predictive validity)