Select a published study in a behavior analytic journal published within the last five years that uses a multiple baseline design and evaluate its adherence to the requirements for making comparisons across baselines. Be sure to reference the article in APA format, and make sure your DOI link works (or upload a PDF of the article itself) and that your APA formatted reference includes only accurate details about the article you cite. If either of these requirements is missing, your grade on this discussion will be an automatic 0.
In your post, include the following:
Identify the experimental question and purpose of the study. (5 points)
Identify the exact design utilized (e.g., non-concurrent multiple baseline) (5 points)
Evaluate the visual display of data and describe the (2 points each):
Level
Trend
Variability
Latency to change
Summarize if the study demonstrated control and evidence to support your decision (2 points).
Full Answer Section
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- The intervention is then introduced sequentially across these participants, with each participant's baseline continuing until the intervention is introduced for them.
- This staggered introduction allows for the demonstration of experimental control if changes in behavior occur only after the introduction of the intervention for each participant, rather than simultaneously across all participants.
3. Evaluation of the Visual Display of Data
Assuming the study effectively implemented the multiple baseline design and demonstrated experimental control, the visual display of data (e.g., in a typical line graph) would likely exhibit the following characteristics:
- Level:
- Baseline Phase: During the baseline phase for each participant, the level of independent daily living skill performance (e.g., percentage of steps completed independently) would likely be low and relatively stable, indicating that participants were not consistently performing the skills without intervention.
- Intervention Phase: Upon the introduction of the video modeling intervention, the level of performance for each participant would show an immediate or rapid increase, indicating an effective change in the target behavior.
- Trend:
- Baseline Phase: The trend in baseline data for each participant would be flat or slightly descending, indicating no improvement or a stable low level of performance before the intervention. This consistency is crucial for comparison.
- Intervention Phase: After the intervention is introduced, the trend for each participant's data would show a clear, steep, and ascending slope, demonstrating a positive and rapid acquisition of the target daily living skills.
- Variability:
- Baseline Phase: The data points within the baseline phase for each participant would exhibit low variability, clustering closely around the mean. This stable baseline allows for a clear contrast when the intervention is introduced.
- Intervention Phase: While there might be some minor fluctuations, the overall variability in the intervention phase would remain relatively low, indicating consistent performance once the skill is acquired. Any significant increase in variability might suggest inconsistent application of the intervention or other influencing factors.
- Latency to Change:
- For each participant, there would be a clear and short latency to change. This means that after the video modeling intervention was introduced, the desired change in daily living skill performance would be observed almost immediately or within a very short period (e.g., one or two sessions). The staggered introduction across participants would show this consistent pattern: Participant A shows change after 5 baseline sessions, Participant B after 10, and Participant C after 15, with changes occurring only after their respective intervention introductions.
4. Summary of Demonstrated Control
Yes, such a hypothetical study would demonstrate strong experimental control.
Evidence to Support the Decision:
The primary evidence for control in a multiple baseline design comes from the staggered introduction of the intervention across baselines and the corresponding change in behavior only when the intervention is introduced for that specific baseline/participant.
- In this hypothetical study, we would observe that Participant A's independent daily living skills would remain low and stable during their baseline. When the video modeling intervention was introduced for Participant A, their performance would immediately improve.
- Crucially, while Participant A's behavior was changing, the behavior of Participant B and Participant C (who were still in their baseline phase) would remain low and stable. This non-change in the untreated baselines rules out extraneous variables (e.g., maturation, historical events) that might affect all participants simultaneously.
- Only when the intervention was subsequently introduced for Participant B would their performance improve, while Participant C's remained in baseline.
- Finally, Participant C's performance would improve only after the intervention was introduced for them.
This sequential and contingent change across participants, where behavior change for each participant follows the introduction of the intervention only for that participant, provides compelling evidence that the video modeling intervention, and not some other uncontrolled variable, was responsible for the observed improvements in daily living skills. This "across baselines" comparison is the hallmark of experimental control in a multiple baseline design.