Sib Case

804 Words2 Pages

The research design that was employed by Martin for Sarah was a single-subject design. This is also called an A-B design. It simply means that the subject (Sarah) serves as her own control. There is no control group and experimental group in place, the data gathered is only from Sarah. It is a representation of her frequency of SIB (self-injurious behavior) over a four-day period with no intervention. Then an intervention is implemented which in this case a DRO or Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior was chosen. That also took place over a period of four days and the frequency of her SIB behaviors was again recorded. That data was then compiled into a comprehensive chart to visually show the changes that occurred within that eight-day period. The advantages of using an A-B design is that the data collected is personalized. It was not a study nor other people that influenced the data. The self-controlling factor insures that the results can be used directly for that person with maximum effect. It also makes it easier for ethics to be considered. In this case since it was only Sarah, Martin was able to design a treatment method that revolved around her specific ethical needs for everyone involved to be as safe as possible. If this was a group and not a …show more content…

The reason behind that belief is that the frequency of her SIB has decreased by over half after the intervention was implemented. The APA Code of Ethics section 3.04 is about avoiding harm. It’s all about not putting their clients in harm nor anyone else when it is foreseeable and unavoidable (Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct: APA). In this case it is within Martin’s knowledge that Sarah’s behavior is harmful to herself. To reverse the intervention out of pure research is in this case unethical because of the harm it would cause to her. It could lead to a worsening of the behavior than in the original baseline

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