Introduction to Clinical Research

Flashcards covering key concepts and vocabulary from the introduction to clinical research, case studies, correlational methods, experimental methods, and ethical considerations.

Clinical Researchers

Individuals who try to discover broad laws or principles of abnormal psychological functioning without assessing or treating individual clients.

Case Study

A detailed account of a person's life and psychological problems, often including history, present circumstances, and treatment.

Correlational Method

A research procedure used to determine the degree to which events or characteristics vary together.

Experimental Method

A research procedure in which a variable is manipulated to observe the effects on another variable.

Control Group

A group of research participants not exposed to the independent variable under investigation.

Random Assignment

A procedure that ensures that every participant has an equal chance of being placed in either the experimental or control group.

Positive Correlation

A relationship where the value of one variable increases as the other variable also increases.

Negative Correlation

A relationship where the value of one variable increases as the other variable decreases.

Nomothetic Understanding

A general understanding of the nature, causes, and treatments of abnormal functioning that applies across people.

Internal Validity

The accuracy with which a study can pinpoint one factor as the cause of a phenomenon.

Ethical Standards in Research

Guidelines to protect human participants' rights and safety during research studies.

Single Case Experimental Design

A research method in which a single participant is observed both before and after manipulation of an independent variable.

Lobotomy

A surgical treatment that was once thought to cure schizophrenia but resulted in irreversible brain damage.

Statistical Significance

Indicates that the findings of a study are unlikely to have occurred by chance, usually accepted at less than 5% probability.

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

An ethics committee responsible for reviewing and monitoring research studies to ensure participants' rights are protected.

Matched Design

A research design that matches experimental participants with control participants who share similar key characteristics.

Natural Experiment

An experiment where nature itself manipulates the independent variable while researchers observe the effects.

Analog Experiment

A research method where the experimenter produces abnormal-like behavior in participants in a controlled setting.

Conversion Therapy

A discredited psychological treatment aimed at changing a person's sexual orientation, often resulting in psychological harm.

Hypothesis

A tentative explanation offered as a basis for investigation.

Epidemiological Study

A study used to examine the distribution and determinants of health and disease conditions in defined populations.

Causation

The relationship between cause and effect, where one event (the cause) leads to another event (the effect).