Single-subject research usually involves collecting data on one subject at a time. Single-subject researchers generally use line graphs to illustrate the effect of their intervention. Created by Del Siegle for EPSY

Suppose a researcher wished to investigate the effect of praise Baseline Praise

Suppose a researcher wished to investigate the effect of praise on reducing disruptive behavior Frequency of disruptions Baseline Praise

Suppose a researcher wished to investigate the effect of praise on reducing disruptive behavior over many days. Frequency of disruptions Day Baseline Praise

Suppose a researcher wished to investigate the effect of praise on reducing disruptive behavior over many days. First she would need to establish a baseline of how frequently the disruptions occurred. Frequency of disruptions Day Baseline

Suppose a researcher wished to investigate the effect of praise on reducing disruptive behavior over many days. First she would need to establish a baseline of how frequently the disruptions occurred. She would measure how many disruptions occurred each day Frequency of disruptions Day Baseline Praise

Suppose a researcher wished to investigate the effect of praise on reducing disruptive behavior over many days. First she would need to establish a baseline of how frequently the disruptions occurred. She would measure how many disruptions occurred each day Frequency of disruptions Day Baseline Praise

Suppose a researcher wished to investigate the effect of praise on reducing disruptive behavior over many days. First she would need to establish a baseline of how frequently the disruptions occurred. She would measure how many disruptions occurred each day Frequency of disruptions Day Baseline Praise

Suppose a researcher wished to investigate the effect of praise on reducing disruptive behavior over many days. First she would need to establish a baseline of how frequently the disruptions occurred. She would measure how many disruptions occurred each day Frequency of disruptions Day Baseline Praise

Suppose a researcher wished to investigate the effect of praise on reducing disruptive behavior over many days. First she would need to establish a baseline of how frequently the disruptions occurred. She would measure how many disruptions occurred each day Frequency of disruptions Day Baseline Praise

Suppose a researcher wished to investigate the effect of praise on reducing disruptive behavior over many days. First she would need to establish a baseline of how frequently the disruptions occurred. She would measure how many disruptions occurred each day for several days. Frequency of disruptions Day Baseline Praise

Suppose a researcher wished to investigate the effect of praise on reducing disruptive behavior over many days. First she would need to establish a baseline of how frequently the disruptions occurred. She would measure how many disruptions occurred each day for several days. In the example below, the target student was disruptive seven times on the first day Frequency of disruptions Day Baseline Praise

Suppose a researcher wished to investigate the effect of praise on reducing disruptive behavior over many days. First she would need to establish a baseline of how frequently the disruptions occurred. She would measure how many disruptions occurred each day for several days. In the example below, the target student was disruptive seven times on the first day, six times on the second day Frequency of disruptions Day Baseline Praise

Suppose a researcher wished to investigate the effect of praise on reducing disruptive behavior over many days. First she would need to establish a baseline of how frequently the disruptions occurred. She would measure how many disruptions occurred each day for several days. In the example below, the target student was disruptive seven times on the first day, six times on the second day, and seven times on the third day. Frequency of disruptions Day Baseline Praise

Once a baseline of behavior has been established (when a consistent pattern emerges with at least three data points), the intervention begins. Frequency of disruptions Day Baseline Praise

Once a baseline of behavior has been established (when a consistent pattern emerges with at least three data points), the intervention begins. The researcher continues to plot the frequency of behavior Frequency of disruptions Day Baseline Praise

Once a baseline of behavior has been established (when a consistent pattern emerges with at least three data points), the intervention begins. The researcher continues to plot the frequency of behavior while implementing the intervention of praise. Frequency of disruptions Day Baseline Praise

In this example, we can see that the frequency of disruptions decreased once praise began. Frequency of disruptions Day Baseline Praise

In this example, we can see that the frequency of disruptions decreased once praise began. The design in this example is known as an A-B design. Frequency of disruptions Day Baseline Praise

In this example, we can see that the frequency of disruptions decreased once praise began. The design in this example is known as an A-B design. The baseline period is referred to as A Frequency of disruptions Day Baseline Praise

In this example, we can see that the frequency of disruptions decreased once praise began. The design in this example is known as an A-B design. The baseline period is referred to as A and the intervention period is identified as B. Frequency of disruptions Day Baseline Praise

In this example, we can see that the frequency of disruptions decreased once praise began. The design in this example is known as an A-B design. The baseline period is referred to as A and the intervention period is identified as B. Frequency of disruptions Day Baseline Praise A B

Another design is the A-B-A design. An A-B-A design (also known as a reversal design) involves discontinuing the intervention and returning to a baseline. Frequency of disruptions Day Baseline Praise Baseline

Another design is the A-B-A design. An A-B-A design (also known as a reversal design) involves discontinuing the intervention and returning to a baseline. Frequency of disruptions Day Baseline Praise Baseline A B A

Sometimes an individual’s behavior is so severe that the researcher cannot wait to establish a baseline and must begin with an intervention. In this case, a B-A-B design is used. The intervention Frequency of disruptions Day Praise

Sometimes an individual’s behavior is so severe that the researcher cannot wait to establish a baseline and must begin with an intervention. In this case, a B-A-B design is used. The intervention is followed by a baseline Frequency of disruptions Day Praise Baseline

Sometimes an individual’s behavior is so severe that the researcher cannot wait to establish a baseline and must begin with an intervention. In this case, a B-A-B design is used. The intervention is followed by a baseline followed by the intervention. Frequency of disruptions Day Praise Baseline Praise

Sometimes an individual’s behavior is so severe that the researcher cannot wait to establish a baseline and must begin with an intervention. In this case, a B-A-B design is used. The intervention is followed by a baseline followed by the intervention. Frequency of disruptions Day Praise Baseline Praise B A B

Frequency of disruptions Day Baseline Praise Ordinate Condition change line Data points Data path Abscissa Measure of time Unit of time Dependent measure Condition identificationsIndependent variable Regardless of the research design, the line graphs used to illustrate the data contain a set of common elements.

Frequency of disruptions Day Baseline Praise Ordinate Condition change line Data points Data path Abscissa Measure of time Unit of time Dependent measure Condition identificationsIndependent variable Regardless of the research design, the line graphs used to illustrate the data contain a set of common elements. Please read Chapter 14 in your text to learn more about Single-Subject Research and other Single-Subject Research Designs.