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Designing Single Subject Research-Based Interventions for Clinical Neuropsychology Practice

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Understanding the Biological Basis of Behavior

Abstract

The chapter introduces single subject-based interventions used in clinical neuropsychology practice to human service psychologists. The author first defined clinical neuropsychology and clinical neuropsychologists and introduced single subject-based designs as a research methodology that is used in clinical neuropsychology research and interventions. The author listed some common views of single subject designs and emphasized that it is important for researchers and clinicians to appreciate the strengths and unique features of single subject-based designs, despite their limitations. The history of single subject-based designs in experimental and clinical psychology contexts was briefly introduced, followed by an overview of experimental analysis of behavior and applied behavior analysis. Evidence-based interventions and increased evaluation and accountability in single subject designs were described. A clinical neuropsychology case was presented to demonstrate various single subject-based design types: ABAB design, BABA design, ABCBCA design, multiple-baseline design, changing-criterion design, multiple-treatment design, and quasi-single-case experimental design. The author also discussed why it is important for clinical neuropsychologists to focus on multicultural issues and how to provide culturally competent neuropsychological services to all clients. The advantages, limitations, and characteristics of single subject designs were summarized. In the future, it is recommended that single subject-based designs be better applied in two broad contexts.

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Wu, F. (2021). Designing Single Subject Research-Based Interventions for Clinical Neuropsychology Practice. In: D’Amato, R.C., Davis, A.S., Power, E.M., Eusebio, E.C. (eds) Understanding the Biological Basis of Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59162-5_6

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