When evaluating the effectiveness of an intervention through visual inspection of data graphs, which combination of patterns is characteristic of an ineffective treatment?

When visually inspecting a single-subject research graph, an intervention is considered highly effective if the data shows the trend continuing unchanged from the baseline phase into the treatment phase.

A researcher is using visual inspection to evaluate the results of a single-subject study. Referencing the provided graphs, match each data pattern to the research scenario that best illustrates it.

Refer to Figure 10.5 (the bottom panel) in the provided image. Rank the following data components from the pattern that provides the STRONGEST evidence of treatment effectiveness in this specific graph to the pattern that provides the WEAKEST evidence.

Suppose you are designing a single-subject research study to evaluate a new behavioral intervention for a student. To ensure that your visual inspection of the data graphs provides the most robust evidence of a functional relationship between the intervention and the behavior, which set of hypothetical data patterns should you aim to produce in the treatment phase relative to the baseline phase?

Match each visual data pattern observed in single-subject research with its implication for the effectiveness of the treatment.

A researcher examines a single-subject data graph and concludes a treatment is effective because the average level of behavior decreased during the treatment phase. This conclusion is flawed because the treatment-phase data appears to be a continuation of the baseline _____, meaning the behavior was already changing before the intervention began.

When evaluating the effectiveness of an intervention in single-subject research, researchers visually inspect the combined patterns of level, trend, and _____ in data graphs.

A school psychologist is evaluating a new token reward system to reduce a student's off-task classroom behavior. During the 5-day baseline phase, the student's off-task behavior steadily declines from 80% to 40%. When the intervention is introduced on Day 6, the off-task behavior continues to decline at the exact same rate, reaching 10% by Day 10.

True or False: Because the average percentage of off-task behavior is lower during the intervention phase than during the baseline phase, visual inspection of this data pattern provides strong evidence that the token reward system was highly effective.

Arrange the following hypothetical single-subject research scenarios in order from the one providing the STRONGEST evidence of treatment effectiveness (Order 1) to the one providing the WEAKEST/NO evidence of treatment effectiveness (Order 4) based on visual inspection of level, trend, and latency.