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mixed design

a study that combines features of both a between-subjects design and a within-subjects design. Thus, a researcher examines not only the potential differences between two or more separate groups of participants but also assesses change in the individual members of each group over time. For example, a researcher might use a mixed design to study the influence of different types of music on relaxation. He or she could divide participants into a control group (listening to no music) and two experimental groups (one listening to classical music and one listening to rock music). The researcher could administer a pretest to participants in all groups in order to determine the baseline level of physiological arousal prior to hearing any music and then introduce the music and test participants while they listen. After stopping the music, he or she could administer another test (a posttest) to determine what specific reduction in arousal may have occurred throughout the listening period. In this situation, music type is a between-subjects factor (each participant hears only a single genre of music) and physiological arousal is a within-subjects factor (each participant is evaluated on this variable on multiple occasions and the different assessments compared).

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Psychology term of the day

December 18th 2024

corticostriatonigral degeneration

corticostriatonigral degeneration

see corticobasal ganglionic degeneration.