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withdrawal design

an experimental design in which the treatment or other intervention is removed during one or more periods. A typical withdrawal design consists of three phases: an initial condition for obtaining a baseline, a condition in which the treatment is applied, and another baseline condition in which the treatment has been withdrawn. Often, the baseline condition is represented by the letter A and the treatment condition by the letter B, such that this type of withdrawal design is known as an A-B-A design. A fourth phase of reapplying the intervention may be added, as well as a fifth phase of removing the intervention, to determine whether the effect of the intervention can be reproduced.

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Psychology term of the day

July 27th 2024

primary insomnia

primary insomnia

in DSM–IV–TR, a sleep disorder characterized by difficulty in initiating or maintaining a restorative sleep to a degree in which the severity and persistence of the sleep disturbance causes clinically significant distress, impairment in a significant area of functioning, or both. The disorder is not caused by a general medical condition or the effects of a substance and is not exclusively an aspect of another sleep disorder or mental disorder. It is termed insomnia disorder in DSM–5. See dyssomnia. Compare primary hypersomnia.