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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baseline, a condition in which the treatment is applied, and another baseline condition in which the treatment has been withdrawn.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

November 25th 2024

cause

cause

n.

1. an event or state that brings about another (its effect).

2. in Aristotelian and rationalist philosophy, an entity or event that is a requirement for another entity or event’s coming to be. Aristotle proposed that there were four types of cause—material, formal, efficient, and final. In the case of a sculpture, for example, the material cause is the stone or metal from which it is made, the formal cause is the form or structure that it takes, the efficient cause is the sculptor, and the final cause is the sculptor’s aim or purpose in making it. —causal adj.