Association for Behavior Analysis International

As part of the masters program in clinical psychology, students at Stockholm University are required to design and conduct a Single-Case Experimental Design (SCED). The behaviors chosen by students range from verbal behaviors investigated using online chats, to toddler morning routines. Interventions range from chemical (e.g. caffeine) to positive reinforcement (e.g. token systems). Given the large number of studies conducted, some tentative conclusions can be drawn about which behaviors and interventions tend to be the most effective, and what instructions and course requirements that are needed to enable students to conduct studies with both social validity and scientific rigor. Our results show that students can design and conduct SCEDs. The majority of the studies achieve substantial effects on target behaviors, and it is likely that that this experience of a successful manipulation of a clinically relevant behavior is a powerful reinforcer, thus making this assignment an effective introduction to behavior analysis.