On the utility of within-participant research design when working with patients with neurocognitive disorders

Abstract

Within-participant research designs are frequently used within the field of behavior analysis to document changes in behavior before, during, and after treatment. The purpose of the present article is to show the utility of within-participant research designs when working with older adults with neurocognitive disorders. The reason for advocating for these types of experimental designs is that they provide valid information about whether the changes that are observed in the dependent variable are caused by manipulations of the independent variable, or whether the change may be due to other variables. We provide examples from published papers where within-participant research design has been used with patients with neurocognitive disorders. The examples vary somewhat, demonstrating possible applications. It is our suggestion that the within-participant research design may be used more often with the targeted client group than is documented in the literature at the current date.