单例实验设计(SCED)通常用于行为分析研究,但很少用于行为神经科学研究。最近的技术发展可以控制神经生物学事件的时间,例如基因表达和神经元放电,从而使SCED在研究脑行为关系中的有效应用成为可能。应用SCED研究神经生物学事件如何影响行为至少有3个好处。首先,SCED需要对可靠性进行直接和跨主题评估,可能会增加跨研究的复制概率,并鼓励搜索复制失败的原因。第二,SCED专注于个体生物体的行为,这些生物体产生了适用于个体而不是种群参数的知识体系。最后,SCED需要更少的动物,降低成本和努力,并解决减少用于研究的动物数量的道德义务。使用基于已发表的研究生成的假设数据提供示例。行为分析师和行为神经科学家之间的合作将使皮肤内的世界受到直接的实验控制,并扩大我们对行为决定因素的理解。
Single-
case experimental designs (SCEDs) are commonly used in behavior analytic research but rarely used in behavioral neuroscience research. The recent development of technologies that allow control of the timing of neurobiological events such as gene expression and neuronal firing enable the fruitful application of SCEDs for the study of brain-behavior relations. There are at least 3 benefits expected from applying SCEDs to study how neurobiological events affect behavior. First, SCEDs entail direct within- and across-subject assessments of reliability, likely increasing the probability of replication across studies and encouraging a search for the causes of replication failure when they occur. Second, SCEDs focus on behavior in individual organisms producing a body of knowledge that applies to individuals rather than population parameters. Finally, SCEDs require fewer animals, decreasing costs and effort and addressing the ethical obligation to reduce the number of animals used for research. Examples are provided using hypothetical data generated based on published research. Collaborations between behavior analysts and behavioral neuroscientists will bring the world within the skin under direct experimental control and broaden our understanding of the determinants of behavior.