PSYD33H3 Chapter : PSYD33 - Westen (2004) notes
Document Summary
Many advocates of ests have argued that clinicians should be trained primarily in these methods and that other forms of treatment are less essential and outdated . Together, these characteristics maximize internal validity of the study. But a valid experiment is where the patients are randomly assigned, small set of variables are manipulated, confounding variables are controlled, procedures are standardized therefore able to draw unambiguous conclusions. [[introducing rct here and saying that its better]] There are more assumptions regarding the extent to which the use of rct validates ests (which are not validated nor broadly applicable to most disorders/treatments): outlined below (1) psychological processes are highly malleable. Assumption of malleability is implied through treatment lengths used in all ests (range from 6-16 sessions) Simple reasoning behind this: the longer the therapy, the more variability within experimental conditions; the more variability, the less one can draw causal conclusions.
