the presentation and interpretation of results from a single-subject experiment are based on visual inspection of a simple graph of the data.
Figure 14.1, for example, shows hypothetical results from a study examining the effects of a behavior intervention program designed to treat the classroom-disruption behavior of a single student. The student’s behavior (number of disruptions) was observed and recorded for 5 days prior to implementing the treatment.
In the graph, each day’s observation is recorded as a single point, with the series of days presented on the horizontal axis and the magnitude of the behavior (number of disruptions) on the vertical axis. The intervention program was implemented on day 6, and the student’s behavior was recorded for 5 additional days while the program was being administered (days 6 through 10 on the graph).
The vertical line in the graph between days 5 and 6 indicates when the treatment was started; the five points to the left of the line are before treatment and the five points to the right are during treatment. Also notice that the individual data points are con- nected by straight lines to help emphasize the pattern of behavior before treatment and the change in the pattern that occurred with treatment.