Assessment of Behavioral Chaos With a Focus on Transitions in Depression

This article is the second of three in a special section on chaos theory and psychological assessment. The purpose of this article is to address implications for the measurement of some unstable, transitional human behaviors. One early hallmark of behavioral assessment is the idiographic measurement...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological assessment 1995-03, Vol.7 (1), p.10-16
Main Author: Heiby, Elaine M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior
Behavior Patterns
Behavioral Assessment
Chaos
Chaos Theory
Definitions
Depression (Psychology)
Evaluation Methods
Human
Major Depression
Measurement Techniques
Mental depression
Psychological Testing
Psychology
Time Series Analysis
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Summary:This article is the second of three in a special section on chaos theory and psychological assessment. The purpose of this article is to address implications for the measurement of some unstable, transitional human behaviors. One early hallmark of behavioral assessment is the idiographic measurement of temporal, causal, and target factors (e.g., M. R. Goldfried & R. N. Kent, 1972 ). This is the same basic measurement approach used in chaos theory testing. In addition, behavioral theories have posited nonlinear relations among variables (e.g., J. D. Cone, 1981 ). However, theory testing often involves investigation of linear relations among episodic and averaged indexes of the variables (e.g., M. J. Marr, 1989 ). The study of unstable behaviors and chaotic transitions could revive the use of unaveraged single-subject, time series measurement approaches. A rationale for a subtype of chaotic depression (e.g., L. Glass & M. C. Mackey, 1988 ) and its measurement is offered.
ISSN:1040-3590
1939-134X
DOI:10.1037/1040-3590.7.1.10