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Development of high level positive interaction (HPI) behaviors and low level positive interaction (LPI) behaviors for participant 1. Session blocks 1-2-3 from left to right.
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Over the last 20 years, researchers have been mixing qualitative and quantitative approaches, but mixed methods research represents a new movement that arose in response to the currents of qualitative and quantitative research, considered separately. Little has been published on the use of polar coordinate analysis in psychotherapy. This type of an...
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Citations
... In this sense, we consider that it can be especially useful for educators, who frequently affirm they do not have the time or training necessary to build an adequate observation instrument that allows the objective and precise collection of the relevant behaviors necessary for an adequate evaluation of their students. Educational and ASD professionals need new methods and instruments to evaluate the interventions and the changes in the children [106]. Our observation instrument contributes to responding to this need. ...
... This study also shows that this observation instrument could be useful for sequential analysis. Similarly to other authors [106], we established that the use of observational methodology offers the opportunity to obtain a large amount of data that can be analyzed with different techniques-such as sequential analysis-in a more sensitive and detailed manner, offering information to which questionnaires frequently used are not sensitive [106]. ...
... This study also shows that this observation instrument could be useful for sequential analysis. Similarly to other authors [106], we established that the use of observational methodology offers the opportunity to obtain a large amount of data that can be analyzed with different techniques-such as sequential analysis-in a more sensitive and detailed manner, offering information to which questionnaires frequently used are not sensitive [106]. ...
Although the literature confirms executive deficits in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that hinder adaptation, evidence-based intervention programs targeting this area are scarce, and even fewer have evaluated their effectiveness. Objectives: This study aimed to assess a pilot program designed to improve the executive functions of a child five years and nine months in age with ASD. Methods: To evaluate the effects of the intervention, observational methodology was used, which is considered a mixed method in itself as it integrates both qualitative and quantitative elements in its various phases. Specifically, an idiographic, longitudinal, and multidimensional design was followed. A lag sequential analysis was conducted using GSEQ software Version 5.1, enabling us to study changes in the executive functions of a child before, during, and after the intervention, including whether its effects are sustained over time. Results: The sequential patterns obtained indicate more appropriate and complex executive functioning after the three-month intervention, specifically increased cognitive flexibility, improved self-regulation, more accurate evaluation, and progress in inhibitory processes. However, these improvements do not persist over time. Conclusion: This study contributes to the scarcely explored field of executive function interventions in children with ASD, although it is necessary to consider the generalization of the results to other contexts, such as family and school, during interaction with peers.
... This work forms part of a line of research into the Pikler-Lóczy education developed under the scope of Observational Methodology, which enabled us to study spontaneous, habitual behaviour in its natural context (Anguera, 1979(Anguera, , 2003Portell et al., 2015). It is therefore an ideal option for assessing educational interventions (Alcover et al., 2019;Escolano-Pérez et al., 2019;Terroba et al., 2021). Based on the proposal by Anguera et al. (2001) regarding observational designs, a nomothetic, follow-up and multidimensional (N/F/M) design was used for the study of two educators. ...
The responsive feeding style has been researched to date using indirect techniques, mainly in family contexts. This style supports children’s capacity for self-regulation, which is why the present study aims to directly and systematically observe the method in a school context, focusing specifically on the behaviour of two educators working at the Emmi Pikler Nursery School during breakfast time with two different groups. The observation instrument used was a field format created ad hoc that measures two basic dimensions in said behaviour: instrumental and relational. A total of 25 sessions were recorded and a lag sequential analysis was performed to detect behavioural patterns during the care activity. The results reveal a common pattern shared by both educators in both dimensions (instrumental and relational) that includes key elements of group-based responsive feeding.
... Second, to obtain a map of interrelationships between behaviors, a polar coordinate analysis (PCA) was carried out for which the target behavior of the sequential analysis was taken as focal, and the same conditioned behaviors. This analysis has been applied in other indirect observation studies in the field of sports (García-Fariña et al., 2018, 2021Nunes et al., 2022) and other areas (Alcover et al., 2019;FIGURE 1 Lince Plus software used in this study. Reproduced with permission from Soto-Fernández et al. (2021). ...
Introduction
Scientific knowledge about the criteria that determine success in women’s football is beginning to develop.
Methods
This study was carried out with the aim of detecting regularities in the offensive success in elite women’s football, as well as carrying out an interrelational analysis of linked behaviors, based on in-depth interviews with professional coaches and players. Eight in-depth interviews were conducted with professional Spanish coaches and players. The interviews were analyzed by indirect observation from a process of “quantitizing,” through the construction of an indirect observation ad hoc instrument. The segmentation of the transcription of the interviews was carried out in textual units, and the creation of a matrix of codes. Two types of analysis were performed: first, a lag sequential analysis (LSA) was performed and, then, a polar coordinates analysis (PCA), which allowed to find, respectively, a wide number of established communicative patterns with offensive performance in women’s football, as well as an interrelational map between the established codes.
Results
The results obtained allowed us to suggest a statistically significant association between success in women’s football and criteria such as the physical characteristics of a particular player, the individual action space, the duration of the attack, the type of dynamic start, individual and collective technical and tactical aspects, decision making and the type of attack used.
Discussion
Based on these results, the influence of these criteria on performance in women’s soccer can be studied in future studies. In addition, with the aim of increasing the validity of these conclusions, new studies on this subject may be carried out following strategies such as the Delphi Method.
... Afterwards, 46 sessions were randomly selected to calculate reliability. This number of sessions was determined taking into account that the percentage of sessions mostly used by recent observational research to calculate the reliability ranges from 10 to 20% [75][76][77][78][79][80]. The sessions were chosen at random but taking into account that all the participants and all the tasks were reflected. ...
... In future studies, the complementary use of other analysis techniques, such as a "Markov analysis" [30,88], "polar coordinate analysis" [30,32,75,76,108], or a "temporal pattern (T-patterns) detection" [109], would offer greater information about interference control in ASD children. ...
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present deficiencies in interference control processes. The main aim of this pilot study was to analyze the efficacy of an educational intervention designed to optimize the interference control of eight ASD children, attending to their ASD severity level. A mixed-methods approach grounded in systematic observation and nomothetic/follow-up/multidimensional observational designs was used. An observation instrument was developed to code data, which were grouped according to the ASD severity level (Group 1, requires support; Group 2, requires substantial support) and were analyzed using a lag sequential analysis. The results show that, although both groups progressed during the intervention and could have continued to improve, each group evolved differently. Group 1 performed relatively well from the onset and increased and developed their interference control strategies throughout the intervention, while Group 2, despite also acquiring new interference control strategies, took more time to show improvements. One month after the intervention ended, both groups were unable to consolidate the strategies learned. A mixed-methods approach allowed for real interference control deficits in ASD children to be captured in a natural context. To conclude, it would be necessary to lengthen this intervention and adapt it to the needs of each group.
... To codify social behaviors, we reorganized and evolved an observational instrument (Alcover et al., 2019) which had been inspired by an original observational instrument of Bauminger (2002) and by the approach of social difficulties by the authors of ADOS-2 and Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (Lord et al., 2000;Rutter et al., 2003). Certain behaviors were not included in the analysis because the observation frequency was very low such as proximity, sharing objects, affection, talk that reflects an interest in another child's hobbies, giving help, peer or therapist imitation, idiosyncratic language and repetitive behavior. ...
... The majority of studies use questionnaires to assess the evolution of participants, but these methods tend to be subjective and incomplete Moody et al., 2020). Therefore, additional methodologies that complement questionnaires have been proposed, such as social cognitive assessments and behavioral observations (Alcover et al., 2019;Solomon et al., 2004). These methodologies have demonstrated to be effective in assessing evolution and changes in social behaviors, including microconducts like gestures. ...
... These methodologies have demonstrated to be effective in assessing evolution and changes in social behaviors, including microconducts like gestures. In addition, they provide greater knowledge and specificity about social behaviors, which can offer information for professionals to improve their interventions and focus them on their participants (Alcover et al., 2019). As aforementioned, mixed methods methodology allow to transform qualitative data into quantitative data. ...
The demand of social skills interventions for people with ASD has grown in recent years. The main goal of this research was to study social skills: “responding to interaction” and “initiating interaction”, and to capture whether there were differences between an initial and a final session in a program for children with ASD. Additionally, we aimed to compare social skills patterns according to the VIQ level. The sample (N = 20) was divided into 2 subgroups depending on whether the VIQ was > 90 or < 90. We employed a mixed methods approach based on a systematic observation of social behaviors. The observational design was nomothetic, follow-up, and multidimensional. Once we confirmed inter-observer reliability for the ad hoc observational instrument we performed descriptive statistics and polar coordinate analysis using LINCE software. The results show high intragroup and intergroup variability. In general, participants with VIQ < 90 showed a better improvement in responding to interaction, whereas participants with VIQ > 90 showed more complex patterns to initiate interactions. The polar coordinate technique was useful for detecting significant relationships between autism’s social micro-behaviors. Results and information obtained through observational methodology could allow professionals to understand communication and interaction of participants.
... While most studies have been conducted in adults, some have been conducted in adolescents (Down et al., 2011) and children with emotional and behavioral problems in groups (Swank and Shin, 2015) and individual psychodynamic play therapy . Our group has used observational methodology to analyze group psychotherapy in previous studies (Vaimberg, 2010;Roustan et al., 2013;Arias-Pujol and Anguera, 2017;Alcover et al., 2019) and in the empirical part of this article. In the latter we demonstrate the different steps involved in the QUAL-QUAN-QUAL transformation of data and show how the "connecting" method (Creswell and Plano Clark, 2017) is an ideal way to link qualitative and quantitative elements within a systematic observation framework. ...
... Like T-pattern detection, polar coordinate analysis has been used in a wide range of fields, including clinical psychology (Arias-Pujol and Rodríguez-Medina et al., 2018;Alcover et al., 2019;Del Giacco et al., 2020). ...
Table of Contents
-Editorial: The Patient’s Change: Understanding the Complexity of the Dynamics of Change and Its Precursors in Psychotherapy
Giulio de Felice, Melissa M. De Smet, Reitske Meganck and Guenter Schiepek
-The Role of Entrapment in Crisis-Focused Psychotherapy Delivered in Psychiatric Emergency Settings: A Comparative Study
Dana Tzur Bitan, Adi Otmazgin, Mirit Shani Sela and Aviv Segev
-Love, Work, and Striving for the Self in Balance: Anaclitic and Introjective Patients’ Experiences of Change in Psychoanalysis
Andrzej Werbart, Annelie Bergstedt and Sonja Levander
-The Action of Verbal and Non-verbal Communication in the Therapeutic Alliance Construction: A Mixed Methods Approach to Assess the Initial Interactions With Depressed Patients
Luca Del Giacco, M. Teresa Anguera and Silvia Salcuni
-Roles of Trait Mindfulness in Behavioral Activation Mechanism for Patients With Major Depressive Disorder
Koki Takagaki, Masaya Ito, Yoshitake Takebayashi, Shun Nakajima and Masaru Horikoshi
-What Differentiates Poor- and Good-Outcome Psychotherapy? A Statistical-Mechanics-Inspired Approach to Psychotherapy Research, Part Two: Network Analyses
Giulio de Felice, Alessandro Giuliani, Omar C. G. Gelo, Erhard Mergenthaler,
Melissa M. De Smet, Reitske Meganck, Giulia Paoloni, Silvia Andreassi,
Guenter K. Schiepek, Andrea Scozzari and Franco F. Orsucci
-A Mixed Methods Framework for Psychoanalytic Group Therapy: From Qualitative Records to a Quantitative Approach Using T-Pattern, Lag Sequential, and Polar Coordinate Analyses
Eulàlia Arias-Pujol and M. Teresa Anguera
-A Phase Transition of the Unconscious: Automated Text Analysis of Dreams in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
Alessandro Gennaro, Sylvia Kipp, Kathrin Viol, Giulio de Felice,
Silvia Andreassi, Wolfgang Aichhorn, Sergio Salvatore and Günter Schiepek
-Convergent Validation of Methods for the Identification of Psychotherapeutic Phase Transitions in Time Series of Empirical and Model Systems
Günter Schiepek, Helmut Schöller, Giulio de Felice, Sune Vork Steffensen,
Marie Skaalum Bloch, Clemens Fartacek, Wolfgang Aichhorn and Kathrin Viol
-Long-Term Effects of Home-Based Family Therapy for Non-responding Adolescents With Psychiatric Disorders. A 3-Year Follow-Up
Egon Bachler, Benjamin Aas, Herbert Bachler, Kathrin Viol, Helmut Johannes Schöller, Marius Nickel and Günter Schiepek
... While most studies have been conducted in adults, some have been conducted in adolescents (Down et al., 2011) and children with emotional and behavioral problems in groups (Swank and Shin, 2015) and individual psychodynamic play therapy (Halfon et al., 2016). Our group has used observational methodology to analyze group psychotherapy in previous studies (Vaimberg, 2010;Roustan et al., 2013;Arias-Pujol and Anguera, 2017;Alcover et al., 2019) and in the empirical part of this article. In the latter we demonstrate the different steps involved in the QUAL-QUAN-QUAL transformation of data and show how the "connecting" method (Creswell and Plano Clark, 2017) is an ideal way to link qualitative and quantitative elements within a systematic observation framework. ...
... Like T-pattern detection, polar coordinate analysis has been used in a wide range of fields, including clinical psychology (Arias-Pujol and Rodríguez-Medina et al., 2018;Alcover et al., 2019;Del Giacco et al., 2020). ...
Conducted within a mixed methods framework, this study focuses on the conversation-facilitation role of a lead therapist during group psychotherapy with adolescents. Conversation is an essential component of psychoanalytic psychotherapies and there is growing interest in describing and studying the impact of conversational techniques. One way to do this is to report on specific approaches, such as questioning, paraphrasing, and mentalization in intervention turns and to analyze their impact on the therapist-patient relationship. The main aim of this study was to investigate differences in communication strategies used by a lead therapist in the early and late stages of therapy with six adolescents aged 13–15 years. We employed a mixed methods design based on systematic direct observation supplemented by indirect observation. The observational methodology design was nomothetic, follow-up, and multidimensional. The choice of methodology is justified by our use of an ad hoc observation instrument for communication strategies combining a field format and a category system. We analyzed interobserver agreement quantitatively by Cohen’s kappa using GSEQ5 software. Following confirmation of the reliability of the data, we analyzed the lead therapist’s conversation-facilitation techniques in sessions 5 and 29 of a 30-session program by quantitatively analyzing what were initially qualitative data using T-pattern detection (THEME v.6 Edu software), lag sequential analysis (GSEQ5 software), and polar coordinate analysis (HOISAN v. 1.6.3.3.6. software and R software). The results show changes in the techniques used from the start to the end of therapy. Of the 28 communication strategies analyzed, three were particularly common: questioning and paraphrasing in session 5 and questioning and mentalization in session 29. This mixed methods study shows that combined use of T-pattern detection, lag sequential analysis, and polar coordinate analysis can offer meaningful and objective insights into group psychotherapy through the lens of the therapist.
... In short, the mixed methods approach adopted has shown its enormous potential to help us to study the improvement of the planning skills of children with ASD, and consequently, to improve their quality of life; aspect that proves to be particularly deficient in children and adolescents with ASD compared to their typically developing peers (de Vries and Geurts, 2015). Therefore, and in accordance with other authors (Arias-Pujol et al., 2015;Rodríguez-Medina et al., 2016Alcover et al., 2019), we advocate the use of mixed methods approach. The use of the mixed methods approach (and, more exactly, the observational methodology considered in itself as mixed methods), due it offers rigor and flexibility, is still more necessary and useful when it comes to the assessment of participants of a young age and special characteristics, as is the case of this study (Anguera, 2003). ...
The literature confirms that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have planning deficits. However, few interventions have targeted these deficits. The aims of this study were to: (1) show that the mixed methods approach can be useful in studying planning skills of children with ASD during and after an educational intervention; (2) assess whether the planning skills of two groups of children with ASD improved during the intervention and if this progress was maintained 1 month after completing the intervention. The groups were formed depending on each child’s severity level (SL) of ASD according to DSM-5: SL1 (requiring support) and SL2 (requiring substantial support). Each group was composed of four children. In the framework of mixed methods, we used observational methodology, which is considered as mixed methods in itself because it integrates qualitative and quantitative elements. A nomothetic/follow-up/multidimensional observational design was used. Planning skills manifested by children during the intervention were codified, as well as the scaffolding behaviors provided by the educational specialist. These skills and behaviors were also coded in one session, which took place 1 month after the intervention. Coded data of each group were submitted to prospective and retrospective lag sequential analysis. This informed of the sequential structure of planning skills performed by children in interaction with the educational specialist at the beginning and at the end of the intervention, as well as 1 month later after the intervention. The comparison of the patterns obtained in these three temporal moments allowed us to know the improvement of the two groups in the use of planning skills. Results showed that both groups improved their autonomous use of planning skills. However, SL1 group used successfully and autonomously complex planning skills, while SL2 group were unable to achieve this gain. SL2 group progressed in autonomy, but only using basic planning skills. Both groups can further improve their use of planning skills; therefore, the intervention should be adjusted to their characteristics and temporarily extended. These findings contribute to the, as yet, little studied field of intervention and assessment of planning skills in children with ASD using a mixed methods approach.
The consensus agreement method in observational methodology: impact of sample size on time requirements and dataset quality Concordância consensual na metodologia observacional: efeitos do tamanho do grupo, tempo e qualidade do registro RESUMEN En metodología observacional, para abordar la fiabilidad de los datos ya registrados, suele recurrirse a coeficientes de concordancia, coeficientes de correlación o a la teoría de la generalizabilidad; además, cada vez está tomando mayor protagonismo la concordancia consensuada. Esta forma de concordancia trata de lograr la coincidencia entre los observadores antes del registro. A pesar de su creciente presencia en estudios observacionales, son pocos los trabajos que han profundizado en el desarrollo y optimización de esta forma cualitativa de concordancia. El presente trabajo, además de constituirse en un ejemplo de la utilización de la concordancia por consenso, ha comparado el resultado obtenido (tiempo empleado y ajuste con el registro ideal) por grupos de consenso formados por diferente número de integrantes (dos, tres y cuatro observadores). No se han encontrado diferencias significativas al comparar los grupos de concordancia por consenso de dos, tres y cuatro integrantes, ni en relación al tiempo empleado en el registro, ni en lo relativo al porcentaje de acuerdo con el registro ideal. La determinación del tamaño muestral necesario para obtener diferencias significativas entre los grupos ha permitido elevar conclusiones en términos de eficiencia. Palabras clave: metodología observacional, concordancia por consenso, tamaño del grupo, tiempo, Kappa de Cohen, ANOVA. ABSTRACT The reliability of datasets in observational methodology is typically tested using coefficients of agreement, correlation coefficients, or generalizability theory. Another increasingly popular method used to demonstrate the quality of data is the consensus agreement method, in which two or more observers agree on their coding decisions while creating the dataset. Although the consensus agreement method is being increasingly used in observational studies, few studies have conducted an in-depth analysis of how this qualitative procedure is approached or of how it can be optimized. In this study, in addition to presenting a practical example of the application of the consensus agreement method, we compare the results from three groups (of two, three, and four observers) to analyze performance in terms of time required to code the data and goodness of fit with respect to an optimal dataset. No significant differences were found between the three groups for either of the variables analyzed. Prior calculation of the sample size required to detect significant differences between the groups adds strength to our conclusions regarding the efficiency of the consensus agreement method. Cita: Lapresa, D.; Otero, A.; Arana, J.; Álvarez, I.; Anguera, M.T. (2021). Concordancia consensuada en metodología observacional: efectos del tamaño del grupo en el tiempo y la calidad del registro. Cuadernos de Psicología del Deporte, 21(2), 47-58
There has been a comprehensive development over the last few years of low intensity intervention programs that are implemented within a user context and that are made up of everyday life activities, and it has been necessary to adapt the necessary methodological channels in order to guarantee an adequate resolution pathway. The mixed method perspective offers a suitable framework, and observational methodology – in itself considered mixed method – is appropriate for studying the implementation and evaluation of low intensity intervention programs, allowing the development of the QUAL-QUAN-QUAL stages that correspond to the connect integration pathway of mixed methods. In this work it was applied to a single case, in a low intensity intervention, retrieving valuable information obtained, but systematizing it and applying quantitizing to the qualitative data that was treated quantitatively in a rigorous manner. The aim was to analyze the psychotherapist-patient interaction in psychoanalytic psychotherapy, in which we sought to identify which of the therapist’s techniques stimulated actions of reciprocal social interaction in the child, and which techniques inhibited non reciprocal social interactions. The observational design was nomothetic, follow-up, and multidimensional. The patient was a 4-year-old boy with a diagnosis of severe autism spectrum disorder. We used an ad hoc observation instrument combining a field format and a category system. Interobserver agreement was analyzed quantitatively by Cohen’s kappa using the free QSEQ5 software program. Polar coordinate analysis was carried out using the free program HOISAN 2.0. Polar coordinate analysis allows us to obtain an inter-relational map of the connections detected between focal behavior established in each case and the different categories. The results provide objective evidence – backed up by the application of polar-coordinate-based data analysis – that within a framework of psychoanalytic psychotherapy, the techniques of “verbalization” and “vocalization” significantly activate reciprocal social interaction behaviors and inhibit non-social reciprocal behaviors in a child with severe autism spectrum disorder with no language. On the other hand, direct gaze promotes the child’s withdrawal. The results are of key importance as they show the therapist behaviors most useful for promoting social interaction in a child with severe autism.
