An Applied Example of Pooled Time Series Analysis: Cardiovascular Reactivity to Stressors in Children With Autism

Abstract

The advent of telemetric devices that sample data extensively over time has facilitated single subject or idiographic research to intensively study a single person over time. One of the challenges of idiographic research is combining single subject results to determine generalizability across subjects. This article demonstrates the first behavioral science application of pooled time series analysis, an extension of time series analysis that allows for the testing of between-person effects. The analysis used cardiovascular data gathered from 4 children with autism between the ages of 10 and 20 while exposed to 6 experimentally manipulated environmental stressors. A pooled time series analysis using the general transformation approach identified 1 general (a difficult learning task) and 3 specific stressors (exposure to a loud noise, unstructured time, and eating a preferred food) across the 4 participants. This application of pooled time series analysis demonstrates the challenges and potential for this method to address the issue of generalizability when using an idiographic research approach in the behavioral sciences.