A multiple baseline across participants graph is the one that shows several separate panels (tiers), one for each participant, with the intervention starting at different times for each person while everyone shares the same behavior and x‑axis (sessions or time).

Key visual features to look for

  • Multiple horizontal panels stacked vertically (e.g., Participant 1, Participant 2, Participant 3).
  • Each panel shows the same target behavior (same y‑axis label) measured across the same or similar time frame (shared x‑axis of sessions or days).
  • All participants begin in baseline; then the intervention is introduced for Participant 1 first, then later for Participant 2, then later for Participant 3 (staggered or “stair‑step” phase change lines across tiers).
  • The behavior changes only after intervention is introduced for each participant, helping demonstrate a functional relation.

How to pick the correct graph in a set of options

If you have several graphs to choose from, the correct “multiple baseline across participants” graph will be the one that:

  1. Has one panel per person (names or Participant A/B/C on each tier).
  2. Uses the same behavior label on all y‑axes (for example, “Number of math problems completed per session”).
  1. Shows intervention introduced at different points in time for each participant, not all at once.

For contrast:

  • Multiple baseline across behaviors : One participant, different behaviors on each panel (e.g., Reading, Writing, Math).
  • Multiple baseline across settings : One participant, different settings on each panel (e.g., Home, School, Community).

So, when you see your answer choices, select the graph with stacked panels labeled by participants and clearly staggered intervention start times across those participants.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.