Behavioural Debate- Vulnerable Groups Of Children

Question 1

Which children are vulnerable?

Answer 1

Children with psychological and medical conditions.

Question 2

Lovaas (1987)?

Answer 2

Developed applied behavioural analysis (ABA) to increase the frequency and quality of social interactions for children with autism.

Initially the child is rewarded for most behaviours but over time the rewards are reduced and are only issued if the behaviour is close to the ideal target behaviour.

Question 3

Token economy- Robinson et Al (1981)

Answer 3

Using token economy can improve performance of reading and vocabulary in children with hyperactivity issues.

Question 4

Funhaler- Chaney et Al (2004)

Answer 4

After 2 weeks of using funhaler, parents reported that their children had fewer problems when medicating and had a more positive response to treatments.

Question 5

What are the ethical issues of using conditioning on vulnerable children?

Answer 5

Taking advantage of the children as they can’t give valid consent.

Question 6

What are the negatives of Lovaas (1987)

Answer 6

Methodology flaws- children were not randomly allocated to control or experimental group so conclusions may not be valid.

Treatment is intensive (approx 40 hours a week) so it is very costly.

Unethical- it may cause harm.