Chaney (2004)

Question 1

Background

Answer 1

-In Australia around 1/4 of children have asthma
-Second most common cause of paeds hospital admissions and school absences
-Compliance with asthma medication is extremely low-30%-70% for all age groups
-Asthma spacer devices were developed to help children ,ensure out the correct dosage of asthma medication

Question 2

Operant conditioning

Answer 2

Learning from the consequences of behaviour

Question 3

Positive reinforcement

Answer 3

The action leads to gaining something pleasant

Question 4

Negative reinforcement

Answer 4

The action leads to getting rid of something unpleasant

Question 5

Aims

Answer 5

-All inhalers are negatively reinforcing, as they remove asthma symptoms
-Chaney wanted to see if the principles of positive reinforcement could be used in a spacer to help show children how to use the inhaler properly
-If the child used the funhaler correctly, the whistle would sound and the disc would spin round
-Incorporates both negative and positive reinforcement

Question 6

Sample

Answer 6

-32 children, 20 boys and 10 girls
-Aged 1.5 to 6 years old
-From 7 different paeds/GP clinics within a 51km radius of Perth, Australia
-Clinics were from varying socioeconomic and geographical areas

Question 7

Procedure 1

Answer 7

-Parents contacted by phone before being visited at home
-Written and informed consent given by parents
-Parents filled in a written questionnaire about their Childs current inhaler spacer device

Question 8

Procedure 2

Answer 8

Parents were given a funhaler to use with their child for two weeks

Question 9

Procedure 3

Answer 9

-After the two weeks parents were given another questionnaire to fill in
-This one asked them about use of the funhaler

Question 10

Findings/conclusions

Answer 10

-Behaviour: 50% of children achieved the desired 4 or more breath cycles per delivery with their previous spacer device, this increased to 80% with the funhaler
-Attitudes: 10% of parents said they were completely happy with their previous spacer device, 61% said they were happy with the funhaler

Question 11

Which side of the nature/nurture debate does the study link to?

Answer 11

-Nurture
-Children’s behaviour is changing as a result of the funhaler

Question 12

Which side of the freewill/determinism debate does the study link to?

Answer 12

-Deterministic
-Children’ asthma medication usage is determined by what inhaler they have at the time

Question 13

How does the study link to the behaviourist perspective?

Answer 13

It explains how children are learning behaviours due to operant conditioning

Question 14

How does the study link to its key theme of ‘External influences on children’s behaviour’?

Answer 14

It explains how the funhaler (an external influence) is changing their medical compliance

Question 15

How does the study link to the developmental area?

Answer 15

It is showing how children’s behaviour can change due to the experience of the funhaler

Question 16

Two similarities between Chaney and Bandura

Answer 16

-Both studied young children
-Both sit on the nurture side of the nature/nurture debate

Question 17

Explain the similarity ‘both studied young children’

Answer 17

-Bandura studied children aged 37-69 months from Stanford University nursery
-Chaney studied children 1.5-6 years old suffering from asthma from around Perth, Australia

Question 18

Explain the similarity ‘both sit on the nurture side of the nature/nurture debate’

Answer 18

-Bandura explained how the experience of watching an aggressive model made children imitate these actions
-Chaney explained how the experience of using a funhaler changed the compliance of children towards the asthma medication

Question 19

Two differences between Chaney and Bandura

Answer 19

-How they collected their data
-The experimental design they used

Question 20

Explain the difference of ‘how they collected their data’

Answer 20

-Bandura collected data using observation through a one way mirror for 20 minutes in stage three
-Chaney collected data through self report questionnaires about the behaviours and attitudes towards the inhalers

Question 21

Explain the difference of ‘the experimental design they used’

Answer 21

-Bandura used matched participants by pre-testing the children on 4x5 point scales of aggression
-Chaney used repeated measures by giving parents questionnaires about the regular inhaler, then the funhaler 2 weeks later

Question 22

How has Chaney’s study changed our understanding of ‘external influences on children’s behaviour’ since Bandura?

Answer 22

It has shown us that the behaviour of children can be changed by reinforcement, rather than just observation and imitation

Question 23

How hasn’t Chaney’s study changed our understanding of ‘external influences on children’s behaviour’ since Bandura?

Answer 23

Both studies are still telling us about young children

Question 24

How has Chaney’s study changed our understanding of cultural diversity?

Answer 24

The study was carried out in Australia, whilst Bandura’s was done in the USA

Question 25

How hasn’t Chaney’s study changed our understanding of cultural diversity?

Answer 25

Both studies were carried out in economically developed, ‘western’ countries

Question 26

How hasn’t Chaney’s study changed our understanding of individual diversity?

Answer 26

-Neither study explores the reasons for any individual differences in behaviour between children
-In terms of how they behaved in the study

Question 27

How hasn’t Chaney’s study changed our understanding of social diversity?

Answer 27

-The children in both studies are from the same age group
-Both studies include boys and girls