Chaney (2004)

Question 1

(Chaney) Describe the background behind the study.

Answer 1

Asthma is a chronic condition that affects about 1 in 10 people. Children tend to not use their inhalers correctly in order to treat their asthma.

Question 2

(Chaney) What was the aim of the study?

Answer 2

To see if operant conditioning could be used to encourage children to want to use their inhalers, and when they do; use it correctly.

Question 3

(Chaney) Define the term ‘operant conditioning’.

Answer 3

Changing the likelihood of a behaviour occurring again through reinforcement and punishment.

Question 4

(Chaney) Define the term ‘positive reinforcement’.

Answer 4

Encouraging a behaviour happening again by adding a reward.

Question 5

(Chaney) Define the term ‘negative reinforcement’.

Answer 5

Encouraging a behaviour happening again by removing an unpleasant stimulus.

Question 6

(Chaney) How is the ‘Funhaler’ representative of positive reinforcement?

Answer 6

The inhaler added a reward of the spinner and the whistle.

Question 7

(Chaney) How is the ‘Funhaler’ representative of negative reinforcement?

Answer 7

The inhaler took away the asthma symptoms.

Question 8

(Chaney) Describe the sample in this study.

Answer 8

32 children from Australia (22 boys and 10 girls).
Aged 1.5 - 6 years.
They were recruited from seven paediatric?GP clinics within a 51km radius of Perth, Western Australia. The clinics spanned differing socio-economic and geographical areas.

Question 9

(Chaney) Describe Step 1 of the procedure for this study.

Answer 9

Parents were contacted by phone before being visited at home.
Written, informed consent was obtained from parents before they filled in a questionnaire about their child’s current inhaler spacer device (either Aerochamber or Breath-a-Tech).

Question 10

(Chaney) Describe Step 2 of the procedure for this study.

Answer 10

Parents were given a Funhaler to use with their child for 2 weeks.

Question 11

(Chaney) Describe Step 3 of the procedure for this study.

Answer 11

After the 2 weeks, parents were contacted again and given another questionnaire to fill in (asking about the Funhaler).

Question 12

(Chaney) Regarding the findings of this study, describe how behaviour was affected by the Funhaler (before and after).

Answer 12

50% of children had achieved the desire 4+ breath cycles per delivery with their previous asthma inhaler.
80% of children achieved this with the Funhaler spacer device.

Question 13

(Chaney) Regarding the findings of this study, describe how attitudes were affected by the Funhaler (before and after).

Answer 13

10% of parents had said they were completely happy with their child’s previous asthma inhaler spacer device.
61% of parents said this about the Funhaler spacer device.

Question 14

(Chaney) How does this study relate to the nature vs nurture debate?

Answer 14

This study is on the
nurture side of the
debate as the children’s behaviour changed as a result of the new Funhaler.

Question 15

(Chaney) How does this study relate to the freewill vs determinism debate?

Answer 15

This study is on the
deterministic side of the debate as the children’s asthma usage is determined by what inhaler they have at the time.

Question 16

(Chaney) How does this study relate to the behaviourist perspective?

Answer 16

This study explains how children are
learning behaviours due to operant conditioning.

Question 17

(Chaney) How does this study relate to the key theme of the study?

Answer 17

The study explains how the funhaler (an external influence) is changing their medical compliance).

Question 18

(Chaney) How does this study relate to the developmental area?

Answer 18

This study is showing how children’s behaviour can change due to the experience of using a Funhaler.

Question 19

(Chaney) Identify and explain the two areas of similarities between Bandura and Chaney’s studies?

Answer 19

Sample: Both studied young children.

Nurture: Both sit on the nurture side of the
nature vs nurture debate

Question 20

(Chaney) Explain how Bandura and Chaney are similar regarding sample?

Answer 20

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 21

(Chaney) Explain how Bandura and Chaney are similar regarding nurture?

Answer 21

Bandura: Explains how the experience of watching an aggressive model made children imitate those actions.

Chaney: Explains how the experience of using a Funhaler changed the compliance of children towards their asthma medication.

Question 22

(Chaney) Identify and explain two areas of differences between Bandura and Chaney’s studies?

Answer 22

Data: The way they
collected data.

Design: The experimental design they used.

Question 23

(Chaney) Explain how Bandura and Chaney are different regarding data?

Answer 23

Bandura: Collected data using observation through a one way mirror for 20 minutes in stage 3.

Chaney: Collected data through self report questionnaires about the behaviours and attitudes towards the inhaler.

Question 24

(Chaney) Explain how Bandura and Chaney are different regarding design?

Answer 24

Bandura: Used matched participants by pre-testing the children on 4x5 point scales of aggression.

Chaney: Used repeated measures by giving parents questionnaires about their regular inhaler and then again after using the Funhaler for 2 weeks.

Question 25

(Chaney) What has the key theme shown us?

Answer 25

It has shown us that the behaviour of children can be changed by reinforcement
(rather than just by observing and imitating role models).

Question 26

(Chaney) What hasn’t the key theme shown us?

Answer 26

Both studies are still telling us about young children.