Chaney et al Flashcards
Background to Chaney et al
Operant conditioning = learning through the consequences
- if rewarded for a behaviour you are more likely to repeat it
- if punished for a behaviour you are less likely to repeat it
suggested that if children get a reward when they use medication they are more likely to continue to take it
Aim of Chaney et al
to see whether children are more likely to continue to take their asthma medication if they receive a reward
Pilot study in Chaney
carried out piloet study to see if a Funhaler would improve children’s adherance to taking their asthma medication
Research method of Chaney
Field Experiment - involving questionaires + phone call
conducted in participants home setting in Australia
questionnaires with closed questions to find out what participants thought of asthma devices
Type of design in Chaney
Repeated Measures Design
=same children took both conditions of the experiment
= standard spacer device + Funhaler
IV and DV of Chaney
IV - whether the child used standard spacer device or a Funhaler
DV
- no. of children who had use inhaler the pervious day when randomly called
- measured score on questionnaire for positive attitudes towards the inhaler
Sample of Chaney
32 children in Australia
Already taking asthmatic medication via normal spacer
18months to 6yrs
Procedure of Chaney
Took place in participants homes over two weeks. parents completed structured, closed questionaire about child’s current astham decvice
participants then asked to use Funhaler which had toys eg. whilste + spinning disc (rewarding)
Parents then completed another questionaire on funhaler
researchers did one random phone check to see whether the parent had given their child medication the previous day using spacer device
Results of Chaney
Phone check = 81% had given medication previous day with funhaler compared to 59% given medication with spacer device.
Questionaire showed more positive attitudes towards Funhlaer for both children + parents
Conclusions of Chaney
Funhaler leads to increase in use of spacer device for asthma medication
Devices that are reinforcing can get children to take medication + improve thier health
Generalisability of Chaney
Sample had wide range of families
= more generasiable
One place - Perth, Australia
= ethnocentric sample
Reliability of Chaney
Standardised procedure
= participants given same instructions + completed same structed questionnaires
= took place over two-week period
Chaney relate to key theme ‘ external influences on children’s behaviour’
it showed how reinforcement could improve children’s adherence to asthma medication
funhaler improved children’s + parents attitude towards administering the asthma medication
Validity of Chaney
Ecological validity
- field experiment
- took place in their homes
Lacks validity
- answers limited by closed questions
- participants gave socially desirable answers
Ethics of Chaney
Informed consent obtained
Privacy ensured
Protected from harm - care was taken to ensure children had good level of medication
Chaney relate to developmental area
developmental area looks at people change and develop across the lifespan
it looked at children’s development, specifically how reinforcement can improve behaviour + affect children’s development
found reinforcement could improve children’s adherence to asthma medication
Chaney relate to behaviourist perspective
behaviourist perspective looks at how we learn behaviour from our enviro
it shows how operant conditioning specifically reinforcment can lead to increase in behaviour
children were more likely to take funhaler as more rewarding
Chaney have individual, social and cultural diversity
INDIVIDUAL - there was differences bewteen children in how much they adhered to their asthma medication
SOCIAL - male + female children were used & showed both genders can learn through reinforcement
only young children so doesn’t show how adults learn behaviour through reinforcement
CULTURAL - not show cultural diversity as only Australia. does add to banduras study in USA as it implies learning occurs in other cultures
Ethics in Chaney - conducting research on children
Informed consent from parents + assent (child willingless)
Power imbalance between adults +children, so may feel pressurised to take part in research. (researchers should stop when signs of unwillingless)
Chaney change our understanding of the key theme
looking at how reinforcement (operant conditioning) can increase desired behaviour whereas Bandura focused on how we learn from role models
bandura found children will copy aggressive behaviour shown by adult model towards bobo doll (social learning theory). shows how external factors in childs enviro shape their behaviour
chaney found children more likely to adhere to asthma medication if using a rewarding Funhaler device
