Chaney Et Al (contemporary study) Flashcards
Background to this study
operant conditioning (behaviour shown when rewarded and inhibited when punished) from behaviourist perspective
Could we use this to develop an inhaler that increases correct usage for Australian children because many use inhalers wrong?
Aim of this study
Find out if the principle of reinforcement within operant conditioning can increase health behaviours in children (using an asthma inhaler correctly)
Design of the funhaler
If breathing is correct, whistle sound will play and a spinning toy with picture which acts as positive reinforcement. And mouthpiece because used for children
(All inhalers inc funhaler have negative reinforcement, taking away a bad thing (pain))
Type of experiment is this?
A field experiment because there was an independent variable (using the funhaler) and took place in the participants natural setting - their family’s home and every day life, just using the funhaler when they needed to
Experimental design and why?
Repeated measures design because each participant had used the aero chamber Inhaler and funhaler and their responses were compared so they experienced all conditions
Sample
32 Children
Age of sample
1,5 years old - 6 years old
Gender of sample
22 boys
10 girls
Sample method
Opportunity sample by recruiting these families from 7 GP clinics across Perth
How were participants contacted?
Parents were called on the phone then visited at their home
How was data collected on the current inhaler they were using?
In the form of a questionnaire (self report) along with a consent form
How were the funhalers administered?
During the home visit, parents were given the funhaler and told to use it for the next 2 weeks
Longitudinal or snapshot?
Longitudinal because each participant was followed up after 2 weeks to collect the data, to measure the differences in medical adherence to the funhaler over this period of time
What happened at the end of the 2 weeks?
They completed a second identical questionnaire about use of funhaler instead of
Content of the questionnaires
Adherence to the inhaler in question
Children’s attitudes to inhaler observed by parents
Parents attitudes
Frequency of use
Type and level of data collected
Quantitative data in form of percentages
Nominal as this is a headcount in each category of data rather than an order/scale (eg these parents simply reported dislike rather than a scale of that dislike)
Percentage of children who screamed when normal inhaler was bought to face
48%
Percentage of children who screamed when funhaler was bought to face
3%
% Usage of normal inhaler the day before
59%
% usage of funhaler the day before
81%
What happened at random within these 2 weeks?
The parents were called again at random and asked if they had used the funhaler the day before
Conclusions from the data
The funhaler led to the correct use of asthma medication due to its design
And led to an increase in attitudes to the funhaler by both parent and child
Strengths of repeated measures design
Controlled for participant variables such as frequency of inhaler usage and dislike for inhaler: data was collected and compared against the same child so the funhaler is the cause for these differences and not P variables
Weaknesses of repeated measures design
Parents will recognise aim of study as it is very obvious to see they want to know the differences when using funhaler (demand characteristics, say they like funhaler more in questionnaire to help researcher out?)
Could counterbalancing be used?
No because if the children used funhaler first then standard inhaler they may not want to go back to the standard inhaler or the medical compliance could be increased due to practise
Strengths of opportunity sample
High population validity because the children were recruited from a large span of different socioeconomic backgrounds/ locations
Mix of genders
Narrow age range because we are measuring medical compliance in this age range to represent in the sample
Weaknesses of sample
Being from Australia, doesn’t account for how children of other cultures respond to funhaler or positive reinforcement
Gender imbalance
Strengths of quantitative data
Easy way of comparing attitudes across each inhaler
Weaknesses of quantitative data collected
No explanation on why parents were happier with funhaler/ children liked funhaler more through use of funhaler in order to inform later research
Strengths of using field experiment
Higher ecological validity because the child was in their home environment so a measure of their natural behaviour to using the inhaler as if they weren’t in a study: reflective of irl
Weaknesses of a field experiment
Extraneous variables not accounted for because less controls: not sure how much each parent persevered to use the inhaler, or if at any time the inhaler was forgotten or be used.
Not completely standardised procedure for all participants
Strengths of Reliability in this study
Standardised for all participants eg same questionnaire , same instructions , same funhaler design , same 2 week period
Weaknesses of reliability in this study
Small sample size of only 32 children: not enough to measure a consistent effect probably
Strengths of self report
The only way to find attitudes to usage of funhaler of both parents and child as these cannot be observed
Efficient way to collect data
Weaknesses of self report
Social desirability for parents or tendency to lie/not give accurate data in order to seem like better parents, say they medicate their child more than they do
How does this link to theme of external influences on children’s behaviour?
Using operant conditioning (positive reinforcement of a toy and whistle in the funhaler when used correctly) changed children’s medical compliance behaviour: increased medication for it
Children learn through reinforcement (rewards) which are interactions with the environment
