Developmental area: Chaney Flashcards
What percentage of people with asthma comply with medical advice and use their inhaler? (as suggested by research)
A range from 30-70%
What is compliance?
Following medical instructions/advice
What is operant conditioning?
Learning through consequences which may include rewards or punishments
What is positive reinforcement?
Providing a positive outcome for behaviour (rewards) that are more likely to be repeated in the future
What is negative reinforcement?
When a behaviour is encouraged by removing or avoiding an unpleasant stimulus
Give an example of negative reinforcement
Using sun cream to avoid getting sun burnt
What were the two aims of Chaney’s study?
To see if the use of the funhaler increases compliance rates in children and to see if quality of use (correct technique) is improved with funhaler
What research method did Chaney use?
Field experiment and self report
What evidence is there from Chaney’s study that it was a field experiment and a self report?
Questionnaires/phone interviews were conducted in the child’s own home
How big was the sample used in Chaney’s study?
32 children
Describe the age range of the sample used in Chaney’s study
1.5 - 6 years with a median of 3.2 years
75% were over the age of 3
What was the composition of males and females were there?
22 boys and 10 girls
What was the average duration of having asthma?
2.2 years
How was the sample obtained?
They were recruited on a random basis from seven paediatrician or GP clinics
Within what radius of where were the GP clinics?
51 km radius of Perth, Western Australia
What was the IV in Chaney’s study?
Fun haler or normal aero chamber device
What were the DV’s in Chaney’s study?
The children’s behaviour (specifically how frequently the children took their medication) and the attitudes of the parent and adherence to the medicine
How are the key features of the Fun haler used as positive reinforcement?
The toy ball spins more and the whistle is louder when the Fun haler is used correctly
How are the key features of the Fun haler used as negative reinforcement?
Correct use leads to fewer symptoms/breathlessness
What was the initial data collected in Chaney’s study?
Questionnaires were given to the parents to find out about their current inhaler (behaviour and attitudes)
How did Chaney reduce demand characteristics when the parents had the initial questionnaire?
By not telling the parents about the Fun haler
What did all parents have to sign with the initial questionnaire?
A consent form
Over what period of time was the data collected during the study itself?
2 weeks
During the study itself what were the parents given?
Fun haler and instructed that they had to use it with their child
How would the parents be contacted to see if the Fun haler had been used the previous day?
They would be contacted at random
What did the children do during the time where data was being collected for the study itself?
Children would use the fun haler, a steady breath would activate a spinning disk and whistle
What was used for young children with the Fun haler?
A face mask
After the 2 weeks what were the parents given?
Another questionnaire to access their behaviour and attitudes towards the Fun haler
What percentage of children had used their inhaler/fun haler the day before?
59%/81%
What percentage of children achieved 4 or more breath cycles per delivery? (inhaler/fun haler)
50%/80%
What percentage of parents always successfully medicated their child? (inhaler/fun haler)
10%/73%
What percentage of the parents had a dislike towards the medication? (inhaler/fun haler)
16%/0%
Outline the conclusions about the use of the Fun haler
From questionnaires, it would appear that Fun haler led to an increase in use and correct use. Parents also tended to be less likely to give up and resort to a nebuliser
What is a strength of the sample used in Chaney’s study?
It is age appropriate for the target population as the funhaler wouldn’t appeal to people much older
What is a weakness of Chaney’s sample?
Narrow age range restricts the generalisability
What is a strength of using self report in Chaney’s study?
Questionnaires easy to administer to gather thoughts and feelings of the parents on the fun haler
What is a weakness of using self report in Chaney’s study?
Some parents may not have given honest answers about their inhaler due to SDB
What is a strength of using closed questions in Chaney’s study?
Easy to compare and analyse
What is a weakness of using closed questions in Chaney’s study?
It doesn’t tell us why there were differences in attitudes and behaviours with the funhaler
What is a strength of Chaney’s study being a field experiment?
Having the research be carried out in a natural setting gives the study high EV
What is a weakness of Chaney’s study being a field experiment?
It’s not a usual every day activity for parents to be completing questionnaires and therefore reduces EV
What is a strength of using a repeated measures design in Chaney’s study?
Controlling participant variables as the children used both the inhaler and the fun haler
What is a weakness of using a repeated measures design in Chaney’s study?
The parents could work out the aim of the study and therefore demand characteristics could be an issue
Why did Chaney choose not to counterbalance the participants?
Because use of the fun haler may have led to an increase in use of the normal inhaler a week later and taking away the fun haler may have caused some ethical issues (e.g. distress)
Why, in terms of ethics, was it better for Chaney to use a repeated measures design rather than an independent measures design?
So no P’s missed out on beneficial effects of Fun haler
Was the procedure controlled, standardised and replicable? (internal reliability)
Same questionnaire, same funhaler - same design given with same instructions
Was the sample large enough to suggest a consistent effect? (external reliability)
32 children - not a very big sample to suggest consistency
Was the study an accurate test of compliance with medical advice? (internal validity)
We can not be sure how efficient parents were at using the inhaler so difficult to control extraneous variables
Could Chaney’s findings be applied to other cultures?
We can’t assume that children from non-australian cultures would respond to the funhaler in the same way
