Developmental Psychology in Sec A

Question 1

What is the assumption, focus, the theme and the studies of developmental psychology?

Answer 1

Assumption: behaviour is an ongoing process in which systematic changes occur throughout lifespan, from cradle to grave. Changes include both inherited factors and experiences

Focus: research on children (when most changes occur), but also development during adulthood

Theme: External influences on children’s behaviour

• classic study: Bandura et al (1961)
• contemporary study: Chaney et al (2004)

Question 2

Describe the aim of Bandura et al.

Answer 2

• overall aim was to investigate observational learning of aggression
• specifically aimed to see whether children reproduce aggressive behaviour when a model figure is no longer present, and to look for gender differences in learning of aggression

Question 3

Describe the four hypotheses tested in Bandura et al.

Answer 3

1. Pps exposed to an aggressive model would be more likely to reproduce similar aggression than those exposed to a non aggressive model / without one at all
2. Pps exposed to a non aggressive model would be less aggressive than those without a model
3. Pps would imitate aggression modelled by same sex adult more than that modelled by opposite sex adult
4. Boys would be more inclined than girls to imitate aggression.

Question 4

Describe the method for Bandura et al in terms of participants.

Answer 4

• 72 in total = 36 male and 36 female
• all selected from nursery in Stanford Uni
• age range from 3 - 5 years
• mean age = 4yrs and 4 months

Question 5

Describe the method of Bandura et al in terms of design.

Answer 5

• lab experiment with an independent measures design
• effects of 3 IVs tested: behaviour of model (aggressive / not), sex of model, sex of children
• 8 diff conditions in total, and children in each condition were matched for natural aggression levels, so individual diffs could not be a confounding variable
• matched by experimenter and nursery teacher independently rating 51 of children on scale of 0-5 for aggression
• v good agreement between two rates (0.89, and anything over 0.8 was good)

Conditions were:

1) 12 boys + 12 girls with aggressive model, six boys and six girls saw aggression modelled by same sex model. Rest saw it modelled by oppositie sex
2) 12 boys + 12 girls exposed to non aggressive model, six boys and six girls saw non aggression modelled by same sex model. Rest saw modelled by opposite sex
3) control group of 12 boys + 12 girls did not see model display any behaviour (aggressive / otherwise)

Question 6

Describe the method of Bandura et al in terms of procedure.

Answer 6

4 steps for procedure:

1) MODELLING BEHAVIOUR
- each child brought individually into playroom and invited to join in game for ten mins
- adult present with them for first two conditions demonstrated aggression towards 5ft inflatable Bobo doll (kicked and hit, including with hammer, and said aggressive things: ‘kick him.. Pow.. Sock him on the nose’
- in non aggressive condition, adult assembled toys and did not interact with doll
- in control, no additional adult present in room

2) AGGRESSIVE AROUSAL
- all children taken to diff playroom and allowed to play with attractive toys for two mins, then taken away and told ‘very best’ toys were reserved for other children to annoy and increase aggression in children

3) TESTING FOR DELAYED IMITATION
- children then observed playing for 20 mins as experimented remained in room (but busied with paperwork)
- two observers watched through one way mirror
- room had range of toys including a bob doll (smaller than 5ft one)
- observers not told what condition child was in, so helped eliminate bias

4) AGGRESSION TYPES RECORDED BY OBSERVERS
Imitative aggression:
- physical and verbal, identical to that modelled in stage one

Partially imitative aggression:
- similar to behaviour carried out by model

Non-imitative aggression:
- new aggressive acts not demonstrated by model

Question 7

Describe the results of Bandura et al.

Answer 7

• all quantitative data recorded
• showed significant diffs in levels of imitative aggression between group that witnessed aggression and others that didn’t
• this true of physical and verbal
• more non aggressive play recorded in non aggressive model condition

Results for four hypotheses tested:

1) children who witnessed aggressive model significantly more aggressive
2) overall, v little diff between aggression in control group and in non aggressive condition
3) boys significantly more likely to imitate aggressive males, difference for girls was much smaller
4) boys significantly more physically aggressive than girls, girls more verbally aggressive after observing a female model.

Question 8

Describe the conclusions of Bandura et al.

Answer 8

1) witnessing aggression in model can be enough to produce aggression in observer, important as widely believed prior study that learning aggression was a gradual process in which learner experimented with aggression and was rewarded for it in some way
2) children selectively imitate gender-specific behaviour
3) boys more likely to imitate aggression in same sex model, girls weren’t
4) but girls who witnessed female model were more verbally aggressive than boys

Question 9

Evaluate the research method in Bandura et al.

Answer 9

• typical strengths and weaknesses that go with lab experiments
• strength: many excellent controls that cut down risk posed by extraneous variables
• strength: all pps had same experience with same room and toys used in all conditions
• weakness: lacks realism, hitting Bobo doll is v diff from hitting a person, so should be cautious about applying results to lifelike situations

Question 10

Evaluate the data in Bandura et al.

Answer 10

• only quantitative data, a strength and weakness
• strengths: numbers allow easy comparison of levels of aggression in each condition
• as long as concerned with observable behaviour, safe to rate what we observe quantitively
• weakness: don’t get indication of what is happening in minds of children doing imitating from this data
• some pps had powerful emotional responses to situation
• would have been interesting to have qualitative data about what they thought + felt when hitting doll

Question 11

Evaluate the ethical considerations in Bandura et al.

Answer 11

• all studies with children raise additional ethical issues, as children cannot give informed consent to take part or withdraw easily
• no parental permission given here either!
• children not doing anything substantially diff from everyday activities though so little risk of harm or stress, however were made to watch adult beat up Bobo doll, so quite unethical
• could have long term effects on behaviour aswell as were not debriefed and told not to repeat behaviour after study, a more serious ethical issue
• mild distress caused as children deliberately annoyed when nicest toys taken away, an ethical issue
• type and level of violence children witnessed was similar to what would be expected in cartoons, so highly unlikely any child left more aggressive by participating.

Question 12

Evaluate the validity in Bandura et al.

Answer 12

• realism often a problem in lab experiments as; environment differs from real life and pps tend to carry out diff tasks to everyday life ones
• being asked to play with a strange adult in unfamiliar room isn’t everyday task
• experience of hitting a Bobo doll is v diff from hitting a real person as doll does not react
• real life violence = more complex as hitting a person has range of consequences
• studying aggression against a doll lacks realism so procedure lacks ecological validity

Question 13

Evaluate the reliability in Bandura et al.

Answer 13

• excellent
• conditions closely controlled
• all pps had same experience
• prior aggression of pps also controlled
• reliability of observers was assessed and found to be v good
• reliability therefore strength of study.

Question 14

Evaluate the sampling bias of Bandura et al.

Answer 14

• sample size quite large for lab experiment, a strength of study, but with many conditions, only ends up being handful of pps in each condition, so with a small group any confounding pp variable could have large effect
• not stated how sample was selected from nursery, but drawing sample from one school = problematic anyway
• nursery attended by children of academics (so not representative of population at large), so could be difficulties in generalising results.

Question 15

Evaluate the practical applications in Bandura et al.

Answer 15

• interesting practical applications in settings where we’re concerned with children’s learning of aggression
• study emphasises likelihood of children imitating sort of violence they observe in parents
• also has important implications for understanding link between media and violence and aggression, suggesting kids, particularly boys, are likely to imitate physical aggression when modelled by male adult.

Question 16

Describe the aim of Chaney et al.

Answer 16

• to test whether use of positive reinforcement via ‘Funhaler’ could improve medical compliance in young asthmatics, compared to use of a conventional asthma inhaler with no additional features.

Question 17

Describe the general method of Chaney et al.

Answer 17

• research method was a field experiment with a repeated measures design
• IV was the device used to administer asthma drugs, researchers compared standard small volume spacer devices e.g. ‘Breath-a-tech’ and ‘Aerochamber’, with novel device (‘Funhaler’)
• DV was how well pps complied with prescribed medical regime, measured through parental responses to self report questionnaire.

Question 18

Describe the method in Chaney et al in terms of participants.

Answer 18

• 32 children = 22 male and 10 female
• age range of 1.5-6 years, mean age of 3.2
• average duration of asthma = 2.2 years
• sampling technique was random sample of asthmatic children prescribed drugs delivered by pMDI and spacer ( pressurised metered dose inhaler)
• recruited from clinics across large geographical area

Question 19

Describe the method in Chaney et al in terms of design and procedure.

Answer 19

• study undertaken in pps homes over two week period
• parents gave informed consent and completed structured, closed question questionnaire with an interviewer about child’s current asthma device
• included q’s on both parents + child’s attitudes to medication and compliance levels
• pps then asked to use Funhaler instead of normal pMDI and spacer inhaler without further instructions on use, except parental guidance was required
• Funhaler included standard pMDI inhaler + spacer but had additional attachment of incentive toys e.g. Spinning disc and whistle
• these designed to distract children from drug delivery + encourage + reward deep breathing patterns for effective medication delivery
• form of operant conditioning known as ‘self-reinforcement’, as correct use of device rewarded user
• parents then completed matched item questionnaire on Funhaler for direct comparison with standard device
• researchers also conducted random check via telephone checking on pp usage of Funhaler on previous day.

Question 20

Describe the results in Chaney et al.

Answer 20

• survey showed Funhaler use was associated with improved parental and child compliance
• researchers collected 27-32 valid responses to each pair of questions collected
• 59% of parents found to have medicated child on previous day when using standard device compared to 81% when using Funhaler
• also found 50% of children who took the four or more cycles per aerosol delivery or ‘puffs’ when using standard device compared to 80% when using Funhaler
• problems like screaming when device brought closet to face and unwillingness to breathe for a long time all significant,y reduced with Funhaler
• 68% of children reported pleasure as well as parental satisfaction when using Funhaler compared to 10% with standard device

Question 21

Describe the conclusions of Chaney et al.

Answer 21

• Funhaler and its use of positive reinforcement techniques improved levels medical compliance in young asthmatics specifically
• use of Funhaler could possibly improve clinical outcomes e.g. Lowering rates of admissions to hospital for asthmatic attacks
• devices using self reinforcement strategies can improve overall health of children.

Question 22

Evaluate the research method in Chaney et al.

Answer 22

• field experiment with controls to try manage influence of extraneous variables on DV (compliance)
• questionnaires used to assess each device had matched questions to ensure children’s responses were directly comparable
• but studies findings rely on self report, so open to bias as pps may over report use of Funhaler due to social desirability or to please experimenters

Question 23

Evaluate the data in Chaney et al.

Answer 23

• has quantitative data findings in numerical form
• allowed researchers to directly and objectively compare use of each device but did not report any verbal / written feedback from children / parents
• this lack of qualitative data means they assumed operant conditions device known as Funhaler is what encouraged better compliance

Question 24

Evaluate the ethical considerations in Chaney et al.

Answer 24

• fairly ethically sound study
• informed consent obtained from parents
• briefed as to aims of study and all data responses were anonymised so ensured privacy
• care taken to ensure experimental Funhaler device administered a satisfactory level of medication so study involved use of drugs essential to children’s health
• so children protected from physical harm

Question 25

Evaluate the validity in Chaney et al.

Answer 25

• could be considered to have high ecological validity as a Field experiment
• although pps aware they were part of research, they went about everyday lives and used devices in own environments
• but, children already had experience using standard device and knew they were trying out a novel device
• so could have biased questionnaire responses and created an order effect, making pps more likely to report use of Funhaler
• tried to minimise bias by researchers not giving extra explanation or instructions of funhalers usage.

Question 26

Evaluate the reliability of Chaney et al.

Answer 26

• procedure and materials for study are standardised and would be straightforward to carry out test again
• has high replicability and as pps all given same instructions, could say findings are fairly reliable

Question 27

Evaluate the sampling bias in Chaney et al.

Answer 27

• used random sampling method which reduces bias and ensures a fairly representative sample
• sample included a fair no of individuals and families from widely diff socioeconomic and geographical areas of Perth, Australia

Question 28

Evaluate the ethnocentrism in Chaney et al.

Answer 28

• behaviourists believe external factors and cultural influences can help reinforce desirable behaviours
• funhalers reinforcing features are used to influence children’s behaviour regardless of location, but could be other social and cultural factors affecting compliance rates
• these may relate to societal attitudes towards medical treatments which vary cross-culturally so Chaney et als findings might not be applicable outside Australia.

Question 29

Evaluate the practical applications of Chaney et al.

Answer 29

• correct compliance to medical regime is important for asthma as prevention of an attack is essential for wellbeing
• consequences of children forgetting or not wanting to use inhaler regularly can be serious
• Chaney et al shows use of a device that can self reinforce correct technique and dosage of medication in children
• does not rely on outside influences e.g parental nagging
• Funhaler and other self reinforcement devices and strategies could improve medical compliance in other age groups if reward mechanism is appropriately applying.

Question 30

Compare the similarities between Bandura et al and Chaney et al.

Answer 30

• both about developmental psychology, specifically ways external influences change behaviour
• both had attempts to control variables
• both used young children of similar age
• both collected primarily quantitative data
• both have important applications in real world as are both useful for those looking to modify or improve children’s behaviour, whether with aggression or medical compliance
• both support development strategies to improve children’s safety and well being

Question 31

Compare the differences between Bandura et al and Chaney et al.

Answer 31

• B looked at how children imitate aggressive behaviour they observe in role models, but C looked at how children increase desirable behaviour when positively reinforced
• B was a lab experiment and C was a field experiment.
• B had independent measures design but C had repeated as children tried out both asthma devices
• B drew pps from local nursery (opportunity) but C used random sampling method
• B likely to be less representative overall as children came from similar geographical area and likely share more characteristics
• B was unethical and C was ethically sound.